{"id":17687,"date":"2022-04-13T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-13T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thegreenlist.nl\/?p=17687"},"modified":"2025-11-29T08:00:01","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T07:00:01","slug":"5-tidying-up-tips-for-a-more-sustainable-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thegreenlist.nl\/en\/5-opruimtips-voor-een-duurzamer-leven\/","title":{"rendered":"5 tidying-up tips for a more sustainable life"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cleaning up? You came to thegreenlist.nl <\/em>For cool sustainable tips? How to find Vinted treasures, go through life a little more zero waste and cook deliciously with seasonal vegetables? Cleaning up is another interest, you might say. Nah, that's not quite true though! Learning to tidy and declutter properly is all about a sustainable life. Listen!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Unpacking becomes even more fun with these tidying tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For most people, tidying up is a household task they prefer to put off for weeks or months. I was like that myself: I hated tidying up and put it off for as long as possible. Whereas, if you look at it differently and approach it a little differently, it can be a totally different experience that I can even describe as \u2018pleasant\u2019. It shouldn't be any crazier. Well, so I thought so too. What caused this turnaround? Time for my five tidying-up tips for a more sustainable life. Maybe I'll manage to give you a little greenfluencen<\/em> To also get started at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cleaning up for a more sustainable, enjoyable life\u2018 1.\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It all starts with the right mindset. Hastily tidying up with enormous reluctance will only make you feel stressed and cranky. The trick is to start finding that it is not a household chore that you must<\/em> do. You have to start seeing it as a job you may<\/em> do. Moreover, a chore that supports you in achieving your goals of a more sustainable life. It also helps if, for each item, you ask the question out loud (or in your head): \u2018do I want to keep this?\u2019 instead of \u2018can this go?\u2019. With the first question (keep?), the answer for me is quite often no or doubtful (nice, cleans up nicely). With the second question (get rid of it?) I tend to want to keep things for \u2018you never know\u2019 (doesn't really help). I got this wisdom from the book Cleaned up!<\/a><\/em> By Marie Kondo and also her Netflix series Tidying up with Marie kondo<\/em> is a viewing tip!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I have discovered is that you can also choose a different mindset for each clean-up. Around King's Day, I set myself the goal of selling a lot of stuff, while in autumn I am often especially happy about the fact that the house is so nice and ready for the winter to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Take a structured approach to tidying up with small sub-projects<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Now that you know I am a fan of tidying guru Marie Kondo, it will also come as no surprise to you that I do the tidying of our house in a set order. And that order is not by room, but by category<\/a>. And if you follow Kondo's method, you also tackle the categories in a certain order, starting with clothes, followed by books, paper, komono (everything without a category) and finally sentimental stuff. Now I must confess: I don't strictly stick to these categories, but I really like the systematic approach where you work from clusters. This way, I turn house tidying into mini-projects and I can tick something off every day! I use the following categories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n