C is for car
Clutter happens everywhere and our cars are not
exempt. The critical problem in the
car arises when, in the event of a collision, all those cans, toys, hockey
sticks and containers become projectiles.
Organizing and keeping our vehicles clutter free is not just an
esthetics issue but one of safety.
This is one task that should not be postponed and
regular maintenance should become part of your weekly routine. Why not schedule 10 minutes each Friday to
maintain the interior of our vehicles. Starting the weekend with a safe environment, clean environment in
which to transport our families to and from fun events and errands is a great way to set the weekend off on a positive.
Start with the big purge and take everything out of
the interior of the vehicle. This will
take more than 10 minutes for most but we have to start somewhere. You cannot sort what you do not know you
have.
Vacuum the floors, wash the interior windows, and
get all the spills off the doors from the wee ones. Consider putting an old (but clean) blanket
underneath the kids car seats to catch spills, or solid coloured towels that
will match your car’s interior is you want something more attractive.
It will be essential in this process that nothing goes back in that is not absolutely necessary (a box of tissues perhaps). Any items you want in the car should
be in either the glove box or the centre console, CD’s can go into a visor
sleeve available at any Canadian Tire or Wal-Mart. Loose objects can create a
lot of damage in an impact. Protect yourself and your kids and contain
everything!
If you have children, you might want to invest in
organizers that hand on the rear of the driver and passenger seats that will
store some of the kids “stuff” while traveling. Empty them weekly – you will be horrified at
what can grow in those babies if an apple is left behind. When everyone is getting out of the car at the
end of the day, make it a habit that everyone grabs their stuff to take
in. Even the smallest child can carry a
book, or a container or Cheerios.
To organize the glove compartment, consider the
following:
- if you
have kids, wipes are a must but
make sure the container is not too large for the glove box,
- sanitizer,
- a
photocopy of your car insurance and registration in an envelope that is
easy to grab. The dollar store
often has clear pencil cases with a zipper and I love to use those to keep
documents, bags and a couple of Band-Aids in easy to access order.
Your glove compartment should not be full of maps
and junk that you seldom use. Unless you
use them weekly, and in this day and age of GPS, you likely do not, maps could
go into the box in the trunk if you use them occasionally. If seldom used – store them in the file
cabinet in the house or in the garage in a large Ziploc bag when your car
cleaning supplies are stored. You can
grab the map you need when packing for a trip, and then unpack them when home and
return them to the place they were stored.
Now that you have a clean, clutter free interior,
move on to the trunk.
Again take everything out, vacuum the trunk, wipe
down any spills and goo. The next step
would be to sort all the items you have removed – do not put anything back in
the trunk that needs to be there!
Throw away anything that is broken, never used, and
unable to be donated. Please consider
that if something is in bad shape and you would not use it, please do not donate
it, just throw it away – Goodwill and Salvation Army spend a ton of money
throwing away useless items that have been dumped on their doorsteps.
Things that belong in the trunk would be:
- a
box –this can be cardboard, plastic, whatever makes you happy – if you
have a van please ensure that it has a lid to stop items from flying out
in the event of an accident. The box can be
used to hold items such as washer fluid for the windows, shopping bags,
first aid kit and other emergency tools such as flares, jumper cables and
a flash light.
In my car, I have a box in the trunk that is just
for shopping bags. Why you might
ask? Ah, good question - here in
Canada, we have to pay for plastic shopping bags in most stores and I would
sooner bring my own than pay 5 cents for a bag that costs a penny to make –
yes, I’m cheap! By the way, my storage
boxes are empty paper box that came from a local school – they were free.
The other storage box in my trunk holds car stuff –
jumper cables, washer fluid, umbrellas etc…
You would also find in the trunk of my car a
Goodwill/Salvation Army bag which gets dropped off each time we drive by. My goal is to make a minimum of one stop per
week. With three teenage girls in the
house, the clothing is a revolving door so when they bring in something new –
they have to decide to give up something old – hence the bag in the trunk.
My final point on the whole C is for car discussion, and this one will save you a ton of work
on the weekends…are you ready….wait for it….here it is…. every time you fill up
at the gas station, grab a coffee at Tim Horton’s, Dunkin Donuts or grab a
drive thru burger – dump your garbage. Check the front and back seats for
garbage and get it out! Make it a habit
and your car clutter maintenance will be so much simpler.
