I believe in matter and energy. I believe that everything, all of us and everything around us, is some form of matter and energy, spinning together, evolving and all connected. Human beings are a lot of energy and only bits of matter (ask a shark!). A tree, on the other hand, is more matter than energy. Let's take it smaller now, down to those shoes in your closet. They, too, are bits of matter and energy, made from the energy of a tree for its wood, perhaps a cow for its leather and of course, the human hands that designed and crafted them. Parts of our spinning earth came together to create a pair of shoes whose purpose is to protect your feet, support you as you walk and make you look fabulous. Those simple shoes are supporting you with joy, because you have given purpose for all the matter and energy that went into their creation. 

So how is clutter supporting you in your life? How is matter and energy working in that case?  What purpose do those other pairs of shoes have that you have not worn in months or perhaps years? Indeed, nothing. Nobody wins in that case. The clutter stuff has no purpose. The planet gave up natural resources for nothing. And you, you are at minimum wasting time digging around the clutter to find the things that do serve you, and at worst (and more typically) are punishing yourself for the clutter in your life.
When you consider your own clutter challenges, consider this: That pile of paper wants a purpose. Those piles and boxes full of who knows what are not serving anyone. Those shoes need your feet, or someone’s! So get busy making decisions on your stuff. Ask: Is this active and serving me in my life?  If not, get it out of your space and back into this spinning planet to serve someone else. Or recycle it. It's good for you. It's good for the planet. It's good for your shoes! EVERYONE WINS! Especially fabulous YOU.

Turn matter - your clutter and disorder - into energy - where everything is in its place waiting to serve you.

Welcome to BALANCE - A place to help support your ongoing quest to live a more organized and balanced life. 

I was listening to talk show a while back on NPR where the respected commentator asked a panel repeatedly: “What are you doing to affect sustainability in your everyday life.” For a long time, the educated and interesting members of the speaker panel could NOT answer this simple question. It was evaded, ..ignored. Finally a young gentleman said something close to: "I took a water bottle [given at this conference] the first day and have been refilling it with the tap water in my hotel room".

Simple,  beautiful,   green.

So, what are you doing to affect sustainability in your everyday life? What if I told you it’s so easy to have least one answer, if not 10!

And if one person at a time changes a habit, that's MILLIONS, TRILLIONS in the reduction of use of water bottles, for example, which otherwise are a daily blow to our planet’s health.

My gift to you - to follow are some easy planet-friendly habits to add to your life. Reduce, reuse and recycle; in that order; for the love of Our Planet:

• Water bottles, as mentioned above (only reuse once or twice.) And/or, buy an aluminum water bottle or two and use them daily.
• Recycle books. Everyone can use them. They were made from trees. They educate us. Most donation centers and libraries will take them.
• Visit your local community recycle/trash service. Ask questions.
• Pick up your doggies poop. No really - your doggies cute, but the poop is toxic and of no value to any surface. In particular, the bottom of my hiking boot. Aarrgh!
• Designate a (sealed, hard plastic) bin somewhere to collect expired (toxic!) batteries. Put it in a shared hallway if you live in a multi-unit space. Hardware stores will take your batteries.
• Stop shopping for a while
• Most Packaging stores will take your styrofoam peanuts.
• Get a programmable thermostat.
• And more... wire hangers, ... tech gadgets, ...shopping bags, ... magazines, ... fabric, ... office supplies. People could really use this stuff, like drycleaners, non-profit organizations and schools. For more info, read my book for the top ten ways... Pg. 188!

And here's your inspiration:

Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" ...make that change!

Sad Video

Michael Jackson Tribute, also sad

Or just listen, and make a change.

Get Organized TODAY is a key tool in building a successful life; to bring ease and flow to your day-to-day living when clutter has got you down. More professional and personal organization and preparedness expertise is yours with these insights from Nancy and her organizing peers. With Get Organized Today, you will better manage your life and be ready to handle any situation with ease. To support you on your mission to live an organized and balanced life.

Free Teleseminar Series to learn more!

This book includes expert strategies to:

• Capture the Vision to Create a Space You'll Love
• Create a Productive Environment in Five Steps
• Overcome Chronic Disorganization
• Build the Perfect Closet
• Create a Home Office that Works for You
• Conquer Paper Piles
• Organize for Disaster and Be Prepared!
• and more...

Including Nancy's Chapter ->  Get Organized for the Planet, that outlines 10 incredibly easy ways to turn your matter (clutter) into energy (where everything is in its place waiting to serve you) in an Eco-Friendly way!

Cost:  $24.00

Planet Tip – Create Less Trash

It has been measured that each year Americans produce 4.6 pounds of garbage per person every day. Let’s take a simple step to help sustain the planet by creating less Trash! Here's a few easy ways to cut back on your weekly waste, sourced from Real Simple Magazine:

• Banish plastic packaging - On your next shopping trip, steer clear of plastic containers. Look for comparable items packed in paper cartons or sold in bulk.
• Stock up on sponges and handkerchiefs. Forgo the rolls (and rolls) of paper towels you use and try reusable sponges or washcloths to clean up spills. Or put in use some old fashioned handkerchiefs in lieu of using those big boxes of tissues everywhere, cluttering up your garbage cans.
• Feed the Earth. Compost food scraps instead of throwing them away with your regular trash. They'll break down and help create fertile soil for the garden or houseplants. Indeed, the Secret to some of the most productive gardens is the use of compost. You will find "how to build a compost bin" instructions all over the web. Here's my favorite: http://simplemom.net/how-to-make-a-compost-bin/
• Concentrate. Choose concentrated versions of household basics, such as laundry detergent. You will use less of the product and won’t have to throw away big containers as regularly. Especially if you have soft water, which means you can use about half the recommended detergent per load!

You often hear the story about the young guy who gets famous with some techno business idea and you may think, darn I wish it were me. This story is so super fine and cool, you won't be green with envy, but it is green! Terracycle was founded in 2001 by a 19 year old Princeton Univ. freshman named Tom Szaky whose dream was to find a more responsible way of doing business that was not just good for the bottom line, but good for the planet and for people.

www.terracycle.net

Terracycle is an extraordinary operation that turns your “trash” into useable stuff. Send them your juice bags, for example, and they will turn them into colorful purses and pencil cases and resell them at Target or Walgreens. They’ll even donate money to your charity of choice for each item you send them.

To participate in the Candy Wrapper Brigade, for example, all you do is sign up online and you will receive prepaid postage labels and collection materials from Terracycle. Once you collect enough candy wrappers to fill a collection bag, you affix the prepaid postage label and drop it off to UPS. The program is designed for schools, universities and other non-profit organizations that get money back for each item collected.

As of this writing, Terracycle has over 8.6 million people collecting trash, are making 181 products and have donated $562,000 to charities.

Go Tom. Get Green.  ...and the planet lives on.

There's a great way to get rid of your possibly valuable but definitely toxic to the planet high tech devices and gadgets.  Check out www.gazelle.com.  At the site you can calculate the value of your gadgets; they will give you a quote and even send you a box or envelope to mail it to them (with prepaid postage!)  Gazelle will resell or recycle the product for you. Buh bye clutter and the check is in the mail! It’s all good. A small step towards clearing some of your more valuable clutter.

By the way, you will likely get a little less for the higher worth items then you might if you used eBay or Craigslist to sell them. But, really, how long has that Sell on Ebay pile been sitting there in the corner. Your time may be much to valuable for that!