I’M NOT SURE HOW TODAY WILL TURN OUT. As I write this, the weather forecast anticipates a beautiful sunny Christmas Day for us. I truly hope that is the case, but whatever the weather, my hope is that I’ll see a lot of you out for a long walk on Christmas Day.

Over the years, I have used the last few weeks of December to really get serious about lightening the load of no-longer-needed stuff in my house and office. This year I started with the closet in my study. My plan is to work my way through all the rooms of my house and end in the garage.

These days, between recycling or reusing (through donations), the job gets a bit easier except with those items of sentimental value. For instance, there are all the letters from my grandmother, mother and sister . . . and photographs, slides, 8mm movies, Super 8 films, VHS videos and audiotapes. Can I just dump the cassette tape I made of General Clay’s speech to us at Ubon Royal Thai Air Base during the Vietnam war . . . or more importantly, my grandmother’s account of Christmas in the Old Country? Of course not! But what looms is the time involved in transferring those recordings to a longer-lasting digital format. The newspaper clippings and articles from a long career are easier to let go of, and the hundreds of photos I’ve taken have been perused for those that “go” and those that will go after being photographed with my digital camera.

Down to the library

I filled two big shopping bags with books and took them to the Benicia library. Books do look nice on my bookshelves, but I am a person who rarely goes back to some books. Those books that I love and do re-read are at arm’s reach. I also had some audio-cassettes of Joseph Campbell that Diane Smikahl, Benicia’s library director, said might be valuable to individuals seeking a copy that may no longer be available anywhere else. I know that movie DVDs are also appreciated by the library.

To shred or not to shred?

As I had to manage and close the estates of my mother and sister, I have stacks of paperwork that I need to maintain for many years. The documents are fairly organized, but a task over the next weeks is to do another sorting and filing into archival boxes.

My own documents have already been designated for culling. I found an online reference saying that personal cancelled checks (in my case the carbons/imprinted copies) should be kept from five to seven years. It may be longer for business checks, so you should investigate the length of time for them. I didn’t realize I had neglected sorting through my old checks for such a long time, but I have a heavy-duty shredder and my other option is secure paper destruction. For really big jobs, I’ve used the handy Valcore service in Vallejo. Valcore offers this service on the third Saturday of the month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 38 Sheridan St.

I browsed over to the Internal Revenue Service website regarding tax documents and their advice ranges from three years to “indefinitely.” To be safe I’m holding on to the last seven years of records. I’ll use that seven-year guide for other financial documents as well. The rest . . . off to the shredder!

Neighbors

Now, in my neighborhood, if there is something that is in good working condition and it might be of use to someone else, many of us place it on the sidewalk with a “Free” sign on it. I’ve had Meyer lemons, extra useable pieces of resilient flooring, a patio table and more head to a new home in under an hour. Then there are the regular local groups that collect donations of clothes and household items. I had a card for a Dec. 4 pickup from Mission Ministries. And the Goodwill store in Southampton is another great place to recycle clothing and goods that are in excellent condition. Benicia Lutheran Church, near me on Raymond, has a clothing collection box in the parking lot, and our wonderful Republic Services will help with useable goods as well as with the plain old “send it to the landfill” materials. Pedrotti Ace Hardware is my go-to place to dispose of old batteries.

Sweeping out the garage, I couldn’t help opening an old coffee can that my father gave me when I bought my very first car, an Opel Kadette. Inside the can were a box of fuses and a length of very stout chain with a hook on each end . . . in case I needed to tow or be towed. I disposed of the fuses. The chain, along with a collection of other metal objects, went into my bicycle basket for a ride down to the metal collection Dumpster at Phil Joy’s yard at the end of West C Street. Phil said when the Dumpster is filled, he takes it to a scrap yard. The money he gets from each load is donated to the Benicia school crossing guards.

I just set up a neighborhood account on the Nextdoor social media site. My intention is to let people know about Neighborhood Watch items, Benicia Emergency Response Team and sustainability opportunities. I’m thinking this may also be a resource for seeing if anyone needs or could use things no longer needed by me. I’ll have to explore that idea to see if it may be of any interest to anyone in my group.

Treasures too valuable to keep for myself

Meanwhile, I’m thinking now — while I’m lightening the load and sorting through my inventory of “stuff” — is the time to pull those old documents, photos and recordings from my grandmother and make the connection in Cedar Rapids, Iowa with the National Czech and Slovak Museum. When I was there a few years ago, the archivist indicated a sincere interest in acquiring and preserving these precious records.

For sure, I won’t be done with these tasks by Christmas Day, but I will take the time on Christmas to take a long walk around our beautiful Benicia.

A joyful Christmas to you all!

Learn more

• irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/How-long-should-I-keep-records
• Nextdoor.com
• republicservices.com/site/pacheco-ca/en/documents/benicia_cg_2014.pdf
• Valcore — secure document destruction — valcorerecycling.org/pdf_files/2015/Paper_Shredding_Options_2015.pdf

Constance Beutel is the chair of Benicia’s Community Sustainability Commission. She is a university professor and videographer and holds a doctorate from the University of San Francisco.