17 Apr Ready To Organize Your Garage and Update Your Recycling Area?
As spring unfolds, and our focus turns towards outdoor activities, many of us like to kick off the season by organizing and clearing out the deadweight in our garages. Often a dumping ground, garages can become seriously neglected over time. Yet they can be elevated to become so much more. Envision an organizational system that is easy to use and pleasant to look at. How about introducing a robust recycling area that the whole family can get behind. Clearing out the clutter can also make way for bonus areas that can be used for hobbies, woodworking, potting table or even exercising. Sweet.
Tackling this project is no small feat, yet the transformation will be well worth the effort. Imagine knowing where all your long term storage is kept and where to find items in a heartbeat. Having the whole family understand the recycling system takes some of the load off Mom and Dad, while teaching kids to do their part. Freeing up space to enjoy some hobbies is the icing on the cake, but by far the best reward, will be a feeling of stress being lifted off your shoulders. Let’s dig in.
10 Easy Steps to Organizing Your Garage:
- Pick a weekend where the weather is dry so you can sort everything out on the driveway.
- Start clustering items together in each of the following categories: Donations, Garbage, Recycling, To be Returned, To be Repaired and Keeping.
- Group together like items that you are holding on to, so you can start to see how much space will be needed for each.
- Items that need repairing can be put in the car for drop off, or set them aside for a rainy day fix it session.
- Once everything is pulled out, give the garage a good sweep and wipe down the walls.
- Rethink your zones before putting everything back. Reconfiguring the space can be uplifting and bring new energy to maintaining your system. Earmark an area closest to the kitchen for your expanded recycling area.
- Reuse bins and boxes if you can. If you are really thirsting for a facelift, use multiples of the same type of storage containers for visual calmness. Invest in a shelving system so everything is up off the floor and consolidated.
- Recycling: I suggest each category has its own bin, so prepping for depot drop-off is super easy (see list below of our 8 suggested bin categories). We sell Bag Buddy systems, ideal for collecting aluminum cans and soft plastics, which can be used over and over again.
- Label everything so the whole family can easily follow the system. Take them on a tour of your finished work so they know the drill.
- Don’t forget to drop off everything you are getting rid of. Put it in the car so you won’t forget, and drop these off when you are passing by one of our 4 depots and your local thrift stores.
At Island Return It, we are here to serve you. We are your one stop drop of location for so many broken garage items that can be repurposed and recycled. Everything from beverage containers, to soft plastics and small appliances, batteries and glass…bring them all in and we will take it from there. Here’s our full and comprehensive list of what they take at our 4 locations. Thank you for continuing to recycle.