Today we continue our “Select-an-Effort” with the location where you keep sports bottles and travel mugs. This is an area that warrants attention because these items tend to multiply via promotions, prizes, birthdays, etc. Also, sports bottles and travel mugs can be quite large, taking up valuable space.
So here are your options:
Low Effort
Pitch one bottle or mug that is missing a lid, bent, broken, or otherwise “past its prime.”
Medium Effort
Donate at least one decent sports bottle or travel mug per person in your household.
High Effort
Gather all your travel mugs and sports bottles to a sorting surface. Group the containers into two separate categories: bottles and mugs. (Depending on your situation, you might be surprised to see how many you have!) Dig around to make sure you have all of them, including any that may be stashed in bags, stuck in remote cabinets or shelves, left in bedrooms, etc.
Select 1-2 “favorites” per user. If you have children who take sports bottles every day, you may need more, but generally having two is enough to have one in use and another in the wash.
Mindfully decide where you want each of these to live. It may somewhere other than where you have been keeping them. Additionally, you may want sports bottles in one place and mugs for hot beverages in another.
Once you have selected a space, consider if you need any extra structure to hold them. If your cabinet is too short for them to sit upright, you may want to consider a horizontal storage rack.
Also, since these can take a while to dry completely, it can be nice to keep a separate bin near the bottles to hold the lids so they can be stored open.
Now reload to your chosen areas and donate any you no longer need.
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Maybe today is the right day to try the “high” effort as the task is relatively easy. What do you think?
Let me tell you how much of a “thing” this is. No one plays sports but we have hot and cold mugs and bottles for it all. And with so many of us.. well.. we need the high effort. I love it.
The struggle is real!! Most families have this challenge because these containers are so large!
I don’t have this problem but I can definitely see how it could be a problem. Good suggestions.
It’s a common issue for families with lots of kids playing sports!