Living the Life: How Jill Washburn got rid of more than 1 ton of clutter

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WJBK) - Clutter. It's a word that can spark a lot of uneasy feelings with many. On this segment of Living the Life, we talk about the clutter in our homes and workspaces and how to get rid of it.

Deena recently read a book about one way to discard items. When you pick it up, ask yourself, 'Does this bring me joy?' And, if not, thank the object for the service it has done you and then discard it. 

Our friend and former FOX 2 meteorologist Jill Washburn also joined us to tell us about a fascinating experiment she did in her house. She vowed to get rid of one thing every day for a year and documented the experience. She photographed everything and weighed it. She got rid of 2,368.5 lbs. of clutter. (That's more than one ton!)

Jill told us on Living the Life that she made rules for herself. She could give the item to a friend, donate it, trash it, sell it or recycle it. She said ultimately, they sold almost nothing and that she didn't feel as good about getting rid of the items she sold.

"At the end of a year, I felt so rich that I could give away all of this stuff and never miss it," she said.

She got rid of things like old jewelry to a broken office chair. The first thing she got rid of? Two scorched pans.

She writes that she hadn't been using them because she wasn't sure if they were still safe to cook with, so she gave them to a friend who was collecting scrap metal.

The last thing she got rid of, she said, was something that she had vowed to never get rid of: an antique camp blanket.

"In the end, by the time I got to the last day, it was still sitting in a Rubbermaid bin in my basement and I couldn't justify keeping it," she told us in a Facebook live video. The takeaway? It's not really a treasure if it's crammed in storage in your basement.

You can learn more about Jill's experiment by watching the videos above, or by watching their Facebook chat below. Click here if you cannot see the Facebook chat.