Make a casual #cookout more #sustainable by using accessories such as compostable paper plates and bamboo cutlery and reusable linen or cotton napkins, Martha Stewart suggests. Another idea to make the event more #ecofriendly is to serve low-impact foodstuffs such as chicken, fish and vegetables rather than beef, says Move for Hunger, and use a gas grill to reduce carbon emissions. Save leftovers to avoid food waste, make recycling easy for guests by labeling waste bins and compost food scraps to enrich your soil at a later date. #CasualCookout
Tag: lifestyle tips
Throw a Summer Cookout in Style
If you want to have a cookout that’s “more of an event than just a few guys grilling some burgers,” Real Men Real Style says, send invites ahead of time via social media. Then, tidy up the yard to keep things presentable, #uncluttered and safe. Pick quality ingredients for the grill and dress for the event: “There are plenty of outfit options that will keep your temperature down while maintaining [a] level of style.” Breathable fabrics such as linen and cotton are best for tending a grill in hot weather, and light colors soak up less sun. On a budget? Shop for lightly used summery styles at the #thrift stores supplied by #donations to ClothingDonations.org. #ClassyCookout
What Would Marie Kondo Do?
Since the beginning of the year, Netflix’ hit show Tidying Up With Marie Kondo has inspired people all over the county to weed through — and get rid of — a lot of excess stuff. And we at the Organizing Blog couldn’t applaud more!
New converts to the KonMari Method — Kondo’s Shinto-inspired organizing system that recommends getting rid of anything that doesn’t add value to one’s life — are filling thrift and secondhand stores with their castoffs.
Just 35 years old, Kondo has been an organizing maven since she was 19. In 2011, she published The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, her seminal tome on the topic, in which she famously advises people to keep only the things that “inspire joy.”
That may mean different things to different people, she admits — and it could be a considerable amount if, say, you collect sneakers or maintain a library of books. At your own personal “click-point,” however, you will feel at ease with the things you have.
“The tidying process is not about decluttering your house or making it look neat on the spur of the moment for visitors,” she says. “You are about to tidy up in a way that will spark joy in your life and change it forever.”
Kondo offers six steps to follow in creating a more serene, decluttered life, asking the new acolyte to envision his or her ideal lifestyle and describe it in words or pictures. Once that streamlined, tidy new lifestyle is clear, the decluttering can begin.
The KonMari Method’s strategy differs from most by asking you to “Tidy by category, not location.” That means whatever kind of item it is — clothing, books, shoes, sporting goods — you must put everything in a big pile and sort it in a single session.
Kondo tells you to pick up each item in that pile and ask yourself if it sparks joy. If it does, it can eventually be filed in a neatly-stacked drawer, shelf or closet. If not, it goes into the “donate” or “trash” pile. The strategy can be jarring, but cathartic.
“If done correctly, it’s incredibly liberating,” says Today Show blogger Meena Hart Duerson. “The joy I felt when I picked up my favorite jeans became a barometer. Suddenly, I wanted everything in my closet to make me feel like that.”
Give the KonMari Method a try. While it’s kind of the nuclear option in decluttering, its many converts swear by the difference they see in their spaces, lifestyles and moods. Just remember to contact ClothingDonations.org to pick up that extra stuff!