Spring Cleaning: A More Strategic Approach

This Post is Sponsored! Though I was compensated by the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA’s) Educational Foundation in support of KnowYourOTCs.org, all opinions are my own! Thank You For Supporting CityGirlGoneMom!

We’re nearly a month into the spring season, and one by one, the rooms in the house are getting refreshed! With this being said, I did have to look into companies like Magic Bins Skip Bins as I was sure that with all the rubbish I had in my house and the garage, this would come in handy. Cleaning the house wasn’t as bad as I thought, so I didn’t need their services. But I knew someone who did, so I hope they are using the services of a company like this to their advantage, especially when it comes to spring cleaning.

From spring cleaning to new finishings, this mama doesn’t stop. Something about the fresh air, extended daylight hours, warmer weather and sunshine gives me the urge to purge and purify. I know many of you feel the same way about spring cleaning, which is why I like to share some of my methods towards achieving a beautiful home. I’m a big believer in steam cleaning floors to get the best results, and if you’d like to try that method of cleansing, you could take a look at somewhere like https://www.bissell.com/steam-and-hard-floor-cleaners/steam-cleaners as they have a variety of different cleaning optins that could benefit you greatly.

There are so many ways to attack spring cleaning, and this year I’ve decided to approach it a little differently. I typically dive right into the bigger spaces first, where I can quickly start to see progress. My office at work was recently was cleaned by a company like green facilities and it looks spotless. It inspired me to clean my house properly! Until now, my former philosophy on spring cleaning was ‘the bigger the trash bags and higher the donation piles, the better I’m doing’! While nothing compares to the gratification of purging pantries and closets, I am taking a more strategic approach by starting with our medicine cabinets.

Small areas like medicine cabinets often get overlooked on our quest for fresh, renewed and reorganized spaces. Last spring, I was equally proud and embarrassed to have purged over 20 medications that were expired by up to three years! Since then, we’ve done quite a bit of reorganizing, and for the sake of convenience, our medicine cabinet has multiplied from one to three. Our main stash is in the master bath, and after this past year’s cold and flu season, has spread to the downstairs guest suite and upper kitchen cabinets. To prevent a repeat of last year’s Rx hoardfest from happening, all spaces that are often last on my list will take priority this year, before my spring cleaning bug says ‘buh-bye’.

Although we’re all aware that prescriptions and over-the-counter medicines (OTCs) do expire, I feel as though clearing the expired meds clutter is often overlooked. Ridding the house of expired meds can be quick, safe and easy, if you do it right. I found the stats below astounding, but before I knew how to properly dispose of expired meds, I was among the guilty parties too. With four kids and two dogs living under our roof, it’s my responsibility to make sure it’s done right!

According to Harris Poll research conducted on behalf of the CHPA’s Educational Foundation:

• 62% of adults have never sought information on how to properly dispose of their unwanted or expired over-the-counter (OTC) medicines.
• 50% of adults say they typically dispose of unwanted or expired OTC meds in the trash, but only 8% mix them with undesirable substances before tossing.

The good news is in-home medicine disposal of all OTCs is safe and convenient. Follow these three simple steps from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to dispose of OTCs in your household trash:

• Mix medicines (do not crush tablets or capsules) with an unpalatable substance such as kitty litter or used coffee grounds.

• Place the mixture in a container such as a sealed plastic bag.

• Throw the container in your household trash.

In addition to in-home disposal, you can also take advantage of local disposal programs and community take-back days. Check to see if your local pharmacy has a safe medicine disposal program; many have in-store disposal kiosks or provide them to local law enforcement agencies that allow the disposal of unwanted, unused or expired medication – both OTC and prescription drugs – anytime during business hours. The next U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) National Prescription Take-Back Day is Saturday, April 28.

For me, the reason for purging medicine cabinets first is two-fold:

1. Simply to make sure it happens before the bigger projects get in the way.
2. When purging expired medicines before the expired items from your pantry and refrigerator, you can easily mix them among undesirable substances, ensuring they don’t linger in the trash for days.

For more information on safe disposal, check out the KnowYourOTCs.org site here.