CLEAN BREAK
Have you joined the Kondo tidy craze?
Op shops and thrift stores are being inundated with unwanted goods — and a new Netflix show, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo is believed to be driving the trend.
The show has become a huge hit on the streaming service since New Year’s Day. Eight episodes hosted by Japanese organising consultant and author Marie Kondo each feature a family, who Kondo helps to declutter their home.
Social media was buzzing with Marie Kondo references, tweets and memes. Hundreds of Herald readers posted on Facebook about how the show had inspired them to clean up and declutter.
“Started watching this with the kids yesterday and they are all hooked on folding clothes,” one person commented.
“I’ve done that this week! You should see my garage!,” another said. “Time to stalk the op shops,” one person said.
There were also calls for people to take the items discarded in their decluttering missions, and donate to hospice shops or Red Cross stores.
Takanini Red Cross manager Sheryl Harris believed the show could be linked to an influx of dropoffs, following an uber-busy holiday period.
“A lady was saying to me that she’d been watching some show on Netflix about cleaning up, and she came and brought all her stuff down here,” Harris said.
“Donations have been continuous every day since a few weeks before Christmas, and we’re still going now.”
Harris hadn’t heard of the show,
Donations have been continuous every day since a few weeks before Christmas. Sheryl Harris, Red Cross
but said she was now “curious” and might look into it. Things at the store had been hectic and space sometimes became an issue, but Harris said high volumes of donated goods were always good news.
This time of year was particularly good as it saw donation centres through quieter times.
Kondo’s fundamental advice is to get rid of everything in your home that doesn’t “spark joy”. But she’s faced criticism after one episode saw her urge a family to get rid of all their books.
Other Red Cross branches contacted by the Weekend Herald said they had also received a lot of donations over recent weeks, though some said it was typical around Christmas as people often had a clean out over the holidays.
Kondo’s Netflix show is based on her 2012 book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.