Did you know medicine has an expiry date? To kick off this challenge I decided to start with an easy one with no emotional attachment : the medicine cabinet! I feel like a lot of people let medicine accumulate and forget about it later. Medicine is also something you should dispose of very carefully. There are various programs across Europe (You can have a look at medsdisposal.eu). Most pharmacies also take medicine back to dispose of properly. One thing is certain, do NOT flush it down the toilet or put it in the bin.

2. BATHROOM CABINETS

Don't you feel like things just slowly migrate to your bathroom cabinets? My tip for this category is to remove everything you're not using on an everyday basis. That way you'll see more clearly what you have and actually USE your products. I'm sure everyone also has a few out of date products (I know I have!) So take the opportunity to empty & recycle them.

3. FRIDGE & FREEZER

Do you use your freezer a lot ? I do and still often things get forgotten. I tried to incorporate what I found in there (mostly veggies) to some soup recipes! Their texture doesn't really matter and they help bulk up those warm autumn meals.

4. PANTRY

I don't think I've ever seen a house where the pantry wasn't full of forgotten items. If you have not opened non perishable food, you can donate it to charities. People always think of donating food during the holidays, but people are hungry all year long. For my part, I also tried to integrate some items in my meal prep. I had a can of butter beans that I didn't know what to do with, so I found a salad recipe that included them! I will be honest though, that's also how I discovered that I don't like butter beans.

5. KITCHEN TOOLS & CONTAINERS

Do you use all the kitchen tools you have? When I moved abroad a bought so many things I thought a "proper adult" would need, but then never used some items, or replaced them with actual good quality ones. These items could still be useful to someone though. There are plenty of Facebook groups for free exchanges, so you could join one and see if someone wants your items. If not, you can donate them to a charity shop and in the last resort, bring them to a recycling centre!

6. UNDER THE SINK

I'm a firm believer that eco friendly living starts by using what you have first, and then finding new better solutions. So for me this day is more about putting forward the things I need to use up, and use that first! You can keep your empty spray containers to reuse with my own DIY cleaner recipes!

7. ELECTRONIC ITEMS & GADGETS

How many rogue cables do you have lying around? I know my mom has boxes of them. Day 7 was all about going through your electronics and sorting out what can still be useful. For the rest of the items, there are loads of collection points where they accept small electronics for recycling. A good place to start looking is at your local electronics store. They even sometimes have cash back programs!

8. BOOKS & MAGAZINES

Do you even read all of the books you have? I've got so many I bought but never ended up reading. This day was for sorting through your book collection, see which books you still want to read or re-read. You can try selling your other books to a secondhand book store (I made a massive 3€ this way!) or donate them to a charity shop.

9. STATIONNARY

I realized that I have a surprising amount of pencils & notebooks with just one page used... Stationary can get really messy really fast, but it's so satisfying to sort through. Test out all the pens, recycle what doesn't work or you don't need anymore. I also ripped out the one used pages of my notebooks, so I can donate them or start then fresh.

10. GREETING CARDS

The one item you always keep, but do nothing with. I totally get the guilt over getting rid of sentimental things, but we have to be ruthless! My own personal method for decluttering cards is that I keep only the ones with a very personal or touching message inside. Then I recycle all the rest!

11. DESK AREA

In retrospect this day was pretty similar to my stationary day, and I ended up swimming in pencils. A good few pen companies have recycling programs where you can bring back your old ones (from all brands!). So I recommend sorting through your pen/pencil collection, and weeding out what you what you won't use anymore. Then Google away to see where your nearest collection point is !

12. LINEN CLOSET & STORAGE

Who here likes scratchy old towels? Not me. If you've got scratchy or towels that you're not using anymore they might be useful to someone else. Multiple animal shelters take in towels, duvets & pillows and you'd be helping a good cause. If they are completely beyond saving you can also bring them in for fabric recycling.

13. JUNK DRAWER

Ahhh the infamous junk drawer....What we put in there changes from person to person, but I think it's safe to say coins are usually hang out in there. Did you know that a lot of charities accept donations in foreign coins? If you've got a bit of leftover money from a trip, and you know you won't use again, why not donate it?

14. PAPERWORK

I dreaded paperwork day for quite some time. I think everyone has a pile or drawer or file somewhere that needs organizing but never get around to it. I'm certainly not the best with paperwork, but my tip would be to take it little by little and put a TV show in the background. Once you're done, make sure you shred the papers you don't need anymore or use a confidential paper bin, and off you go.

15. PURSES & BAGS

I certainly realized that day that I have a black bag problem. Look at your purses & bags, does anything come back often? Do you have any "duplicates" that you could do without? It's time to say goodbye! I'm sure you local charity shop will be very happy to receive them.

16. SHOES

Put all your shoes and boots side by side. Does anything similar come back often? I don't think we realize the absurdity of accumulating so much stuff until we're literally faced with it. I certainly don't. Don't be afraid to bring some shoes or boots to a cobbler for repair, and if you're ready to part ways with a few pairs, bring them to your local charity shop!

