Looking at the photo, I hope it’s obvious why these had to go. They’re peeling and completely unusable. I even included a picture of the plastic debris they leave behind every time I wear them.

I love the romanticism of keeping and using old, worn things. But there’s a difference between worn and disintegrating. I can’t justify holding onto something that leaves flakes of plastic everywhere.

These are the Urbanears Plattan 2 BT headphones. While they lasted, they were perfectly fine. I got a lot of use out of them.

Originally I thought I had owned them much longer, but while writing this post I went digging through old email confirmations and found the purchase: January 2020 from Nordstrom Rack for $24.97. Their original MSRP was around $100, so at the time it felt like a good deal.

That means they lasted almost five years.

Which honestly isn’t terrible. But it still feels frustrating that they’re being thrown out because the plastic coating started shedding like reptile skin. If a hinge had snapped or the foam had worn out, that would feel more understandable. This just feels wasteful.

At least I used them until they deteriorated. That’s the goal, right? Buy something you need, use it until it no longer works, and then replace it.

I went through a lot of mediocre headphones before these: cheap Amazon pairs that broke quickly, wired ones that squeezed my jaw, generally unreliable options. So this wasn’t an impulse purchase. I genuinely needed them.

Still, it might be worth doing a little research next time to find something longer-lasting or easier to repair. Then again, maybe nearly five years is actually decent for headphones in the 2020s.

Either way, these are clearly done.

Oh boy. This is why I do this. So I can reflect and realize I’m being ridiculous.

These are different pieces of ephemera I used as bookmarks. Business cards. Ticket stubs. Freebie bookmarks. Things that were never meant to be permanent, but somehow became part of my life anyway.

I have so many more that aren’t pictured here. These were supposed to be the easy ones. And even then, I waffled.

They didn’t cost me anything. They were incidental. Passive acquisitions. But they accumulated anyway.

I don’t need them.

This might not be the last pass. But it’s a start.

I hate this sweat-stained, ratty duvet cover.

It somehow moved with me twice.

I didn’t always hate it, but the resentment grew. It became stained with my ex’s sweat, and it didn’t get washed as much as it should have. If I didn’t wash it, nobody did, and we both worked full time. Putting the duvet back into the cover alone felt like an impossible task when someone could have been helping.

I stopped using it regularly by Fall 2020. I have another one now that I prefer. It fits better with my current space, and it’s easier to put the duvet inside.

If this one weren’t so stained, I would have offered it in a Buy Nothing group. I considered donating it to an animal shelter instead, however, my mom visited to help me with some things, and she threw it out. :(

But maybe it will help you.

I went through my bathroom. These were in a set of cabinets, and items I could easily declutter on the first pass.

Very quickly,

Old Spice Timber Deodorant (Aluminum Free) – $7.99 Native Aluminum Free Travel Size Deodorant – $3.99 Lume Whole Body Travel Deodorant – $4.49

I learned I can’t use aluminum-free deodorants. Also, at the store, I thought I would love a tiny little travel deodorant. Even if the formula worked, the size is hard for my meaty pits to manage.

Aromatika Reed Diffuser Refill – $16.99 I bought this to refill a spooky reed diffuser container I got from Aldi years ago. I hated the smell. Too sharp. That’s what I get for buying blind from Amazon.

Wet Ones Antibacterial Hand Wipes – $1.99 I thought this would be cute in my purse. It was awful. The red dye from the packaging stained everything, and the liquid leaked. They dried out too.

Hawaiian Tropic Sport SPF 30 – $16.99 Banana Boat Sport SPF 30 – $1.99 Trader Joe’s Daily Facial Sunscreen – $8.99

I didn’t use any of these in time. They were all nearly full. I think my mom might have given me the Hawaiian Tropic spray as part of a multi-pack, but I also could have easily bought it myself. Either way, I didn’t need this many.

