Our move to Switzerland from HK four years ago was seamless. Although we did some minimal decluttering before the move, the moving company pretty much packed everything we had accumulated in our sixteen years of life in HK, as our family grew from two to five!

After four years in our rented house in Switzerland, we will be moving again, this time to our own home for the first time in our lives. For those who have traveled to Switzerland, you will know that labor costs are high. The quotation from the moving company is proof of that.

Our household has progressed from 3 hoarding kids to just one; my ten year old. The teens are less attached to every toy that they have ever owned and are a bit more selective on what holds special memories for them. Time to declutter!

This process has been long and arduous, almost like a game of Snakes and Ladders.  I’d remove twenty books just to flip through them and decide that I absolutely must have five of them back on the shelf, trying to hold on to the special memories they evoke. It was the limited space in our new home and our desire to have a modern, clutter-free space, along with the quotation from the moving company, that got me to intensify our efforts.

Before I moved to Switzerland, I used to be amazed by the decision-making process of my mother-in-law.  A decision to purchase was made only after considering its purpose, durability, ease of maintenance and disposal costs! How strange, I used to think.  If ever there was something to be rid of in Hong Kong, all we had to do was ask our helper, a.k.a. “ Auntee, “ to magically make them disappear at no cost.  Some were sent to the Philippines for a new life, whereas others were discarded somewhere in our estate. We were simply not made to think very hard about waste and sustainable consumption.

That’s where I’m at now. After sixteen years of consumerism and accumulating an assortment of books, Legos, every conceivable toy on trend from the decade of the 2010s and 2020s, and decorative items, it was time to unwind those positions.  The moving company could dispose of all the items we didn’t need, albeit at an exorbitant price, but they would undoubtedly end up in the landfill or furnace, and what a shame that would be! 

Luckily, I discovered there is a very active and reliable second-hand market here in Switzerland, very similar to the Don’t Throw Me (DTM) marketplace in Hong Kong.  Like on DTM, I can list almost everything from my household in one go, this efficiency being key when you’re getting ready to move.  I have successfully sold everything from Balinese statues, books, artificial plants, gym equipment, and furniture, to home décor. Buyers and sellers have to register with their full details and payment can be made securely. Other similar features include the ability of traders to rate each other which promotes honesty and integrity.  An unexpected plus from my second-hand journey is that I have had so many interesting exchanges with people from all walks of life.  It’s heartening to know that there really is a sizable community out there of like-minded people.   I am proud to say that I have managed to raise enough to cover our upcoming moving costs- amazing!

I must admit that I used to see it as taboo to buy anything second-hand. Perhaps it was our culture or upbringing. This experience and having a reliable platform is motivating me to always start my search at a second-hand shop before looking for brand new. There is so much in this second-hand universe that deserves a new lease of life and is too good to be retired at the landfill.

Of course not everything deserves the spotlight in the second-hand market.   Items that are too worn out to make the cut are brought to recycling centres, which are big and well organised here, hence some of the highest rates of recycling in the world. But let’s save that for another day. For now, I need to continue digging deep into the remnants of our consumerist lives as we look forward to our new clutter-free home.

 About the Author:  Yasmin Grün is a private banker and a mother of three who lived in HK for 16 years before relocating to Switzerland.