Green / Eco Companies & Initiatives in Houston, TX

As many of you know I am passionate about eco causes and like to support eco companies whenever possible. We are not perfect when it comes to all things eco, but try and do what we can when we can. I try to be pushy on our concierge and professional organizing clients when it comes to eco causes I believe in, but thankfully most are willing to recycle and donate when they can. Here are some various Houston eco companies. Some I have visited and some I have not. So many eco companies have gone out of business through the years in Houston, so it was hard finding new companies and ones that are still open. I have also included some Houston green initiatives that seem promising. I won't list them, but there are a done of If you know of any we should add, please share!

Eco Modern Concierge: shameless plug. We are a lifestyle management company that helps clients that get tasks done they don't have time to do or don't want to do. Our company offers professional organizing and personal assistant tasks to businesses and individuals in the Houston area and beyond. 

Rooted to Home: the owner is a zero waste activist and many of their items are by women and fair trade artisans. 

JJ Fords & Geauxcrates: these are plastic moving crates that are great to use instead of cardboard because they are sturdy and reusable. We have used these crates many of times for professional organizing and move management clients. 

Natran Green Pest Control: Natran is an eco pest control company in Houston. 

Refinement Houston: a local Houston company that sells various eco friendly products.

Pat Greer's Kitchen: Pat Greer is a plant based / vegan food chef in Houston that uses many sustainable practices and makes delicious food here in Houston. 

Cason Graye Homes: Eco friendly custom home builders in Houston. 

Green Cremation Services: this Houston company offers green /eco cremation services using low energy flame process or water cremation process.

Junkluggers & College Hunks Hauling Junk: I have used both of these companies for professional organizing and concierge clients here in Houston and they donate and dispose of many items in an eco way before trashing the rest. 

Gorman Uniform: they are doing various things like reusing hangers and using eco laundry services for their uniforms.

Some other green /eco resources in Houston:

Eco / green things to do in Houston

Green Initiatives in Houston

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4 Tips to ReOrganizing Your Closet For Working From Home

Are you still working from home? Have you gotten into the slump of wearing the same old thing or defaulting to all loungewear? As a professional organizer, we are still getting a ton of requests from clients to help them organize their home offices, closet and various other spaces to help them work from. They still want to be presentable for any regular meetings, zoom call, etc. Below are 4 tips to reorganize your closet when working from home. 

• Put 3 outfits together with jewelry and all. This way if you have to get on an unexpected video conference call you are ready to go. 

• Purge work clothes. Now is a great time to purge work clothes, hose, shoes, etc. that you no longer love, doesn't fit, has holes, is in bad condition, etc. 

• Have your most used clothing items front and center and easily accessible. Less used items should be in harder to reach areas of your closet. ​This way you have your go tos easy to access and know exactly what you want and like.

• Start a donation pile. ​​As you declutter your closet have a donation pile easily accessible. So you can drop off or schedule a donation pick when places begin opening again. I like to use a bag or basket on the floor of my closet under my hanging clothes that way if I try something on and don't like it, I can just toss it in there. 

What tips do you have for reorganizing your closet for working from home? Are you starting to go back into the office, will you do a hybrid or will permanently be working from home?

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7 Tip on How to Manage Your Vacation & 2nd Homes

More and more we run into professional organizing and concierge clients that have more than 1 home. Whether it is a ranch house, beach house, mountain house, dessert house, lake house, etc. Every so often we get asked to help manage those 2nd and vacation homes. During the summers and winters and during the pandemic many of our clients fled Houston to their 2nd homes in an effort to get be somewhere different and because many had the time to spend at their 2nd / vacation homes.

Managing a 2nd or vacation home (s) can be a lot of work. There are several things you can do in order to take the stress out of it and really make the most of your time while you are there or if you will be renting it.  

