Tuesday, April 1, 2008

DeJunktify Your Home

So I just had a dentist appointment yesterday (and no cavities--yay!). As a child, at the end of your dentist appt. you get to pull something fun (but junky) from the treasure chest. As an adult, you get a bag of goodies: a toothbrush, maybe a tiny tube of toothpaste, and a thing of floss. As you leave the dentist's office (or any dr.'s office), there is also usually a little basket of free samples. How many times did you take some of the samples? How many times did you really use those samples vs. letting them rot on a shelf full of other mini toiletries? Right now I'm going to count what I can find on my shelf within one minute--be right back...

...I'm back. So, what I found were 10 toothbrushes (I might have purchased 2 or so but the rest were free) .

So this time I took a stand: as the dental hygienist began to hand me my bag of free stuff, I flipped through it and took the only thing I really saw as valuable--the floss (they have the absolute best and is pretty much the only reason I agree to have my teeth cleaned twice a year). Since I own an electric toothbrush, do I really need a regular toothbrush EVERY time I visit the dentist? That goes for free samples at "checkout time" as well. I already like the toothpaste I use--I don't need some new funky flavor to try.

By refusing free stuff, not only am I helping reduce the waste that's produced in the world, but I'm also clearing the clutter in my house. Anyone need an extra toothbrush?

No comments: