Death Cleaning: A Guide to Local Sites and Resources

November is National Family Caregivers Month. It is a time to raise awareness around the issues caregivers face while recognizing and honoring family caregivers, as well as increase support for them.

One challenge seniors and their caregivers face is determining what to do with a loved one’s belongings when it’s time to move to a smaller home, senior living community or assisted-care facility. The prospect of decluttering and downsizing the family home can be daunting.

While there are many different approaches to this task, one of the current, more popular methods is known as “Death cleaning.” Death cleaning is the practice of organizing, decluttering and downsizing your home before you pass away to lessen the burden on loved ones.

Author Margareta Magnusson wrote The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter, which details the method for putting things in order to help families broach sensitive conversations. The book offers advice on how to declutter the home and minimize worldly possessions so loved ones don't have to, to make the process uplifting rather than overwhelming.

A common approach to downsizing is to start with the less sentimental materials, but questions arise. How to properly dispose of medications? What to do with durable medical equipment? Keep, donate or throw away? Finding the answers to these questions can be time-consuming and overwhelming, so we’ve put together some suggestions and resources to help.

Documents

Sorting through a lifetime of documents can be an ordeal, but there are guidelines on the types of documents that must be kept and when to shred them. For retirees, the Federal Trade Commission has "A Pack Rat’s Guide to Shredding," and the AARP has published recommendations on when to keep, shred or scan important papers. To protect a loved one’s identity after death, we recommend “Why the Deceased Still Need Document Shredding.”

After sorting through all the documents, you’ll likely have a large pile of papers with personally identifiable information that will need to be securely destroyed. If you have a significant pile of documents look for:

Free or low-cost community shredding events such as the ones held by Canton’s Downtown Development Authority or Corrigan Records Storage.
Local businesses like UPS or Office Depot that have shredding services for a small fee.
Residential shredding services such as Corrigan Record Storage or Iron Mountain that will schedule a time for you to shred documents at their facility, pick up boxed documents for shredding or drop off a bin to be filled and picked up at a later time.

Proper Disposal of Medications

While downsizing your or your loved one’s home, you might find expired medications or medications that are no longer being used.

The Food and Drug Administration has a guide on where and how to dispose of unused medicines, including information about drug take back programs and how to dispose of drugs at home.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy has a map viewer to help Michigan residents find drug take back locations, as well as informative videos on drug disposal at home.
The Canton Police department has a Prescription Drug Drop Box for individuals to safely dispose of unused or expired prescription drugs. There are restrictions on what can be dropped off so be sure to call ahead or check their website to find out what they accept.

Durable Medical Equipment

Walkers, wheelchairs and bed-lifts are examples of durable medical equipment (DME) that a senior might have. If DME is rented, be sure to return it to the original store to avoid additional charges. If it is owned, there are several ways to avoid adding to landfills.

Return: Some manufacturers will take items back through the original store for reuse or resale.
Resell: Eligible items can be resold through organizations that refurbish DME, or through online resale sites like eBay or Facebook Marketplace.
Donate: Many churches, assisted-living facilities and organizations such as Great Lakes Loan Closets will accept donations. Additionally, the Canton Fire Department has a medical equipment loan program. This is a program offered to the community at no charge that allows people to borrow durable medical equipment from the Canton Fire Department at no cost. The Fire Department loans out equipment such as wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, canes, and shower chairs to those who need them. If you have gently used medical equipment and would like to donate it, please contact 734-454-4655 or drop it off at Canton Fire Station #2 which is located at 41500 Warren Rd. Always be sure to contact the organization to confirm what they will accept.
Give Away: If you have friends, neighbors or acquaintances in need, you can give it to them or post to a local Buy Nothing.
Recycle or Throw Away: Check with your local waste management and recycling services for rules about recycling and disposal of DME. The Canton Trash Collection website includes guidelines on what materials can be recycled and how to schedule a separate recycling or trash pickup outside of the regular schedule.

For more information on what to do with DME, the National Council on Aging has a comprehensive article on how to manage or donate unused medical supplies.

After you’ve decided on what can be donated, refer to our blog for local places to donate or recycle materials from clothing to electronics to beauty products.

Additional Resources

Here are some useful books with tips, advice and step-by-steps guides to support seniors and their loved ones with decluttering and downsizing their homes.

Sell, Keep, or Toss? How to Downsize a Home, Settle an Estate, and Appraise Personal Property by Harry Rinker – A unique guide to dealing with personal property during life's transitions. With practical, down-to-earth advice, Rinker shows how to determine what to sell, keep or toss, and guides you through the intricacies of how to do it.

Downsizing the Family Home: What to Save, What to Let Go by Marni Jameson – Nationally syndicated home columnist Marni Jameson sensitively guides readers through the difficult, emotional journey of downsizing your or your aging parents' home. from opening that first closet, to sorting through a lifetime's worth of possessions, to selling the homestead itself.

Let It Go: Downsizing Your Way to a Richer, Happier Life by Peter Walsh – Decluttering guru Peter Walsh recently downsized his childhood home and divided his late parents' family possessions. This guide will help you turn downsizing into a rejuvenating life change with useful tips and practical takeaways.