Body Glide Foot Glide Anti-Blister Balm – $9.00 I’m sensitive to blisters, but I still never used this. It melted in my bag, and the label flaked off and stained everything.

Monday Smooth Shampoo (Travel Size) – $3.00 Monday Smooth Conditioner (Travel Size) – $3.00 I bought these for travel. They were fine. But it was so hard to get the product out of the packaging that I gave up before finishing them. They weren’t good enough to justify the fight.

Each of these items seemed harmless on their own. But ultimately, I didn’t need any of them.

I probably purchased most of these for the shopping high. Travel is my favorite excuse, even though I already own refillable travel containers. I always have sunscreen. I didn’t need backups. I didn’t need travel sizes. I didn’t need reed oil.

It was so much money for nothing.

All of these add up to $78.42. EMBARRASSING.

Purchase Price: $78.42 Total Cost So Far: $864.64

I love stationery and can be ridiculous. I tested all the pens in my desk.

The ones above didn't work anymore. Trash.

These all work, but I don’t love them. They’re fine. Nothing is wrong with them. But I have others I prefer. I’m bringing these to work, where pens are communal and anonymous.

These are in limbo. I love a randomly branded pen. A hotel. A restaurant. A place I’ve been. It feels like proof of passage, even if I don’t remember when or how I got it. But I don’t love how they write. I’ll probably bring these to work too.

This is a nice set I’ve never used. I don’t remember when I got it. It may have belonged to one of my late family members. I want to make sure no one in my immediate family wants them or feels attached to them. If not, I will donate them to a secondhand store, or to my friend’s free pantry and clothing closet.

They’ve sat untouched for years. I don’t need to be their keeper if they mean more to someone else, or if they can simply be used. I'm not going to go into depth about how this is overconsumption, but it definitely is. I have a problem. I need to be mindful.

I have too much drinkware.

At one point, I was borderline obsessed with La Colombe. I still like their coffee, but I don’t feel that same attachment anymore. Back then, I would tack on branded travel mugs, diner mugs, and whatever extra merch they were offering onto my orders.

The amount of money I spent on that kind of thing? Embarrassing.

This is a KeepCup with the La Colombe logo. I got it in 2019, and at the time I liked it. It felt sleek. Functional. Like part of some imagined version of myself.

But I didn’t need it then, and I definitely don’t need it now.

The real issue is that it smells.

No amount of scrubbing, soaking, or cleaning has fixed it. I’ve tried vinegar, baking soda, dish soap and more. The lid holds onto the smell no matter what I do, and somehow even the glass started to smell, which feels impossible.

At some point, I realized I was spending more time trying to fix this cup than it was ever worth.

So I tossed the lid and recycled the glass.

And yet…

I’m still holding onto the rubber sleeve.

It doesn’t smell. It’s completely fine. For a moment, I considered buying a replacement cup and lid just to keep using the sleeve. Which is ridiculous. I already have more than enough travel mugs, and this one didn’t even keep my coffee hot very well.

But I’m letting myself keep the sleeve for now. Maybe it fits something else I already own. Maybe it doesn’t. This project exists because I can be irrational sometimes, and I’m not going to pretend otherwise.

This cup cost me $34.

That’s $34 to advertise for a company I liked at the time.

It’s gone now. Mostly.

This one was easy once I was honest with myself.

My ex bought this when we were together and left it behind when we broke up. That’s not the reason I’m getting rid of it, but it is part of how it ended up here.

I do like some Sleater-Kinney songs, but I don’t like them enough to justify keeping this record.

I gave it another listen just to be sure, and it confirmed what I already suspected: I have no real attachment to it. It doesn’t spark anything for me. Even without the association, I know I’d never reach for this over anything else in my collection.

And at the end of the day, that’s enough.

Not everything needs a dramatic reason to go. Sometimes it’s just not for you.

This didn’t cost me anything, but it has been taking up space. Unless a friend wants it, I’m planning to set it aside with a few other records and sell them to a local used record store.