Next week our little town celebrates “Amnesty Day”. This isn’t really a holiday and it is not a day you will find on any calendar. Our Amnesty Day is a local, municipal event. It is the day our local waste management company allows us to throw any and everything out on the curb for pick up Monday morning. Garbage, furniture, lumber, clothes, toys; its all fair game.
For most of you, this may sound like a mundane, non-event. Yet, around here, Amnesty Day is greeted with a great deal of excitement. Children set up lemonade stands on every corner while others walk the streets trailing red wagons loaded with abandoned “treasures.” Parents take the weekend off of golf and sports activities to clean out garages, basements and attics. “Trash picking” reaches new levels of intensity as dozens of vans and panel trucks cruise the neighborhood seeking flea market fodder. Entire household projects are coordinated around Amnesty Day so construction materials and refuse can be easily carted away.
This is my third Amnesty Day, and this year I vow to take part. The first year I suffered something akin to shame as I added only one paltry, little box of broken toys to my regular Sunday garbage. By the time I moved my trash cans to the corner, children had long since abandoned their scavenging and the few remaining panel trucks did not even slow as they passed the small stack at the end of my drive.
I missed the second year completely, but understand my neighbors broke some kind of record as they tossed out more possessions than the year prior. That information gave me pause, and I wondered if our community planned to continue this tradition year after year. After all, how long does it really take to cart away all our clutter?
Having spent the past decade advising others on how to organize and downsize their homes, I took it as a personal challenge to participate fully in one, and only one, Amnesty Day. I would clear out all my overcrowded closets and storage spaces in one fell swoop.
With this goal in mind, I established a few rule for myself and spent the entire weekend purging absolutely everything in my home that met the following criteria:
1. This thing is broken or damaged ( I will NOT keep it for eventual repair)
2. I am not sure what this thing is or what it belongs to
3. This thing has not been worn or used in over two years
4. I will not take time to sort mementos or photos and so will keep all of those for now.
I then made a pact with myself that I would not waiver from the guidelines and gave myself the added incentive of a new handbag if I could pare my current purse inventory down to no more than three.
These strict guidelines combined with my established deadline (Amnesty Day) provided great incentive, and I used that incentive to build momentum. By Sunday evening, all my cluttered spaces were clear. It was a great feeling! I took a moment to survey the brimming boxes and bags stacked in the middle of my garage, and forced myself not to second guess my decisions. (Should I really throw out the plastic rake? What if my 5 year old nephew visits in autumn and wants to play with leaves? ). I said goodbye to the pile of discarded things and shut the garage door.
Because I am a great believer in moving forward and not looking back, I also refused to let myself feel bad about letting so many unnecessary things build up in my home over the years. I was dealing with it now and that was reason enough to celebrate. I also knew I could count on the scavengers to reduce my rubble pile to nothing before it ever made its way to the landfill. As the saying goes, “One man’s trash….”
At the end of the day, as I walked back into the house, I realized I did not miss one item that was now out in the garage waiting to be hauled to the curb. Everything I needed was still in place. My home was still home, but better. It felt as though a tremendous weight had been lifted from each room. Curious, I looked up the definition of “amnesty.” Merriam-Webster said this: “the act of an authority to grant pardon to a group of individuals.” In this case, I realized I had been pardoned for my clutter. I had been granted a day to be free from it without guilt or remorse. I thought of it as a tremendous gift . So, to our many readers who may be struggling with downsizing or moving to a smaller senior living community, I summon all the authority I can and grant you your own personal “Amnesty Day.” You choose the day , establish your own guidelines and your own deadlines. Then pardon yourself for all your clutter, your garbage and piles of useless things. Be free from it all. Release it. Let it go.
Nan Hayes
RightSized Living®
©RightSized Living®. Excerpt from “RightSized Living: the Guide for Later Lifestyles.” All content has been created by or on behalf of RightSized Living®. No reprint in part or entirety without permission. Full copyright must be included with permissions.
