Organisation is Key

I have this idea in my head about "trash", that "trash" is some sort of umbrella term used by people who don't recycle properly, and that trash actually can be avoided with some effort.

Refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle is only half the battle of course, but basically, this is the idea that I have around "trash". If there is something I want to get rid of, like this little piece of wrapping paper from a candy bar, it doesn't become "trash". It's plastic. It goes into the plastic container recycling bin for my building.

This is true.

But ever since this idea entered into my mind that "trash" is not for me, I've also felt a little hindered.

Like, I don't have a trash can in the kitchen, I have recycling bins and a paper bag where food scraps are collected that then goes to become bio fuel. It also means that those little clips that go around the bread bags sometimes are left out on the counter, because they're not technically recyclable. When I have enough of this, I will collect it and take it out to the household waste bins where stuff like that goes. If I had a trash can, I'd end up putting recyclables into it, because I am lazy.

I don't have a trash can at my desk, because I've told myself that if I put one there, I will just end up filling it with things that are recyclable, but I won't sort them out.

Therefore, my work desk which is currently behind me when I sit at my play desk, becomes a dumping ground for things that many people would call trash, but my brain forces me to call recyclables.

I really do need a trash can by me desk though. And it feels like a failure that I'd need one. That I can't just take whatever thing I want to throw away into the kitchen and put in the recycling bin.

Today I am tackling the cupboard over my stove. The ventilation is up there, and the stove hood itself is sloping, so as much as I try to keep things on there so I reach them easily, they keep sliding off unless they’re placed against the very back. There are a lot of half-empty containers that I’ve bought refills for but never decanted, so some of that is going to happen that. I’m also going to not use this cupboard for spices anymore at all. More on that later.

Part of the issue is that even though I’ve kept my favourite spices on the hood, this place inevitable become untidy, and then I end up not using them as much. Preferably, hardly anything should be kept up here, to make it easier to clean. I do like the little jars though, because they make it so much easier to measure the amount etc.

So today I was at Ikea, bought six more of those little jars (I already had six as they come in sets of 3)

I also bought these two little bins. The plan was this:

Put most if not all spices into the little jars, and then put the jars into these wire bins, sorted into which I use the most. When cooking, take out the bin and season from there.

So. Most used: Basil, french mix, paprika, garlic, curry, salt n pepper of course and something called vegeta that I recently bought to replace a non-vegan mix I’ve used for a specific dish since I was basically moved from breast milk to solid. I never knew that one wasn’t vegan until very recently, but Vegeta is. It has glutamate and some other stuff and is nice for pasta and potato dishes.

Less used: Tandoori spice, Thyme, turmeric, sesame seeds, ginger and allspice.

It took some fiddling, but this is where spices now live. All the way in the back are spices I mostly only use around christmas plus a few refills, and then two rows of these bins.

Some other stuff moved into this cupboard instead, and it’s things I use very infrequently, like some baking tins and stuff for my food processor and rarely used tupperware. Medicine stuff also live here, at the top shelf.

I haven’t cleaned the stove hood yet, but it’s going to happen today or tomorrow.

It’s time to get going with the whole holiday coming up, since I am a busy person with very little time. My pantry is a mess:

Before cleaning my pantry cupboard

But after just 20 minutes or so:

After cleaning my pantry cupboard.

It’s still overstuffed, but this achieved several things:

* All snacks like crackers and cookies are in one place, making it easy to pick between them

* I got rid of half-empty containers of stuff that had expired

* Nuts are now grouped into that yellow box, so I can refill the jar on my desk easier.

* Things are no longer falling out when I open the cupboard door

It’s repotting day!

Time to put the newer additions into their more permanent homes. The High Chaparall was moved out of the tiny nursery pot straight into the cover pot, Snake Plant bigger pot as well,since it was just placed temporarily into a tiny one for transport.

And a bonus shot of Khazul my Dracaena Deremensis after it got misted a bit, who is finally pushing out some new growth (I think). See the tiny little leaf in the middle? I don’t think it was there last week.

This is Sir Väs, which is the Swedish name for the snake in Disney’s Robin Hood (the one where they’re foxes). It is, as you might have guessed, a Snake Plant, or Mother in law’s toungue.

Sir Väs seriously needs to be replanted. It was also a gift from my sister’s propagation efforts, and she didn’t have a lot of soil left before she gave it to me. Might do that this weekend.

I like this a lot more than I thought I would. The yellow in the green looks awesome, and I might want to have two of them at some point in the future because I think that would look good in a window with something shorter between. It also really likes sun, which means I can keep it in my sunny window so yay.

This is Porthos. It took me a while to realise that this, which I call Gullranka in Swedish is what people mean when they say Pothos plants. Golden Pothos became Porthos, because there are three vines (Porthos was one of the three musqueteers).

My sister again gave me this, that she cut and waterpropagated from her own and then stuck into soil right before she gave it to me. I then very unceremoniusly put the nursery pot inside a coffee mug, because she needs replanting but I’m out of pots so need a visit to a second hand store in the near future. He won’t actually be living where he is in this picture, it was just better lighting there.

This is Zeb. Zeb, named after the one and only Zeb Macahan, is a High Chaparall, or a Euphorbia Trigona, and is another plant that I inherited from my sister after she found herself having propagated too many.

He will get a new pot as soon as, well as soon as I get a pot that is size appropriate for him. I love him because he loves sun, and so few of my other plants do.

This is... well. This is Dracula. My Monstera Deliciosa that my sister gave me because she for some reason grew sick of it? I don’t get it. It’s not that grown yet, so it doesn’t have the cool fenestration yet, but fingers crossed.

This is Khazul. She is a Dracaena Deremensis. Her name makes me think of dragons (swedish word is drake, with a not silent e), so I named her after the best fictional dragon ever. Fight me on that if you will.

This is Jumbo. I first thought she was an Elephant Ear, but she’s actually an Arrowhead Vine, a syngonium podophyllum. She’s very very tiny, and I thought naming her Jumbo might inspire her to grow, but not so much yet. She is in a pot that’s a bit too big for her though, so she might be busy with her roots. I don’t know. She’s pretty, so she gets to take her time with producing actual vines.

This is Pelle. Pelle is an Asparagus Setaceus, which I think is called Asparagus Fern in English? We call it Feather Asparagus in Swedish (translated that is) which is a much nicer name. That long lighter stem; Pelle grew that one from start to finish in just four or five days, but I haven’t noticed anything more, so I guess we’ll see.

I’m worried he’s coming in crooked, but I guess time will tell whether that will be annoying or charming. If he’s going to spread out like other ferns I might put him in a hanging pot though.

This is Malin. Malin is a Peace Lily, and she has already rewarded me with two flowers, although they’re not very large yet and you can only see them when you’re getting close.

Peace lilies are awesome. Their leaves droop when they’re thirsty, and you can’t really over water it unless you really try. I’m still watching her carefully though. But she’s one of those nice big leafy plants that I just love.

This is Alice. Alice is my old Aloe Vera that I’ve had for years and years and years. I got some pups from my sister, and one of them survived into Alice, who has since given birth to several babies of her own. And then I almost killed Alice, so I had to cut off her stem and try to root what was left, along with her only two existing pups at the time, one of which didn’t have any surviving roots at all.

I have plants now. And one of them decided to flower.

Proving to myself that having a tidy home shouldn't be this hard, by cleaning my kitchen during my lunch break.

It took me 30 minutes. It’s not 100% everywhere, but it definitely makes me happier to go in there. And tomorrow, it’ll probs take me even less time.