10 Items in Your Kitchen You Need to Toss Out

In every kitchen, there are things that are sentimental, like your grandmother's recipe cards or a fancy platter that your mother gave you that first Christmas after you moved out on your own. There are also things in your kitchen which you just can't get yourself to throw away even though they don't hold any value at all.

1. Broken or chipped mugs that you've told yourself that you're going to repair, but it's been a year and the handle is still sitting inside the cup.
2. Old sponges which just push the dirt around instead of really clean anything. We're all guilty of having these at one time or another, let's be honest here.
3. Plastic storage containers, especially ones that you've kept after getting Chinese take-out are riddled with BPAs and other harmful chemicals.
4. Old water bottles and travel mugs that you got for free from one company or another, save yourself the safe on your shelves by donating all of those right away.
5. Take-out menus from restaurants that you didn't like, never go to or that went out of business is just wasting space on your refrigerator/in your kitchen drawers. Keep the ones you use and recycle the rest!
6. Old spices on your spice rack that you never/rarely use could be expired. For ground spices it's about 2-3 years, herbs it can be anywhere between 1-3 years and for seasoning blends it's only 1-2 years. Check out what you have and toss what's no longer good.
7. Appliances that you don't use or appliances that you have double of because of your wedding registry/housewarming party. Donate what you don't need to eliminate the clutter!
8. Items posted on your refrigerator that are old or outdated. If you keep coupons up there, discard the ones that are expired. Do you really need six photos of your nephew up there? Pare down what you have to reduce clutter.
9. Broken kitchen organizers or simply anything that is broken! If you need to repair something, do it right away. Otherwise, toss it!
10. The endless amounts of plastic bags that you get from the grocery store. First off, consider reusable bags. Otherwise, take all of those plastic bags back to the store. Many places have receptacles to collect and recycle plastic bags for you. Waste not, want not.

Less clutter in the kitchen helps you find exactly what you need, when you need it as well as reduce your stress levels. Happy cleaning!

(via Forkly)