RW - foRWard Health & Wellbeing eMag - Feb26 - Flipbook - Page 49
Let’s be honest. Most
of us are not living in
minimalist show homes.
We are living in real
homes, with real lives,
and real “where did that
come from?” cupboards.
And we are not alone.
An Australia Institute
report found 88 percent
of Australian homes have
at least one cluttered
room, and the average
home has three or more
cluttered rooms. Another
survey report also
found clutter is often
concentrated in classic
drop zones like garages
or sheds, spare rooms,
plus the usual mix of
odds and ends, clothing,
and paperwork.
The good news is
decluttering does not
have to be extreme,
expensive, or joyless.
Done gently, it can make
your home easier to live
in and your brain feel like
it has stopped running
47 tabs at once.
Why decluttering feels
so good (it is not just
“tidy vibes”)
Clutter is not only visual.
It is mental load.
Research has linked
more stressful home
environments with less
positive daily mood,
and differences in stress
hormone patterns,
including cortisol, in a well
known study that used
home tours and daily
measures. More recent
research also continues
to 昀椀nd that home clutter
is associated with lower
wellbeing, with some
studies suggesting part of
the effect is tied to how
pleasant or “restorative”
the home feels.
And on a very human
level, clutter can make you
feel guilty. The Australia
Institute also reported
four in ten Australians
feel anxious, guilty, or
depressed about clutter in
their homes.
So yes, it makes sense
that clearing space can
feel like you have cleared
your head a bit too.
Decluttering has a
money angle (and a
planet angle)
Decluttering is also a
quiet 昀椀nancial strategy.
Many households have
items sitting unused, and
selling or passing them on
is becoming more normal.
One Australian survey
report found three
in 昀椀ve people have
used the second hand
economy to deal with
clutter, and nine in ten
of those using online
marketplaces agreed it
helped reduce clutter.
Globally, the “stuff cycle”
has real consequences.
The World Bank
estimates the world
generates 2.01 billion
tonnes of municipal
solid waste each year,
with at least 33 percent
not managed in an
environmentally safe
way. When it comes to
clothing, UNEP reports
92 million tonnes of
textile waste is produced
globally each year, and
the fashion and textiles
sector contributes a
meaningful share of
global impacts, including
greenhouse gas
emissions and pollution.
Decluttering by donating,
repairing, reselling, or
swapping is one small
way to slow the churn.
