The holiday hustle and bustle is behind us and, if you’re anything like me, the desire to slow down and sink into simplicity feels like a welcome shift after a season of excess. The new year has a way of inviting reflection. For me, that doesn’t just mean a fresh start with my goals or schedule, it’s also a time to reset my home by clearing out the clutter and physically making space for new opportunities.

I’m really looking forward to decluttering this year. The kind of clearing out I haven’t done since the pandemic, when we were all stuck in our homes surrounded by the weight of our belongings. So I’m bringing back a challenge called the “30-Day Minimalism Game” made popular by the guys known as The Minimalists.

The concept is straightforward: on Day 1, you remove one item from your home. On Day 2, you remove two. Each day builds on the last, until Day 30 when you let go of thirty items. By the end of the month, you’ve decluttered 465 items.

What makes this approach so effective is how gently it begins. Early days feel almost effortless, allowing momentum to build naturally. As the days progress, the challenge encourages deeper reflection about what we truly need, use, and value. It becomes less about getting rid of things and more about understanding our relationship with what we own.

But unlike Marie Kondo who asks you to bag up and throw out anything that doesn’t bring you joy, my challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to declutter sustainably. That means having responsibility over the items you own and thinking carefully about where these items go once they leave your home.

While donating is often seen as the eco-friendly choice, the reality is only around 20-30% of what’s donated gets resold locally. Many of our donated belongings are actually shipped overseas or ultimately sent to landfills.

Instead, I’ll first be trying these guidelines when decluttering:

• Giveaway – Whenever possible, I’ll be passing my items directly to someone who will use them. I have lots of neighbors with children younger than my own. I can almost always find someone interested in our clothing or toy hand-me-downs. If my friends or neighbors aren’t interested in what I’m looking to give away, I’ll post the items in our local “buy nothing” groups.
• Sell – I’ll be putting those gently used items that still have value up on Facebook Marketplace. My nicer pieces of clothing I’ll sell in my own shop, fulFILLed Lifestyle Co.
• Recycle – Instead of sending it to landfill, I’ll be sure to take materials like paper and certain types of plastic to Recycle Utah to be recycled.
• Repurpose – Some things are better transformed than tossed. Worn or damaged textiles still have purpose when they’re turned into cleaning rags or reusable cloths

Like living a more sustainable life, the goal of the Minimalism Game isn’t perfection, nor is it about deprivation. It’s about intention. Sustainable decluttering creates space for clarity and encourages habits rooted in mindfulness. Because January doesn’t have to be about drastic change. This practice teaches us how to ease into meaningful transformation by letting go—one item at a time.

By Kimberly Flores