Adrian Chiles has admitted he is struggling to declutter his home, even offering to give away leftover zinc guttering from a renovation. In a candid piece, the broadcaster said he would deliver the guttering himself to anyone who wants it, because 'it would be mad to keep them, although not quite as mad as throwing them away'.
Chiles, who bought a book called Clutter's Last Stand to help him, promptly lost it among his possessions. He said he suffers from a fear that if he throws something away, he will later need it. He traces this tendency to his mother, who kept old stamp edging for years, which eventually came in handy to cover a mistake made by one of his daughters.
However, Chiles admitted he lacks his mother's organisational skills. 'If you're going to be a hoarder, you'd better be organised, which I am not,' he wrote. He interviewed professional organiser Dilly Carter, star of the TV show Sort Your Life Out, who spoke of the calmness a clearout can bring. But Chiles said the thought of items going to landfill weighs heavily on him.
He referenced the Netflix documentary Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy, in which former Unilever boss Paul Polman noted that 'there is no such thing as away'. Chiles said charity shops are running out of space, and clothes are being dumped in the sea off west Africa. He challenged Carter's claim that almost everything can be found a home, but conceded he may not have been putting in enough effort.
Chiles concluded by vowing to raise his game, starting with the guttering. 'All this gleaming zinc, some straight, some bent,' he wrote. 'Something for...'
