Look around you. What surrounds you brings joy? If not, then maybe it’s time to clean up. Marie Kondo, a space organiser, helps many people clean up their lives with her best-selling book Cleaning Magic and later the Netflix show Cleaning with Marie Kondo. Her main principle in cleaning is to leave only what brings joy. If you are a vegan or vegetarian, then you have already put your diet in order. Now is the time to take care of your home and life. Here are some kitchen, wardrobe, and digital space cleaning tips that Marie Kondo would be proud of.
1. Cookbooks
How many times have you prepared a recipe from a free mini booklet you received at the fair? Probably not so much, if at all. And yet, it remains there on the shelf, wedged among your cookbooks that slowly roll to one side, constantly challenging the weak bookshelf.
You don’t need an entire library to make great vegan meals, especially if you have internet access. Choose 4-6 books by authors you trust and keep only those. All you need is 1 fun book, 1 weekday food book, 1 baking book, an all-in-one book with an extensive glossary, and 2 additional books (1 book that makes you really happy and 1 book about your favorite type of cuisine).
2. Basic spices and seasonings
Do you get an avalanche of spices every time you open your kitchen cabinet? Are there jars out there sitting on half-empty jars with who-knows-what contents?
Dried ground spices don’t last forever! The longer they sit on the shelf, the less they exude flavor. When it comes to sauces, there are some things that even antibacterial fridge temperatures can’t save. Better ignore this special craft sauce that beckons you to the farm shop and stick to the basic rules of storage and expiration dates. So you save money and the kitchen in order.
Don’t wait for spices and sauces to go bad one by one – throw out the ones you don’t use in one fell swoop. Otherwise, as Marie Kondo says, “Clean a little bit every day and you’ll always clean.”
3. Kitchen appliances
If you don’t have enough space on your countertop to comfortably place a cutting board and roll out dough, chances are there are too many electrical appliances.
Sure, they can come in handy, but most of us don’t need an arsenal of kitchen power tools to create restaurant meals. Only those utensils you use every day should be stored on the countertop. And while we’re not telling you to throw away your dehydrator or ice cream maker, at least put them away for storage.
You may be asking, “What if I want to make kale cookies or ice cream next summer?” As Marie Kondo notes, “Fear of the future is not enough to keep unnecessary possessions.”
4. Wardrobe
It’s safe to say that if you’re a vegan, then these leather boots probably don’t give you any joy. Not those ugly wool sweaters or the oversized T-shirts that were handed out to you at every event you participated in.
Yes, clothes can make you feel sentimental, but Marie Kondo can help you get through it. Take a deep breath and remember Kondo’s wise words: “We must choose what we want to keep, not what we want to get rid of.”
Donate clothes made from animal materials and maybe accept that you don’t need that college t-shirt to remember this joyful time. After all, the memories stay with you.
5. Social networks
Scroll down, down, down… and what was supposed to be a five-minute break from Instagram turned into a twenty-minute dive down the social media rabbit hole.
It’s easy to get lost in an endless universe of cute animal photos, funny memes and interesting news. But this constant stream of information can tax your brain, and often after such a break, you return to business even more exhausted than when you were going to take a break.
Time to tidy up!
Unfollow accounts that no longer bring you joy, and if that includes friends, then so be it. As Marie Kondo advises: “Leave only what speaks to your heart. Then take the plunge and drop everything else.” Delete the accounts you tend to scroll through and keep the ones that provide useful information and the ones that really make you smile.