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With cases on the rise in most American cities, the time for a return to the office is not as close as we thought. Since working from home and online schooling have become the new norm, let’s take some time to really clean up our office, craft and home-school areas for success in 2021. It’s never too late to start, right?
Going Green at Home
There are a variety of ways you can do your part to go green in 2021 and help preserve the planet. Check out our tips below.
Some of these may be more challenging than others, such as growing your own produce or, in my case, only driving the speed limit. When it comes to the extra paper lying around my office space, however, I can tackle going paperless or at least minimize the paper around the house, no problem.
Reducing Those Paper Piles
Most of our offices and schools had a recycle bin next to their trash cans. Now, being at home, more of the responsibility falls on us to keep it going! I know I have slipped a bit on this but with 2021 here, it’s ok – we all get a fresh start! Start small and work your way up.
A great place to start is by reaching out to your banks, utilities and other companies that send you mail, and telling them you want to go paperless. Most companies give you this option, so instead of receiving your statements or bills via snail mail, you get emails or mobile notifications when bills are due, when you’ve paid them, or when your favorite store has special sales and promotions. This decreases the amount of extra paper you have lying around and piling up, therefore, saving the trees!
When it comes to the paperwork you cannot just toss and need on file, there are many computer programs that are intuitive and work great for transferring all of that important information to keep it on hand via your computer or smartphone. Check out these helpful tools, thanks to Google.
Of course, there are always going to be some documents that you can’t just enter into a computer program or scan in and save as PDF files. Things like deeds, birth certificates, car titles, etc. For these, we can organize and prioritize what we do and do not need a physical copy of using some of mDesign’s office organization products.
Storage Solutions with Style
The days of standard metal filing cabinets are a thing of the past. There are so many more ways to organize your important files that are both functional and stylish. Wall mount baskets from mDesign can hold several items: envelopes, folders, notebooks, binders, and more. These look great when hung on the wall one above the other or side by side for added storage. Designate a basket for holding specific information, that way when you need it, you know exactly where to find it. Plus, hooks provide storage for scissors, keys and all those other pesky items that always seem to go missing.
A really unique and trendy way to store extra items is a wire end table from mDesign. They have an open-wire design that makes seeing contents inside the table easy, and you can also use the top for décor and other office essentials. The table comes in black, as well, to match your other items. It will look sharp when used in conjunction with the wall mount wire bins, too! Another great way to use this table is next to a chair or couch in your home office or anywhere throughout your house; it makes a nice accent piece.
Organized DIY
For the crafters out there, we didn’t forget about you! If you’re big on DIY-ing, run an Etsy shop, or just love a good craft every now and then, you may have accumulated quite a collection of crafting material. While you’re decluttering your office space, why not get a handle on your crafting items, too? Often times the space we use for our office supplies is also the home for our crafting materials, so minimizing clutter for both only makes sense. Baskets can be used in any room of the home, so why not for your DIY supplies?
Since we are on the wire basket trend, let’s keep that going. Metal wire storage baskets come in all shapes and sizes and can be used to hold a multitude of items, such as yarn, tape, scissors, notepads, sketchbooks, washi tape, Play-Doh, paint, glue, and more! I particularly like mDesign’s 12 x 9 x 6 in. basket because that particular size is great for holding a large number of objects without taking up too much space on your shelves or in your drawers.
In the spirit of going green, as you’re going through and recycling old papers, recycle some of the old crafting supplies you don’t need or use, or that are not even usable anymore as well. An environmentally conscious way to go about disposing of these items is to do a simple look up of how to dispose of certain chemicals. For example, reach out to your community to find out the safest way to get rid of unused paint. If your community does not have a paint recycling program or the paint is unusable, pour the paint into a plastic container filled with cat litter or paper scraps, let the paint dry, and then throw it away in the trash.
Check out our site to see the various other sizes and styles of wire baskets to create a customized storage solution that fits your needs and the amount of space you have to work with in your home office, craft room, or just generally throughout your home!
Sorting through, recycling, and reorganizing your craft and office areas are just the decluttering and environmentally proactive changes that we can all make in 2021, so why not start today? You can do this!
Check out our full New Year blog series for more inspiration.
Laura Sirk is a Marketing Manager at mDesign and loves all things organization and cats. I’m one cat away from being a cat lady. MEOW!
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Posted: Jan 12, 2021
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