Time For Spring Cleaning

5WPR is preparing for an upcoming office move.  We have simply (yes, again) outgrown our office and so will be moving in the next 60-90 days to a larger office in midtown Manhattan.  And of course along with moving comes the need to clean and throw away junk. And how many of us also need to do spring cleaning at home. Part of the process may be to start with small things, and work up to bigger items. Once you experience the liberation of tossing out those worn out gym shoes, you may find you can shoot for bigger items, such as that old six-slot toaster you’ve held onto thinking it might yet come in handy – but of course never will.

Of course, it helps a lot if you can repurpose the item. Shoes, for instance, can be recycled, even when they are malodorous and worn if you would like – Check out Nike’s shoe-recycling program: http://www.nikereuseashoe.com.  Of course, from the Salvation Army to many other programs there are plenty of programs which can be used for old clothing. And then there’s sports equipment. Did your daughter grow out of table tennis in favor of ballet? Ice hockey? Donate the now unused equipment to a shelter or community center. You’ll be happy to recoup the space in your garage.

Do you have a sizeable collection of bicycles in your garage? Have your children grown up and left the nest—and those bikes? Donate them to charity. If the bike can’t be salvaged, it’s likely the parts can still be saved and used toward the creation of a new bike for an underprivileged child.

Once you muster the courage to donate those old bicycles, you may want to think about that “spare” car in your garage that hasn’t run in several years. You got a new car and you tinker with the old one on an occasional Sunday, but let’s face it, you’ll never get that motor purring like it used to. Instead of letting that old car gather rust and consume space, why not pick up the phone and have Kars4Kids tow it away for you? Donated cars are rehabbed and sold or processed and recycled. You get a tax deduction and the proceeds benefit needy children.

There! Now that wasn’t so hard, was it? Take a break—you’ve earned it.