More garbage

I threw this towel out yesterday. It's a bathroom hand towel. I was reading an article on hoarding the other day and how hoarders often feel they are "saving things" when they keep garbage and trashed items. Later I was taking the laundry off the line and came to this towel. It's been like this for a long time and yet I kept it. I didn't put it out when company came over but otherwise it was in normal rotation in the bathroom.

Why?

Because it's "pefectly good". You can still dry your hands on it and it works as well as any other towel. It seemed a shame to waste it. Just ignore the holes.

And I know some people reading this blog are shaking their head right now at me being wasteful. I probably would have a year ago too.

And some people reading this blog are wondering why the heck I'd keep such a ratty towel hanging in the bathroom. I'm finally where you guys are.

Decluttering my house is not just about less stuff, it's also about making sure the stuff I choose to keep (or bring in) makes me feel good. I want things around my family that not only are useful but make us feel good. Things that are so ratty they need to be hidden when company comes over? That doesn't fit the bill.

I'm not using this as an excuse to throw away half my belongings and go shopping at the mall. I'm not even going to replace this towel since I have three other bathroom towels in the cabinet. Three other towels with no tears or gaping holes by the way. But this past year I've been thinking about what is good enough to have in my house.

I enjoy shopping at thrift stores and church sales (though I now limit my church sale shopping to once a year because yeah, it can get out of hand!). I like shopping second hand because I find it more fun than "regular" stores but also because I do feel that recycling items is good for the environment and our children. But there's a difference between finding some cool, good quality used item that makes me smile or taking some ratty, old, damaged thing just because it's cheap.

Or free. For years I would take pretty much anything my family offered me because "it's free". I'm pretty sure that's how I got that holey towel in the first place.

Anyway, it went in the trash yesterday. I took it off the line, folded it, put it in the laundry basket and then just looked at it. Five minutes later it was in the garbage.



Here's a closeup so you can see the size of the holes - oh and look at that clear skin with no itchy red eczema! That's what gluten-free has done for me! :-D