Ditch & Donate Challenge: Part 1

The Little Details is turning 10! Follow along to see how we're celebrating! Does organizing your entire home feel too daunting? Feel like you need a whole weekend to make progress? Sick of staring at clutter?

This challenge is for you!

Over the next two weeks, we'll be suggesting one item to let go of. Just ONE per day. You can purge more per category each day, but we're starting with letting go of 14 items total. Hopefully, you'll gain momentum and feel inspired to keep going. If nothing else, your home will have 14 fewer items in it. Guess what?! That's still a win!

Day 1: One clothing item
Starting off easy, we want you to go into your closet and remove one item of clothing. Top, bottom, dress, undergarment – any item! 

A few good reasons to say goodbye are:
1. It doesn’t fit correctly. Dress the body you have.
2. You never find yourself wearing it.
3. You’re holding onto it because it was a gift.
4. The item is stained or worn.

Donate to:
1. Solutions at Work
2. Cambridge Women’s Center
3. Local Goodwill or Savers
4. Textile Recycling
5. Raspberry Beret - for consignment!

Day 2: Extra pens
It’s pretty much a guarantee that everyone has too many pens at home. Round them up from the office, your nightstand, and living room, or tackle that one drawer you know is overflowing and get started testing! 

This is perfect (and fun) for kids to participate in. Another great way to tackle this is to put on a TV show and start doodling away. Anything that isn’t working, ditch! If they all work but you still have too many, try donating half the amount you have. 

In good condition, donate to:
1. Local schools, hospitals, and workplaces
2. Cradles 2 Crayons
3. Make & Mend
In poor condition:
1. Reuse as garden pokers!
2. Say goodbye! Trash.

Day 3: Water bottles
We love a good water bottle. We love two good water bottles. We definitely love a free water bottle. Has anyone else developed a water bottle problem? 

Round them up so you can see how many you really have and say goodbye to ones not in use.

Good rules to follow:
1. If you can’t locate the lid, straw piece, etc. - ditch it!
2. If it’s seen better days, chewed, decal wearing off, goodbye!
3. If you have multiples of the same style/color

Donate to:
1. Local Goodwill or Savers
2. Facebook “Buy Nothing” group

Day 4: Travel toiletries
Anyone else pull a Ross from Friends when it comes to checkout time? Guilty! Time to find those travel sized bottles and purge.
1. Check expiration dates
2. Compare quantity to how often you travel
3. Avoid the problem: buy or repurpose 3 travel sized bottles and refill with your own shampoo, conditioner, and body wash.

Donate to:
1. Cambridge Women’s Center
2. Solutions at Work
3. Women’s Lunch Place

Day 5: Expired food
It’s pantry day! When was the last time you looked back there? Take 15 minutes to check the dates and be amazed at all the empty space you created. 

If it is past three months expired, throw it away.

Donate if there’s anything not past three months expired, but you don’t see yourself using, drop off at your local food pantry:
1. Brookline Food Pantry
2. Pine Street Inn

Day 6: Boxes 
Perhaps you saw the meme saying, “I don’t know who needs to hear this, but you do not need to keep the box your iPhone came in.” I’m not sure who told us we needed to keep these boxes, but for some reason we all do it. Say goodbye to all boxes while you’re at it. I can’t tell you how many closets I go into with empty shoe boxes. Keep dust bags in a drawer if you like to pack shoes in them, but boxes can go.

Disposal Method:
Recycle and free up a ton of space!

Day 7: CD’S
Congrats! You’ve made it halfway through our challenge. Feeling lighter? Let’s keep the momentum going with a bigger category. Remember, you only need to say goodbye to one item per day, so maybe it’s as simple as a scratched CD today.

Face the music (literally!), if you have Spotify or Apple Music, you don’t need CDs anymore. 

Donate to:
1. More than Words
2. Local record/music shop
3. Local Goodwill/Savers