Broken Electronics and Mystery Cords
Almost every home features a designated “cord box” or a drawer stuffed with obsolete smartphones, tangled chargers, and broken remote controls. Professional organizers view this electronic clutter as a prime waste of storage space.
You likely keep these items because you do not know how to properly dispose of them, but holding onto devices you haven’t used in five years only adds to your home’s visual noise.
You cannot simply toss old laptops and cell phones into your regular garbage bin. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warns that electronic items often contain hazardous heavy metals like lead, mercury, and cadmium.
When improperly discarded, these toxic substances can severely harm human health and leach into the environment. Instead, you should gather all your unwanted tech and drop it off at a certified electronics recycler.
You can consult EPA recycling guidelines to find authorized drop-off locations in your community. While you organize your electronics, aggressively purge your mystery cables. If you cannot identify what device a cord belongs to within sixty seconds, throw it away or recycle it.
Yes I have done all these things 6 months ago, and I’ve got to do it again, electronics and chargers strings that have frayed. I’ve just thrown away ink pens I’ve had for a year or more, my new ones don’t last 2 months. I buy in bulk bc I get use to that style. Then they change and then the news bleed. I don’t like certain things to change. If it works don’t change it.
Don’t throw away canvas, or other types of, bags. Reuse them when you go shopping so you don’t get plastic bags!
Very helpful. I’m starting with the cabinet under my bathroom sink because that annoys me the most then on to the linen closet.
Thank you for providing me with a very helpful guide to declutter in an organized manner.
Great information. Great advice.
Great ideas. Useful. Common Sense. Thank you
Be careful about medical bills. My insurer tried to retroactively deny a claim for surgery eighteen months after the fact. I had to use my old records to prove that my claim was valid. I would keep them for five years to be safe. Because the insurance racket in America is so corrupt, I might even consider keeping them in perpetuity.
EXCELLENT column full of very helpful advice for those of us who are guilty of the save-everything-mode because some day we may need it!
Are there any guides or books that I can purchase to give me something in writing showing a list of things that I should keep or throw out.?
Hilarious. I must be a professional organizer because I am in the middle of similar madness!
Excellent advice thank you