Dishwasher Energy Diet

In order to be "green" you might be curious to know if washing dishes by hand or in the dishwasher is better. Here are the helpful hints:

• Dishwashers made before 1994 use 12 or more gallons of water, those after 1994 use between 7-10 gallons.
• Wash only full loads.
• do not use the temperature boost setting: heating water is about 80% of the energy used
• fill the soap dispenser about 2/3 full for best performance
• air dry the dishes, or use the "no-heat" dry setting
• don't rinse the dishes before loading, just scrape them
• use shortest possible cycle
• keep filter clear of food particles

A study conducted in Germany reports an average of 27 gallons of water to wash a 12 piece place setting by hand. The automatic dishwasher using the same number of equally dirty dishes used only 4 gallons. Looks like the automatic dishwasher wins!

Easy Organizing Step by Step

Organizing an entire house is too much to think about at one time. One a piece of paper, map out the activities and "stuff" you need for those activities. Spend a day getting all the "stuff" in the right room. Forget about what it looks like for now. Choose the function of the room first before concerning yourself about it looking nice.

After you have everything in its general location, take an inventory. See what you have multiples of, what is broken beyond repair, and what you still need storage containers for. I'll guide you through the rest of the system next week.

Tuesday Tips

So many people I meet are drowning in paper! Here are a few tips to tame the paper tiger:

1. We've all heard to only touch a paper once. So really do it. If it's information you can easily access elsewhere (on line for example) ditch the paper and just bookmark the page and add it to your favorites.

2. Recycle any catalogs immediately upon bringing in the mail. All companies have websites and if you really need to order something, do it paperlessly.

3. Reduce your "to do" list by taking action on items immediately. Procrastination leads to inaction!

Have a great day,
Pamela

Creative Uncluttering for Cash

If you are an avid reader, books are found all through the home. However, you might not really NEED all of them...if you reference things often, create a special section on your bookshelves for the reference books and group them according to category.

If you need cash more than keeping the books for reference, you can sell them. Amazon.com is a great place to sell your old books. You can also check out usedbookscentral.com

Clearing the Clutter

What kinds of clutter are you tolerating in your home? Stand in your most cluttered area for five minutes. Don't do anything, just absorb its energy. Now stand for five minutes in your least cluttered area. If your whole house is cluttered, stand outside for 5 minutes. See how you feel now. When I do this exercise with my clients, the resposes are usually along the lines of : "I felt like I was choking in the cluttered room, hopeless and lost. Outside I could breathe and feel the clarity."

Take a few mintues to see what kinds of clutter you are tolerating:

• no garbage can in the laundry room for the lint
• junk mail
• piles of twisted cords and you don't know what they're for
• running out of AA batteries
• running out of essential kitchen supplies like milk
• socks that don't match and have no hope of finding a mate
• too many plastic bags
• bits and pieces to "something"
• items to give away but you haven't
• missing scissors, tape, staplers
• clothes that don't fit or don't flatter you
• wobbly chairs and tables
• too many clothes hangers (ususally tangled)
• junk drawers
• expired coupons
• outdated, expired cosmetics
• stacks of magazines or papers you'll never find time to read

Tolerating clutter takes up a lot of time and energy, but resolving it can be a quick process. Just choose five items from your personal list and vow to resolve them by Friday. You'll be glad you did!

Twofer Tuesdays

Twofer Tuesday: two organizational tips today on one of my favorite subjects, laundry!

Tip 1: Give each member of your family a mesh lingerie bag (available at Target, etc.) in which to put their dirty socks. This way no socks get lost and you have all the pairs available to fold. Another bonus: no socks stuck inside other pieces of clothing!

Tip 2: Schedule your laundry time in your dayplanner just like an appointment. When you drop off an item to the dry cleaners, they tell you a specific date your item is ready. Treat YOUR laundry the same way. Would you go to a dry cleaner that would clean your clothes when they got around to it or had a slow day? Twice a week is usually sufficient to handle laundry for a family of four.