Today’s box raises a question about the entire “365 Days” project: What should be done with stuff that’s in the garage now that needs to stay in the garage?

Box 42: Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023

CONTENTS: OK, it’s not really a box — it’s a tin that in its original life held a selection of Costco butter cookies. Now, it holds these items: A quart of motor oil. A spray bottle containing a “natural herbal calming spray” for cats. (Can any cat owner out there tell me whether there’s any evidence at all that this stuff is even slightly effective at calming cats?) A couple of Dr. Bronner’s products. (Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps — that’s the company’s official name — was a big financial backer of the Oregon initiative to legalize psilocybin.) A bottle of pet stain and odor remover. Another bottle of stain and odor removal. A bottle of Old English wood treatment oil. A bottle of Lime-A-Way bathroom cleaner. Two plastic bags that originally held celery. And, oddest of all, a plastic bag from the German department store chain Karstadt, with receipts inside from 2014.

DISPOSITION: The Karstadt bag likely dates from the younger daughter’s summer internship in Germany: I believe it might have at one time contained a soccer jersey she purchased during Germany’s triumphant World Cup run in 2014. The plastic bags will be reused. The cleaning supplies will go under the kitchen and bathroom sinks. The metal tin — I don’t know; I’ll ask the household Master Recycler about that. But the motor oil — which might be useful at some point — should return to the garage. In fact, the garage currently holds a shelving unit that eventually needs to be cleared and placed somewhere else in the garage, preferably against a wall. (The garage also has a variety of cabinets and drawers that currently are filled with junk, including cassette tapes, so many cassette tapes. At some point this year, I’m going to have to clear those out as well, an angle I have not previously considered as part of the “365 Boxes” project. Just thinking about this makes me weary.)

If you’re coming late to the whole “365 Boxes” project, here’s the blog post that got it all rolling.