
It’s all around us. Stuff, things to make our lives more convenient… at a cost. We buy and use so much stuff, but how much of it is necessary and how much simply takes up space? The Netflix documentary “Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy” is an eye-opening look at how much we spend to collect when we could be living more mindfully. These are a few of the major takeaways that we had as professional move managers and organizers.
Less Can Actually Be More
“Whoever dies with the most stuff does not win.”
Excess can be dangerous for your mental health. Sometimes we don’t realize how much we accumulate in our lives, when the true value behind our belongings lies with how they serve us. It can get overwhelming when you have too much, so determine more than the monetary value of something before your next purchase. Is it necessary, will it improve your life, how much will you use or see it? Ask yourself how much value this item will bring your life beyond the quick hit of dopamine before you commit to a purchase.

The Myth of “Away”
“We like to throw our stuff to this magical place called 'away'”
When you finally decide to throw something away, it doesn’t simply disappear. It’s out of sight but not necessarily out of mind. Ghana has become the world's dumping ground for used textiles, with 15 million clothing items arriving every week. Yet around 7.5 million of these items can't be sold, leaving them washed up on beaches & piling up in informal dumpsites. Just like those textiles, your items will likely end up as some form of pollution somewhere down the road unless they’re eco-friendly, and even then there are no long-term guarantees.
Think about where your items will go when you get rid of them. Donations, unfortunately, only add to the out of sight out of mind cycle of waste, so you should turn to alternatives like:
Donating blankets and towels to local animal shelters
Share gently used items in local buy-nothing groups on Facebook or other social media
Research local nonprofits or shelters
Look for specialty recycling centers that offer drop-off programs

Move Elders With Ease takes this seriously, partnering with McJunk to help you remove items from your home, safely donate what they can, recycle items that are recyclable, and dispose of the remainder.
If possible, recycle as much as you can. At Move Elders With Ease, we are passionate about assisting our clients in decluttering their space and making intentional decisions about what items should stay and what items should be let go. Responsibly disposing of these items is important, which is why we partner with organizations like CompostNow to simplify the composting of food waste and packaging. This way, you get rid of excess in your home, and it’s disposed of safely and with intention. No single snowflake thinks it’s the cause behind an avalanche, but one small action can lead to lasting results.
Mindful Purchases
"We're all being encouraged to quench a bottomless thirst for more stuff. It's the future generations and our environment that end up paying the price."
Items you buy take up space, in some cases becoming a burden. Future generations will be the ones picking up after us when we are gone, so using less and being mindful of what we have will go a long way in keeping the world a cleaner, more organized place.

To put it into perspective, our consumption habits create:
66.6 million pairs of shoes per day
68,733 phones per hour
190,000 garments per minute
12 tons of plastic per second
It may be time to ask ourselves what and why we make purchases. Does what we want fill a unique role? Is it necessary to us? As professional organizers, we must always be aware of what and why we buy. Consume less or choose to downsize in order to save yourself and your loved ones the burden of picking up after yourself years later.
How Good Are The Deals?
"Brands have made us think, 'It’s so cheap, it’s worth it even if it doesn’t last.”
Brands lull us into a sense of security. They make the temporary seem like something worth buying, even if it’s only useful for a moment. The price is often lower, so it must be worth the purchase.
However, buying a few items that are high quality will go a long way compared to buying a mass of lower quality, cheap items. When you decide to make a purchase or even if you’re in the midst of decluttering and downsizing, take stock of what you have, what you need, and whether the juice is worth the squeeze.
Intention Makes All the Difference in Overcoming Overconsumption
At Move Elders With Ease, our senior move management services allow us a glimpse at how others have built up their collection of “stuff.” Some items are sentimental, others useful, and many are just taking up space.
If you need help downsizing or want a professional organizer to assist in mindfully decluttering your space, we would love to lend a hand. We can help you avoid overconsumption and find a perfect balance between what you need and what you can do without. Live with mindfulness of the world around you, and you’ll find that the stress simply melts away.
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