• Inventory what you currently have. Inventory what you currently have at your 2nd home so you are not constantly bringing unnecessary items to your 2nd home. If you will be renting it, you can keep track if anything goes missing.
• Make a list of what you need. What are some things you want to add to your 2nd / vacation home? Are there items that you have been meaning to take there? Repairs that need to be made? Make a list of anything that comes to mind while you are there.
• Maintain the house. Schedule regular maintenance. Try to pick service providers who you can get on a regular service where they call you or automatically maintain. This will significantly reduce your stress level and keep things in tip top shape.
• Organize. Get your 2nd home / vacation home organized and make sure there is a place for everything. That way it makes it easier to see what you have and what you need. 
• Keep a vendor list. Do you have specific vendors and services that you really like in the area where you have a vacation or 2nd home? If so, keep an ongoing vendor list. Often times vendors that service remote locations are not always findable on Google and are local and known by word of month. If you find a good vendor keep their information handy.
• House binder. Make a house binder of all the things related to your vacation home that include contacts, local stores, vendors, bills and services associated with the 2nd or vacation home, etc. This will be a lifesaver in a pinch or if you have guests over to your house when you are not present. 
• Have an emergency contact or service handy. Be sure to have an emergency contact or service that you can call in case you need anything last minute, need them to check on the house during a natural disaster, etc. 

Do you have any tips or tricks when it comes to managing a 2nd or vacation home?

Photo by Jason Briscoe on Unsplash

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6 Reasons Why it is Important to Write Things Down for Visual People

Are you a visual person? I am and writing things down with pen and paper really help me remember all the things that I need to do for myself, my business and for clients.  Doing professional organizing and concierge tasks for clients can mean juggling a ton of different balls all at once and writing everything down visually lets me quickly scan what needs to be and what the most important tasks may be. If you are a visual person like me, here are some reasons why writing things down is important. 

• It helps you remember things. You can often retain more when you are doing the act of writing things down.
• It helps you keep a record of what needs to be done. Are you a list maker? I am and having a written list helps me keep a record and track of everything that needs to be done. I can ask my husband what needs to be done, but he does better when he has a list and can check things off.
• Helps you get your ideas out of your head. Do you ever think of ideas at the strangest times? I do and writing things down immediately if possible helps me remember them. A lot of times these are things that need to be done in business or various ideas I have about various things. 
• Clears the mind. Before bed I often try to do a brain dump to get everything out of my head that is going on and what needs to be done the next day. This is so helpful to not start the days off chaotic thinking of the 5 million things that need to get done and how they are going to get done. That is why I try to plan the night before. Since having a baby this has been extremely helpful. 
• Helps with productivity. Keeps you on track of what needs to be done and staying productive because you can see what needs to be done and map out the best way to prioritize those tasks. 
• Frees up mental space. Getting things out of your head really helps you clear your mental space. 

Some other thoughts....

• Because I write so many things down I have made it a "goal" this year to use up various notepads I had laying around that were half used. I am happy to report that it is going well so far.
• I once read that writing things down in a green pen or pencil helps you remember things more. I am not sure the science behind this, but I like the color green so it works out well.
• I love using colored pens in general for writing things down because, for me, it helps me remember things more and I actually WANT to accomplish things. 
• I don't know about you, but for me making lists and crossing things off of them just feels dang good. 

Are you a visual person? Why do you like writing things down?

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4 Things You Can Do to Get Your Linen Closet Organized | Houston Professional Organizer

The linen closet can often become a dumping area for ALLLL the things besides linens because it become easy to just stuff things inside of it. There are all kinds of ways to organize a linen closet depending on how much you want to store in there. Here is where you can start:

1. Purge. Get rid of anything that is torn, stained, you don't like or that you would be embarrassed to have if you have guests come over. 
2. Make sure you have full sheet sets all together. That way when you go to change the sheets you have the full set all together and you are not searching all over for that random pillow case. Fold your towels where it makes it easy to grab them off the shelf and put them back on the shelf after you do the laundry. You can use shelf dividers, bins, baskets or whatever you would like to corral the sheet sets and towels. 
3. Label. Label the shelf or use a tag so you know what is what in the linen closet. This makes it easy to quickly identify what you are looking for. It is great especially for when you are in a rush.
4. Donate. Donate what you no longer need, want or like. Consider donating towels and sheets to an animal shelter or many local charities have textile recyclers that come by and pick up the unwanted textiles. 

