![]() Modern consumer societies are characterized by households that are filled to the brim with products and goods ( Baudrillard, 2018). Further research is needed to shed light on this. Decluttering would then rather function as a catalyst for further consumption (and would have no or rather a negative contribution to sustainability goals). It is even conceivable that the newly gained space will stimulate additional consumption. At the same time, it remains unclear whether and to what extent the participants' willingness to change regarding possessions and consumption actually leads to more sustainable consumption behavior after decluttering. Thus, we argue that decluttering can be a relevant starting point for changing consumption behavior toward (more) sustainable consumption. The decision to declutter can be understood as a window of opportunity in which individuals are willing to reflect on and realign their possessions and desires for goods. The qualitative results from two workshops and two reflection exercises show that the main motivation for participants is the dissatisfaction with their multitude of possessions and the desire for fewer material possessions in the future. Finally, initial insights from an ongoing citizen science project on decluttering in Germany are presented. ![]() Based on this work, potentials and limits for the promotion of sustainable consumption are outlined. In this article, decluttering is first conceptualized in between housework and self-care. Whether and to what extent this “lifestyle minimalism” can contribute to sustainable consumption has – with a few exceptions – not yet been studied in detail. Although decluttering constitutes a central household chore in consumer societies, it is rarely communicated as work within the current popular minimalism discourse, but rather as an expression of self-care. Popular literature and guidebooks on minimalism and decluttering have brought the idea of “less is more” into the mainstream. 2TU Berlin/Chair of Economic Education and Sustainable Consumption, Technical University Berlin, Berlin, Germany.1TU Berlin/Chair of Economic Education and Sustainable Consumption, ConPolicy and Technical University Berlin, Berlin, Germany.So much is available online now.Viola Muster 1 *, Samira Iran 2 and Marlene Münsch 3 Work related stuff – I’m getting closer to retiring (hooray!) and some of the resources just aren’t needed here (or at all).How many plumbing PVC connectors do we really need as backup? we have “old” supplies for various projects that can be whittled down.Digital reading devices while traveling are so much easier to use. We recently had a discussion and are giving up on our vacation home with a library dream. we still have many boxes of books out there.Cleaning out an email “box” might meet our 2022 in 2022 goal. Digital pictures – I wonder if I should have a separate decluttering sheet for digital decluttering.Printed pictures – both that I’ve taken and those from my parents’ home.I still have some areas in the house I want to declutter and just need the time to do so. A majority of that stuff was donated or trashed but I still had to go through them and decide to not keep most of it. I also did not count the dozen or so boxes my brother brought to me from my parents’ home. Is it possible we decluttered more than this? Of course! But these are the number of items we intentionally made a decision to remove from our home. Now that may not seem like much but this now brings our “official” decluttering numbers to 20717 items removed since I began this journey in 2014.
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