Recycle Your Old Refrigerator

If you live in Los Angeles DWP is offering to pick up your old refrigerator and pay you $50. Buying an energy-efficient fridge can reduce your energy bill up to $200 a year. And with DWP hauling away your old fridge and paying you $50 it sounds like a pretty good deal!  

Got Drugs?

The National Prescription Drug Take Back program is April 27th from 10am-2pm. This is a great opportunity to clean out your medicine cabinet and responsibly dispose of your expired prescriptions.  Check out their website for a drop off location near you. 

Bag It! Is your Life Too Plastic?

Early this year I wrote about the documentary "Bag It".  I loved it so much it became the inspiration for my plastic bag dress that I wore to The Organizing Awards.  If you have not seen it I definitely recommend you check it out. It will forever change how you view plastic bags. Go see this movie! 

Clutter Into Cash

Ever wonder if the clutter in your house is worth something? No Wire Hangers will help you declutter and if you have anything that's valuable we'll help you sell it on eBay! For those of you who just need help with the selling we have two drop off locations in Los Angeles, Culver City for the west side and Silver Lake for the east side. For more information contact Wes at ebay@nowirehangersbiz.com. 

The Organizing Awards and The Plastic Bag Dress

Last month it was an honor to be nominated for "Best Green Organizing Service" at The 2013 Organizing Awards. Although I didn't take home the award it was definitely a night to remember. I attended the awards in the past and won in 2009. For years I thought about making my own dress but it was not until I saw the documentary "Bag It" that I found my inspiration. "Bag It" explores our dependency on single use plastics and how they affect us and the environment. Working as a green organizer I encourage my clients to bring their own bags not only to the grocery store but everywhere they shop. 

I knew that making my own dress was going to be a huge undertaking and I could tell my friends were thinking I might end up looking like a crazy bag dress lady. Luckily I think I pulled it off. The top had to be made on me, and was finished right before we left. The bottom I had been working on for a couple of weeks. It was a wonderful evening meeting other organizers and celebrating the organizing industry.  A big thanks to NAPO-LA for pulling the awards together.

Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That's over one million plastic bags used per minute. Plastic bags can take up to 1,000 years to break down, so even when an animal dies and decays after ingesting a bag, the plastic re-enters the environment, posing a continuing threat to wildlife. Less than 5 percent of plastic grocery bags are recycled in the U.S.

I'm looking forward to next year and brainstorming on what I'll use to construct my dress. 

Money Clutter

Hard to imagine clutter in the form of money, but it exists. People often ask me where is the best place to exchange foreign currency. If you live in Los Angeles check out Foreign Currency Express. It's the best place to exchange your money clutter.  

The 7th Annual Organizing Awards!

Tomorrow night, January 26th I will be attending The Organizing Awards. No Wire Hangers is honored to be nominated for "The Best Green Organizing Service". The best of the organizing world will be celebrated and Trish Sush from Clean House will be hosting. I'm going to wear something special, so stay turned for pictures! It's also not too late if you want to attend the awards, buy your ticket today! 

Spices Organized!

Spices, it's hard to remember what you have and what you don't. The other day while reorganizing my spices I created a list in Evernote of the spices I had in stock. That way while shopping I can check Evernote on my phone and never have duplicate spices again! 

Recycled Instruments

This is truly inspirational and amazing! 

Unclutter Your Receipts!

The number one type of clutter I encounter is PAPER. It comes in all forms, from junkmail to receipts. Most of it can be recycled unless you need to hold onto your receipts for tax purposes. If you do, you might want to check out ShoeBoxed. It's the best place to digitally hold all of your receipts and it's recognized by the IRS in case you were ever to be audited. The best part is at the end of the year you press one button and it exports the totals for all of the categories from that year. Doing your taxes has never been so easy! 

Broken Flowers

I love seeing professional organizers in film. Check out this scene from "Broken Flowers". 

Paper Karma

Junkmail; It affects all of us invading our mailboxes, covering our dining room tables and distracting us from what we really should be focusing on. Well guess what, there's an App for that. Paper Karma will stop the junk mail coming to your home. Just download the App and snap a picture of the junkmail you want to stop. Easy as pie. 

Libre Tea Bottle

Last week I attended The Green Festival. It featured a variety of products gearing toward the eco-conscious. One that caught my eye and wallet was the Libre Tea Bottle. The look and design had me at first sight but the function has me recommending it. 

StyleBook

Ok, don't get me wrong, I'm happy that I grew up in the time that I did, but damn I would have killed for this. Yes, it's finally arrived an app that organizes your wardrobe. I'm currently demoing Stylebook right now and so far so good. Here's a breakdown of the pros and cons:

PROS:
Mix and match all of the clothes in your wardrobe to create outfits.
Keeps track of what you own and eliminate duplicate buying.
Pack for a trip, so you wont forget anything.
Logs what looks you wore on what day in a calendar.

CONS
The App is $3.99, but actually could save you money but not buying items you don't need.
You have to photograph your entire wardrobe, but if you hire me I'll do it for you!

The Hanger Station

Where do you dry your clothes? I've seen plenty of people hang them in the doorways of their homes. It's a great option especially for those who do not have laundry rooms or live in small spaces. A product was recently brought to my attention that would be very helpful with "drying in the doorway situation".   The Hanger Station is series of plastic holes that stick above the doorway to keep the hangers in place. It's a great little solution that can solve an annoying problem.