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Spring Cleaning Season is Here

 

Be real though… When was the last time you really devoted yourself to cleaning out your house? Make this Spring the season of change! Trust me – you will feel better.

Have you been a little too comfortable on your couch this winter? Between the cold days and new Netflix shows, the draw of a nice comfy couch is pretty irresistible. It’s so easy to forego some typical responsibilities for leisure time during the cold, dark months – especially in the last few years, as we’ve all become accustomed to spending plenty of time in our homes. Regardless, it’s time to clean up the clutter we’ve accumulated during the wintertime. The sun is coming back out with a fresh springtime breeze in its path, and it’s time to freshen up our homes along with mother nature!

There are many benefits to conducting a thorough spring home cleaning, outside of the pure bliss of having a spotless living space to enjoy. If you so choose, spring cleaning time is the perfect opportunity to rid yourself of some extra household goods that may not be serving your household anymore. We’re talking anything from silverware to furniture, to decorative goods, or even that old unopened can of paint in your storage that you’re never going to use – all of this and more can be donated to a donation center (hint – that’s us!). In the end, you’re helping yourself, your community, and your environment.

Clean House, Clean Mind

There is a long-researched correlation on the positive impact that decluttering and cleaning has on a person’s mood and physical health. If you’ve felt depressed or fatigued during the winter, science suggests that cleaning and decluttering a messy house could be key in aiding your mentality – and no, this is not a stretch. There are many published studies, books, and articles that explain the connection between the two.

The cleanliness of our living environments has a huge impact on the state of our mental and physical wellbeing, and the link between them is often left unconsidered – but it is important! Important enough for entire Netflix shows to be based on this idea (Marie Kondo is a queen).

Think about it: all of the allergens constantly floating around, the stress of not being able to find your keys on a disastrous kitchen table, or the annoyance of coming home to a messy room with an unmade bed after a long day of work. Imagine all of these problems, eliminated? Spring cleaning is a spring essential, and nothing can convince us otherwise.

Helping Your Community

Aside from bringing you a sense of happiness and stress relief, the benefits of decluttering your home can have a wider reach than serving to clean out your personal physical/mental space. If you do happen to have a collection of no-longer-cherished goods after a spring cleanout, there are numerous organizations, locally and nationally, that accept a wide variety of donated home goods, so that these items can be given another chance in a new home.

These organizations give people an opportunity to buy home-related goods when they otherwise may not have been able to, as well as provide their communities with improvement programs, grants, and a variety of rehabilitative options.

Wasteful Facts

Did you know that the average American produces over 1700 pounds of trash per year, which is about three times the global average? America’s obsession with new fads and consumerism has been a large contributing factor to the ever-expanding landfills that continue to push their capacities.

Landfills are growing every year – as the threat of global warming and natural disasters looms over our heads (hello, 2022!), we, as a global community, must take it upon ourselves to mitigate these obstacles and do some damage control – which starts in our homes. In 2017, Americans threw away 12.2 million tons of furniture – with over 80% of it going to landfills. We have to change that.

If every person made an effort to reduce their own personal consumption or consumed more sustainably (i.e giving to and buying from donation centers), trash volume in landfills would reduce significantly, eliminating at least some of the harm that the environment has endured from the cost of modern-day living.

Let Re-Source York Help with Spring Cleaning

 

Re-Source York is one of many non-profit organizations that accepts home goods in the hopes of giving them new life. With its proceeds, Re-Source York makes a quarterly donation to Bell Socialization Services. Much of our support helps fund their family shelter, York’s only 30-day emergency shelter for homeless families. More than just providing shelter, Bell also provides its clients with mental health assistance, and intellectual/disability support, and aids them in regaining independence in the community.

There are two Re-Source York locations, both of which accept a variety of home-related goods. One of our Re-Source York locations collects and sells items such as home furnishings, decorations, kitchenware, toys, small appliances, and more. Our other store on East 9th collects supplies that aid in building, renovation, and home improvement; it has a large inventory with a vast variety of items.

Why Not Donate? It’s Easy!

Re-Source York makes donation easy by picking up large items from donors who are not able to transport them! Just visit the Re-Source York website and fill out a donation pickup request form. Our locations are conveniently located in North and West York – so check out our business hours and feel free to drop off any smaller donations at the rear of either store. Just be sure to appropriately categorize donation type by store (as described above).

If you don’t have any tangible items from your home to donate but still want to help, no worries! Re-Source York accepts monetary donations, as well as donations of time through volunteer work. It truly does take a village, and we accept and appreciate donations of any type.

Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring (Cleaning!)

The long and hard winter that plagues the North-Eastern US is finally looking to be over. It’s time to say goodbye to vegging out on the couch during a cold snow day, and “hello!” to a long-overdue home refreshment. Spring cleaning can seem like an arduous task, but you will reap the benefits of it each time you walk into a clean and worry-free sanctuary.

Moreover, if you’re able, make it a goal to donate any items that you no longer have interest in, rather than throwing them away. Keeping donation facilities stocked and our landfills free of unnecessary trash needs to be the goal!

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