Does Your Home Spark Joy?

Marie Kondo has started a cult. The Japanese tidying expert’s series first appeared on Netflix early this year and since then cause a whole following of people to look at everything in their home and ask if it “sparks joy.” Anything that fails the “joy sparking” test is thanked for its service and moved to the not-keeping pile. With spring cleaning time around the corner, it might be time to ask yourself what “spark joy” for you and your family.

We all get into positions where we need to go through the clutter of our home, but what do you do with the clutter you don’t want to keep?

Tucson as a community is quite giving; in Groupon’s 2018 recap, Tucson ranked as the 6th Most Generous City in the United States. Therefore, it’s no wonder that we have so many great options when it comes to passing on our gently used stuff.

Donate books, CDs, or DVDs to the Pima County Public Library or Friends of the Pima County Public Library for their book sales. Bookman’s is another great place to rehome all your books, musical instruments, or gaming gear. They might even give you store credit for an item or two. The store will happily accept anything they don’t offer you credit for, to add to their collection of supplies that gets donated to local schools and book-oriented nonprofits.

For household goods and clothing you have several options – HabiStore, Big Brother Big Sisters of Tucson, Casa de los Niños, Goodwill of Southern Arizona, Humane Society of Southern Arizona Thrift Store, Salvation Army, White Elephant of Green Valley to name just a few. These stores, in particular, all help you greenly recycle clothing while supporting other causes with resale profits.

Some items in your house can even go to local schools, especially books, clothes, and craft supplies. A good place to start is checking to see if your local school or school district has a resource center for drop-offs.

You might consider RISE Equipment Recycling Center as a home for old electronics. The nonprofit refurbishes your working and nonworking electronics and sells them at discounted rates to other nonprofits. Cell phones, in particular, are happily accepted by the Emerge! Center Against Domestic Abuse to help those in domestic abuse situations.

Not everything in your home will be donation worthy, but it is important to recycle where we can. For anything else, just be sure to dispose of it responsibly. For larger items, the City of Tucson also offers “Brush and Bulky” days twice a year – visit WWW.TUCSONAZ.GOV/ES/BRUSH-AND-BULKY to find out your neighborhood’s schedule.

Toby Parks, Senior Real Estate Specialist
Long Realty

Supporter of the Tucson SPOTLIGHT Senior Services & Living Options
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