17. ACCESSORIES

Keeping with the "things I own duplicates of" theme...that day I realized I have 3 almost identical brown belts. And a whole lot of items I NEVER wear. We all have the few odd accessories we never actually use, so it's time to say goodbye. If they are in good condition you can try and sell them, or bring them to a local charity shop. Otherwise some recycling centres might be able to take them depending on where you live!

18. JEWELRY

How much cheap jewelry have you been buying over the years? How often has it actually been worth it? Sometimes, but not often...Today it's time to go through your jewelry collection and remove the things that are broken or where parts of a pair are missing. Donate what is in good condition, but did you know that you can also donate the rest? Crafting groups are happy to collect mismatched earrings and jewelry parts to reuse in their crafts!

19. HAIRCARE PRODUCTS & TOOLS

Hair things are always appearing everywhere around my house... I accumulate so many but I certainly don't use them all, and I can't be the only one! Go through your haircare products today, and get rid of things you don't use! You can recycle hard plastics like hair combs and some other hair accessories, or donate what is still in good condition.

20. SKINCARE PRODUCTS

Start trying those samples you've had for ages and clear up your drawers. There might also be products you just know you won't use, so give them away (I had backups accumulated but since making the change to green beauty, I'm just not interested so I will donate them to a women's shelter.) Also make sure to check for expiry dates and dispose of the expire contents responsibly. But make sure to recycle the packaging of course.

This was one of the hardest categories for me. I wrote a blog post a few weeks ago on how to reuse or repurpose makeup items that didn't work for you. You can also give products to your friends if they want them. And of course, if you have things that are still new or very gently used, you can donate them to a women's shelter in your area. What's also important is to make sure to toss expired makeup and recycle the containers.

22. NIGHT STANDS / BEDSIDE TABLES

It's time to tackle your bedside table(s). Mine tends to get cluttered so easily and so fast. My only advice for this one is to keep only items you need when you're in bed (a book, your evening skincare products, etc.) and everything else can find a home somewhere else.

23. DRESSER

Am I the only one who feels strange about donating underwear? I mean that's the one thing I certainly would not want second hand, but I don't want to just throw them away. When tackling the dresser I wanted to find a solution to this underwear issue. Have you ever heard of Smalls for All? They collect used bras & underwear in the UK and send them to Africa to communities in need. If you're not in the UK, I know that in Canada the Breast Cancer Society organizes collections too and I'm sure the equivalent is true for a lot of countries!

24. CLOSET

I know the closet is a big chunk to put in one day, but it's possible! I try and go through my closet at least once per season and remove some items I'm not wearing or that I have duplicates of. A good question to ask yourself is "Would I buy this again today?". I usually separate the clothes I want to give away between "In good shape" and "Things I just want to get rid of". I will donate everything that's still good enough for someone else to wear and I bring the rest to a fabric recycling collection point.

25. TRAVEL ITEMS

Go through the place where you store your travel bits and bobs and see if there's anything that comes back often, or is no longer usable. For me, I found about 20000 electric plug adapters and a few hundred old toothpaste tubes (yes, I am exaggerating). I also found a bunch of expired makeup products. What is it for you that seems to be multiplying? Keep only the things you will realistically use and donate what can serve someone else. I decided to only keep a few converters and to bring the others to an electrical recycling collection point.

26. DECORATIONS & GIFT WRAPPING

In all honesty this isn't a very challenging category, as I own roughly 1 garland and 1 Christmas candle. But I know in my parent's house they accumulate very very fast. So one tip I have is to sort out what you can realistically reuse. You can also donate decorations to charity shops ahead of Christmas! And you know, maybe challenge yourself to only use what you already have next time ?

27. STORAGE AREA

There's so much clutter hiding away where you can't see it. So it's time to tackle those boxes, or that cupboard. A few things that I noticed popping up was smaller appliances that I haven't used in a while, like a little heater or a small travel iron. One easy thing to do with them is to sell them! You might not become a millionaire with the profits but it does add up. You then contribute to giving this item a new home and a new life while still getting rid of what you don't need. I like using Facebook marketplace to sell, it goes super fast!

28. CLEANING SUPPLIES

Like under the sink, this is an area where I firstly focus on using what I have, and then changing for better. I have noticed I have a large enough sponge collection to last me a lifetime...I am determined to use them since I already have them. Once I finish my industrial products I will keep the bottles to reuse for DIY cleaning products. It's my way of not creating waste with them!

29. FREE FOR ALL - I DID MY WALLET

Today is a free for all day, which means you can choose what to declutter. Who else's wallet is full of store cards and receipts and things they never use? I feel like I'm carrying around so many useless things all the time! You can choose to keep only the ones you need regularly, or maybe try a store card app! They allow you to store and register your bar code and loyalty card number and you can use it instead. I am downloading one called Stocard as I'm writing this. I'll keep you posted.

30. FREE FOR ALL - I DID MY GARDENING KIT

I basically cleaned everything up and organized my items properly. I topped up my plant pots with fresh soil and mixed in a little plant food. I've made sure that all my plans are currently happy and healthy so they can bring life to my newly decluttered flat.