10 expired or useless items that we often forget to throw away
Unless you carry out careful and systematic inspections on a very frequent basis, it is very easy for a large amount of objects to accumulate in the home that really are only good to be thrown away. Sometimes they are the objects that crowd a "drawer" which acts as a receptacle for any item we find around the house and don't know where to put - there is at least one cluttered drawer like this in every house, if not in every room! Other times, there are brochures, flyers and leaflets that we cram onto the shelves of a bookcase, without remembering later to throw them away.
And it doesn't stop there: accessories and items that are broken, clothes that no longer fit us, even ingredients in the kitchen or beauty products that have expired (and are therefore potentially even harmful to our health) can develop into a mountain of clutter. Read on, and maybe you will find things to throw away in order to make your life more manageable and without having to make too many difficult sacrifices.
Sun creams from the previous year: try to remember when they were opened and determine if the expiration date has already passed. When this happens, these products lose their effectiveness, therefor becoming useless for their primary purpose. You could help yourself by writing on them with a marker the day you opened one (or just look at the expiration date which is usually on the product somewhere).
In most rooms of the house it is easy to find paper publications of all kinds laying around: not only trade magazines, newspapers, but also advertising brochures, supermarket flyers and, last but not least, instruction manuals of devices that have already been thrown away. There is really no reason to keep these, but since it is paper, you could find a thousand different solutions to recycle them or make creative decorations from them.
Something similar to the instruction booklets also applies to power cables: maybe we threw away the mobile phone, the household appliance or any other device is long gone, but we still have the old cables for them in some drawer or box. The same for is true for audio, video or ethernet cables that accumulate over the years.
You will therefore need to make sure that these are working or that there are still some devices in the house for which they come in useful. If not, do not hesitate to throw them away.
If you have an office or a desk where you work or study, it is almost certain that in some drawer or on some shelf you will find old and non-refillable pens or highlighters, as well as notes with information that is no longer needed. In general, there will be a significant amount of stationery that is no longer usable or is simply broken. Arrange these carefully according to function, and discard the junk.
One of the objects that should be changed often in the bathroom are body scrub sponges: they are filled with dead skin cells and always remain a little damp. It is the perfect location for bacteria to grow in large numbers, endangering our health.
Garments like old socks, as well as tights and the like, steal space in a drawer even when they are ruined (and tights are almost impossible to repair) or are mismatched. In the case of unmatched socks, you could decide to keep them anyway for when you have to play sports or work at home or in the garden, or even for some creative work. Otherwise, they can be thrown away.
Another category of clothing that is not worth keeping when they wear out are bras: if they have lost the ability to support one's breasts, they will be uncomfortable and, above all, they will not help to prevent the breast tissue from sagging. If, on the other hand, they are in good condition but are too small or too large, or have a style that you no longer want to wear, think about giving them to those who are less fortunate!
In the kitchen there are always some ingredients that we tend to forget on some shelves: this is the case for spices, for example. Always check the expiration date before using a pack or bottle that has been on the shelf for a long time. Some, even if no longer suitable for the preparation of dishes, could be used for potpourri or for creating spicy and fragrant scent bags for drawers and cabinets (cloves, for example)!
Similarly, it often happens we exhume from the depths of the refrigerator a few jars of sauce, condiments or products in oil or vinegar that have expired. It is good to always put them in at the front of the fridge every time you clean it, so as to remind us to use them before it is too late.
Ceramic plates, bowls and cups are prone to chipping and cracking: the problem is not so much the look as it is for our health. When those objects are then wet, they become the ideal environment for the proliferation of bacteria in the chipped parts, as well as in the cracks. Best to avoid this, right?
It is worthwhile periodically inspecting the house looking for objects like these to make cleaning and mainting order simple and without having to sacrifice the things we like best!