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10 Benefits of Joining Professional Organizations for your Business

Through the years I have joined various professional organizations in the concierge fields and professional organizing fields. When I was first starting out, I didn't really realize how beneficial it would be to join these various organizations. I knew it was important, but didn't really realize just how important it was until I did end up joining them. I have been a member of NAPO, National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals for over 10 years now. I originally started my business in 2005 and wish I would have joined NAPO back then because I didn't know what I was missing until I joined. Several years ago I joined The National Concierge Association as well. Here are some of the many benefits of joining a professional organization:

1. Education. The education that NAPO offers is far beyond what I would have thought and they are constantly adding classes as well. I am part of several other professional organizations like WISE who also offer great education resources. 
2. Connections. When you join various professional organization the people you meet is wonderful. Everyone has different backgrounds, specialities, etc. You for sure make some friends for life. 
3. Networking. The great thing is that there are always plenty of networking opportunities when you join various professional organizations. They can sometimes lead to new business or potential new opportunities that you may not be expecting. 
4. Resources. There a ton of resources from education to templates to how to market and navigate your business and the list goes on. 
5. Vendors. You often meet great new vendors, companies, services and resources that you can do business with. 
6. Additional business revenue. You have the opportunity to bring in additional business revenue my applying to teach classes, meeting people who connect you with others that can lead to new business, education and networking to provide you the means to create additional business resources like templates, classes, coaching, etc.
7. Opportunities. You often get press opportunities or opportunities to work with organizers in various states or regions. I have been asked to be on podcasts, set on panels, etc. because of the connections I have made. 
8. Ideas. You can get unlimited ideas from others, the educations, resources because of being part of various professional organizations. I see things that other mention that I want to implement into my business mainly through the classes I take.
9. Collaborations. You have the opportunity to collaborate with various businesses, colleagues, etc. just from using their services or have common interests or goals, etc.
10. Conferences. Conferences are often a wonderful thing to attend if you can because the education is awesome, the networking is so fun and helpful and it great to meet people who specialize in various areas of your particular field. 

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10 Items What you Can Purge Right Now

I have written several posts in the past about 5 things you can purge on the weekend, but below are 10 things you can purge this weekend. Some of these things may take a longer time to look at, go through and organize than others, but for the most party they should be relatively quick depending on how much you have in each category.

1. Coffee mugs. Who else has a ton of coffee mugs that you have accumulated through the years? Whether this is coffee mugs you have bought, that were gifted to you, that you inherited, etc. they can just add up very quickly.
2. Missing socks. How in the world do socks go missing? Most every client we work with has missing socks.
3. Plastic containers with no matches. This is often a big issue for clients because they grab a plastic container to use for to-go items, to grab quickly to use for a project, kids take them,  and the list goes on and on. So overtime lids or the actual container go missing and usually become less useful.
4. Expired food. The pantry is good to go through quarterly and get rid of expired food. You don't always realize how much expired food you have. It will free up space and see what you need to repurchase at the store, so you are not constantly buying duplicates.
5. To-go plasticware and condiments you don't use. If you eat out a lot or just accumulated a lot through the years, then you know the to-go condiments and plasticware can overtake a space quickly. If you don't use them often and don't know how long you have had them, consider throwing the condiments out since there is usually not an expiration date on them. The plasticware use when you have a picnic, take the excess amount to work or just donate them.
6. VHS's you no longer want / need. If you don't have a VCR how are you going to watch a VHS. If the movies are not sentimental that can't be easily replaced with a dvd or if converted to a dvd, then it is time to purge them. There are tons of services in various cities that can help you convert the VHS tapes that you want to put onto a dvd, in the cloud or downloaded on a hard drive or usb drive.
7. Papers with notes on them that have no use anymore. Does anyone else grab a piece of paper and make notes on them when you need to jot things down really quickly and then those pieces of just randomly end up in a pile or you forget what that note meant? I see it all the time and often do it myself as well. Now is a good time to go through those random pieces of paper.
8. Dry rotted shoes. Some clients have shoes that they have had for so long that they are now dry rotted. If that is you, it is time to throw them out. 
9. Clothes that are too small and that you will never use again. This will probably take you longer to do than the other items on this list, but if you quickly sift through your clothes that you know are too small and grab them to give away or donate that can at least help you make some space until you can do a bigger purge. Spend 15 minutes on this without overthinking it and see how far you can get.
10. Expired hygiene products. Do you ever buy hygiene products to try and then find out that you don't like them? I see this all the time with clients. Some retailers will actually let you return the product if you end up not liking it. You may or may not know this, but most hygiene products do have an expiration date on them where they go bad or are no longer effective. 

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