Addicted to clutter: The one thing we can't throw away
Australians are turning into a nation of clutter addicts, new research reveals.
The Choosi Clutter Report estimates Australians have almost $60 billion worth of unused items in our homes and 54 per cent of us reckon we could fill half a room with stuff we haven’t used for years and most likely don’t need.
“You don’t wake up one day and find it’s happened overnight, clutter creeps up on you,” Kirsty Farrugia, head of the Feels Like Home professional organisation firm, told news.com.au.
“Clutter is anything in your home that doesn’t serve you. A T-shirt not worn in 10 years isn’t serving you, neither is that junk mail that you never intend to read and is just sitting in a pile.”
The report, which surveyed 1000 people in the four biggest states, found the Australians who spring cleaned could fill 6.8 large rubbish bags each year with their unwanted junk.
However, Ms Farrugia said cluttering was different to hoarding. Hoarding is a manifestation of a psychological condition, whereas a cluttered house was most likely down to procrastination and holding on to sentimental items, she said.
Nevertheless, a quarter of people surveyed said their clutter gave them anxiety and 18 per cent said friends and families avoided coming over due to their overcrowded houses.
For 37 per cent, junk around the home had led to arguments about the lack of space.
One in nine people even said clutter-related issues were a factor in a divorce or relationship breakdown.
And what’s the one thing we can’t seem to throw away? Our old mobile phones. On average Australians have at least four old mobiles in the house that are unused.
We also have an average of 139 books, 24 pair of shoes, two TVs and two computers.
Katrina Foster, a spokeswoman for insurance comparison site Choosi, that commissioned the report, said Australia’s obsession with junk meant if we put all our unused items in boxes, they would stretch around the country’s coastline six times over.
“What is interesting to note is the financial value this clutter has and the enormous physical space it occupies in the home,” she said.
“With new products constantly being marketed at us it can be hard to say no and easy to justify a need for new products, yet this can lead to mass build-up of clutter.”
The analysis put the total financial face value of our unloved items at $59.4 billion, or $6623 per household.