Image credit: Unsplash. Also, I can’t not think of Parks and Rec’s Jean-Ralphio saying “Daaaaaaammnn!”

What happens to an area when a beaver comes to build its dam? It changes the whole dam/n? [also, apologies in advance for how many times this pun appears in this post] ecosystem around it—ecosystem being the community of organisms and the environment they live in, which together makes an ecological “unit.” Simply by taking a bunch of sticks and other plant matter and forming it all into a complex architectural layer cake of sticks and mud, the beaver, just by doing the thing it was brought to this earth to do and it naturally does, without asking anyone’s permission, transforms the radius around it for the better. Waterflow pathways are slowed down, helping to stop erosion. The pools that are created from the dam filter out pollutants and pesticides from nearby farm runoff. The weight of the water in the pools forces fresh water down underground into the water table, thereby contributing to subterranean aquifers. Species of animals that had left the area due to habitat collapse from farming, construction, and other such disruptive things are able to once again find homes in the demi-environment that the ONE beaver’s dam created.

Image credit: http://kisecologycindychoi.weebly.com

“Ok David* Attenborough,” you’re thinking to yourself. “What the hey-ho does this have to do with home organizing and other such things you rant about?” They are cool AF, is what I’m saying—that’s one. And two, METAPHOR ALERT! there are parallels to the home ecosystem—i.e., the people you live with + the spaces you inhabit + the way said people and said environment continually impact one another.

*Not Richard, as I originally had put. Turns out those are two different people?

Pardon me for taking a brief detour to elucidate that last bit, because it’s important:

You made the environment in your house (i.e., it’s your stuff and you put it in places). The environment shapes how you behave (e.g., where you put your couch etc. dictates how you naturally walk in your living area; where you put your coffee cups vs. where you make the coffee dictates how many steps between the coffee pot and the coffee getting to your face). If where you put your stuff is accurate for how you like to live, then your environment will likely hum along nicely. If there is a mismatch between where you put/store your stuff and how you actually, naturally live, you’re likely going to have a problem—symptoms may include piles of stuff not getting put away, walking a mile to cook a meal, and getting dressed in your kid’s room because for some reason your clothes are stored in there? In short, your ecosystem is inefficient in some way and you’re living out that glitch. But you don’t have to! You just need to better understand your processes in your space and your natural proclivities therein.

Anyhoo, back to nature! Let’s call the dam itself a well thought-out, tailored system that has been put in the right place in order to change behavior in a home. For example, take the entry way, which could include hooks for coats, purses and backpacks; a shoe/boot rack; a bench to sit on while putting on shoes; and even a mail processing station (i.e., recycling bin and inbox).

Erosion mitigated: A place to put your shoes/boots prevents shoes trickling out into the entryway and/or adjacent space. A place to put coats and backpacks prevents them from being strewn willy-nilly about the living room.
Pollutants filtered: Having a paper recycling bin front and center in your line of vision from where you bring in the mail will cue you to ditch junk mail, open envelopes, etc. right away, so that you’re not bringing piles of unnecessary paper further into your home.
Water table contributed to: Not having to nag people to put their stuff away (or having a smaller ask of them—"please hang your coat in this obvious spot!” vs. “uhhhhh, I don’t like that there’s crap everywhere but like YOU should hang your coat in the closet all the way across the room”) allows for more energy in your own reserves, because you’re not having to spend it on a larger ask.
New homes found: YOUR KIDS STOP ASKING YOU WHERE THEIR SHOES ARE BECAUSE THEY HAVE HOMES IN THE SHOE RACK SO STOP ASKING ME AND KEEP TRACK OF YOUR OWN DAMN (dam?) SHOES BECAUSE WHERE ELSE WOULD THEY BE?

The dam/n system stems the tide of material detritus and makes things more efficient—both literally in your space AND in the amount of energy you can save picking things up/asking others to pick their shizz up. There’s a clear, obvious system in place and everyone in your home is clear that it is expected that they participate in it.

Just think about how much your “water table” (energy reserves) could grow with a few well-placed dams in your home! What would you do with that energy?

In other words, build the dam so it can do the work—otherwise you may be stuck being the busy beaver, forever picking up the damn (sorry) stuff in your home ecosystem.

Dam it--your home ecosystem that is