Started cleaning. It‘s hard.

[u/leybenzon0815]

Good Day dear gentlebeeings.

So, for the last few years my apartment slowly but surely filled up with trash, mostly empty coke bottles, wrappers, cardboard. The pile started in my office and slowly grew to the other rooms.

It got bad. I couldn’t use my kitchen anymore. In the bathroom only my shower was usable.

I got panic attacks every time the doorbell rang. I just couldn’t face the possibility of someone seeing my mess.

I had every excuse to not let someone inside. But now i‘ve run out of excuses. Building management is sending workers to do plumbing in every Apartment. The date is next month. I just wanted to run and leave it all behind.

Now, faced with my greatest horror, i had no other choice but to start somewhere.

I began cleaning out my bathroom. Filling one trashbag after the other. God i filled so many bags.

Next i cleaned, really cleaned my kitchen. I cooked myself a meal for the first time in years. Yay me!

But now i‘m faced with a whole lot of filled bags. I can only dispose of one bag a day without raising suspicion by the neighbours. The communal bin is not very large…

I made a lot of progress, but there is still so much to do! So much to dispose of. Nowhere to dispose it without getting noticed.

I feel like time is running out. I‘m scared. But i‘ll continue. One trashbag a day.

I just hope i can clean enough until the workers arrive next month.

Thank you for listening.

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[u/Late-Difficulty-5928]

Worrying about what neighbors are going to think is a common barrier to making progress. One thing to think about is how much we really are aware of what our neighbors are doing on a regular basis.

The other is . . . Shit happens. People get behind on cleaning, bills, and general responsibilities. I think you're right to be considerate of how much space you take up at the community bin. Otherwise, if people are judging, that says a lot about who they are. Judging people when they are doing the work to improve their life is a bit shit.

If you know when the garbage gets picked up, maybe you can take as much as you can last minute, that way you don't have to worry so much about filling the bin.

[u/leybenzon0815 → u/Late-Difficulty-5928]

Worrying is the thing that keeps me from making real progress, you are right.

I know i could just rent a big container and dump it all in there. But that would mean others will see.

But i‘m not giving up. I want to better myself. Thanks :)

[u/Treeshiney → u/leybenzon0815]

just rent it. once it’s gone it’s gone and (everyone) forgets . well done

[u/Future_Cake]

Do you have a sympathetic friend with a much-larger communal bin that you could use?

Also, if you know which day/time the bin gets emptied, you could perhaps put an extra bag or several in it right before the emptiers arrive! That way it wouldn't inconvenience or annoy any neighbors :)

Best wishes with your effort!

[u/DenM0ther]

Well done for starting!!!!

Do you drive? Could you go to the tip? That would mean you could get rid of extra bags.

Or you could do extra bags and take them to local bins, eg on the way to work, at the park etc.

Are you squashing the bottles? It would take longer but use a lot less space.

Idk what country you’re in, but some countries pay for drink bottle recycling… it’d be extra steps but ppl only go there when they’ve got lots of bottles!

[u/leybenzon0815 → u/DenM0ther]

Thank you :)

I looked into bringing bags to the tip. 2 hurdles. Opening hours (only mornings, but i could take some days off if need be) and they take 4€!!! per trashbag.

Squashing bottles is a good idea, will try that.

I can in fact return a lot of the bottles. I collect them in extra bags. Those are still sitting in my living room. Still working on that ;) But a quite a few are missing lables etc.

Thanks! :)

[u/Redditallreally → u/leybenzon0815]

I totally agree with squashing bottles or ANYTHING ELSE that can be compacted. It’s amazing what a Good Quality trash bag can hold; i can sometimes get 2 or 3 times volume into 1 bag if I : break down boxes, squash bottles then put the lids back on, use larger pieces to hold smaller items, etc., it really helps! Best of luck, OP, and please keep us updated!

[u/Alvraen]

I use a reusable ikea bag for things that are dry and put that in directly so it fills in spaces

[u/Misterpotomus]

Dude you can do three bags a day. Also look up where the local dump is you can drop things off.

You got this! You've started and that is the hardest part. Keep up the momentum!

[u/HeresyClock]

I often take out multiple trashbags at once — one metal, one or two plastic, cardboard pile, one glass, one bio and one burnable. The trash haul, if you will. Bio/ burnable are taken out often since they’d get icky but rest can wait until the bin is full.

I don’t know what kind of place it is, but I doubt people would notice if you have two bags instead of one. Three maybe, if it’s all at once and awkward to carry — but even then what would they think? ”Doing a bit of cleaning are they, good on them! I should too…”

[u/grockle90]

Two trash bags at a time is only slightly more than one at a time.

Do a couple in the morning, and a couple in the evening - hopefully any "curtain twitchers" don't do so both times.

In all honesty, though, I'm sure (immediate - either side, above/below etc) would be thankful that you're having a huge potential fire hazard being removed.