My son’s camp (which I love love love) just mailed him some trophies from the summer. That, coupled with a recent question from a friend about what to do with her childhood trophies, made me think this might be a good time to talk about awards you or your child may have collected.
From t-ball participation medals to tennis tournament trophies, to the award you won at your place of employment, or a plaque received when you were honored, you might possess dozens of trophies, awards, plaques and medals.
Maybe they're displayed on a shelf, or maybe they're in a box in the attic. What can you do with all of these physical pieces of recognition? Do they need to be kept?
The answer, of course, is no.
Perhaps you are very comfortable tossing all but one or two, or perhaps you feel the need to keep every single one. I’m not implying you get rid of every award you’ve ever received (although some people do), but perhaps you can be selective. If there are a few of which you are particularly proud, or which hold special meaning for you, feel free to keep those as mementos -- if you have room to display them. But if you can’t even see what you have, or you don’t have room for what you have, or they’re stored in a box gathering dust…that’s when it becomes clutter and it's time to let 'em go.
What to do with decluttered recognition?
You have a few options for those you are able to purge. Look into returning trophies to the organization that gave them to you to be reused; drop them off at a donation center; or you can even ship them to Sports Medal Recycling or AwardsMall.com for recycling. Be sure to remove your name plate before doing any of these actions. And if you're feeling sentimental, you can snap a photo first!
Parting thoughts
1. If your child is okay letting his or her awards go, please try to be too.
2. If your grown children have left these items at home, box them all up and give to them to make a decision.
3. If these items are sitting in a box and aren't important enough for you to display, then they likely aren’t important enough to keep.
4. I am giving you permission not to keep these items. In turn, I hope you will permit yourself to follow through.
*A note to the distributors of these items: Could we cut down? Share verbal recognition? Maybe just a certificate? Use the same trophies year after year for photo-ops? Are there any other creative solutions that will save your organization money, while also cutting down on clutter for recipients and even waste for the environment?
#toomanyawards #participationtrophy #medalsawardstrophies #homeorganizing #professionalorganizer #napopro #organizect #lessismore #permissiontopurge #loveuseneed #organizedlife #clutterkicker #clutterkickerct
Comments