About the author: Nan Hayes has helped countless families with organizing , downsizing and move management. She is the founder of MoveSeniors.com and is dedicated to helping seniors find qualified professional resources to support their home transitions.
It is sometimes difficult to think of possessions we’ve held onto for decades as “junk.” But let’s face it, some of it is.
Once we get over the fact that our basement or attic is literally filled with useless, moldy, rotten or broken items, we then have to decide how to get rid of it. Fortunately today, as more and more “baby boomers” begin to downsize and “right-size” their homes, new services have become available. You might ask, which one might be right for me?
Full service
Franchise operations such 1-800-Got-Junk and College Hunks Hauling Junk will send colorful trucks and uniformed drivers right to your door. After greeting you politely (I have never experienced a rude driver from either of these outfits), you can walk the laborers through your home and just point to the junk that you’d like to have removed. Broken couch in the basement? No problem. Bags of concrete in the shed? Done.
Here are some of the items 1-800-Got-Junk can haul away:
Wood – Fencing, firewood, old timber
Construction materials – Debris, tiling
Garden refuse – Branches, tree and bush clippings
Furniture – Couches/sofas, sofa beds, mattresses
Appliances – Fridges, freezers, washers & dryers
Garage, Shed & Attic junk – Boxes, books, old tools, tires
Concrete – From broken pathways or flooring
Soil & dirt from a new garden
Roofing items – Tiles and corrugated iron
Renovation refuse – Walls, windows, floorboards, drywall, plasterboard, frames, etc.
…and the best part is, most franchises will provide a clean sweep of the area once they are done. You really do not have to lift a finger.
Most franchises also work within the community to recycle or reuse goods wherever possible, cutting down on the amount of stuff that actually ends up in the landfills.
Pricing varies for these services and rough estimates may be found online at 1-800-Got-Junk or College Hunks Hauling Junk. Once you take convenience and labor into consideration, prices in most parts of the country are pretty competitive with dumpsters and other labor intensive methods.
Do It Yourself
Of course, there is always the dumpster method. Who doesn’t like having a big old dumpster dropped right in their driveway? Dumpsters offer a certain kind of freedom and the need to fill all that empty space with anything and everything creates a certain kind of downsizing momentum that propels you through even the toughest projects. The only problem is, sometimes your neighbors may also feel the need to fill that big empty dumpster and before you know it, your dumpster is full of everyone else’s stuff. Maybe there should be some kind of “dumpster etiquette” that prevents others from using your receptacle until you have completely finished throwing things out.
Consumers are also cautioned to verify delivery methods with the dumpster companies, as it is possible to end up with a cracked or scarred driveway if proper precautions are not taken.
Prices for dumpsters are less than the full service method, since labor is not an issue, and prices can vary a great deal across the country. Rates depend on the size (cubic yard) of the dumpster and the length of time for the rental, express rentals, weekly or monthly rates. Most dumpster companies will quote rates over the phone or directly on their websites.
Bag It
Waste Management companies now have what is called the Bagster program. This is a “do it yourself” concept where the consumer buys an oversize bag, that acts as a small dumpster. You can buy the Bagster at most home improvement stores. Each depository holds up to 3 cubic yards of material and once filled, arrangements can be made with your local Waste Management to remove the bag. The Bagster can hold household items and construction debris, with some restrictions on heavier items.
You can find the collection fees and schedule the Bagster pick up right online.
Hazardous Waste
None of the above options will help you get rid of your hazardous household waste (HHW). To find more about hazardous waste collections and drop off, contact your local environmental, health, or solid waste agency for the time and location of your HHW collection or drop off program. A partial list of potential hazardous items may be downloaded here: HHWProducts.
©RSL 2010. All content created by or on behalf of RSL. No reprint in part or entirety without permission.
About the author: Nan Hayes has helped countless families with organizing , downsizing and move management. She is the founder of MoveSeniors.com and is dedicated to helping seniors find qualified professional resources to support their home transitions.
Tags: amnesty day, move seniors
