| Several years ago my husband and I remodeled | | | | They don't pay for it, but it was still better than |
| our home. You would not believe the mountains | | | | taking it to the transfer station where I would |
| of trash it generated! Because there was so | | | | have to pay to off-load it. Earnings on aluminum |
| much, I had to become creative to get rid of it. | | | | and copper: about $100. Savings from steel: about |
| Here are seven methods I used for disposing of | | | | $45.5. Reuse It. A small portion of the lumber torn |
| our trash:1. Curb It. Prior to the remodel, we were | | | | out from the remodel was reusable. We first |
| on a "one can" plan with our trash company. I | | | | removed stray nails, then used it as framing or |
| quickly realized that the "eight cans" plan would be | | | | siding. Savings: unknown.6. Burn It. Untreated or |
| better so that some of the remodeling trash | | | | unpainted wood became fuel for our wood-burning |
| could go out each week. Cost: about $7 more a | | | | stove. (IMPORTANT: Never burn pressure treated |
| month.2. Haul It. Some things were too large to fit | | | | or painted wood! Burning it creates hazardous |
| into trash cans; these were loaded into my | | | | fumes.) Savings: unknown.7. Compost It. You may |
| husband's truck and taken to the "Transfer | | | | be wondering, "How did they compost building |
| Station." This facility was operated by the trash | | | | materials?" Truthfully, we didn't, but it's still an |
| company to serve people like me who had large | | | | alternative worth discussing. If you need to lower |
| items. Cost: about $25 per load.3. Advertise It. | | | | your expenses, consider going on a one can plan |
| Another way to get rid of anything that still had | | | | with your trash company if they offer it. Then, |
| use was to advertise it in the classifieds. Some | | | | compost most food products, and recycle glass, |
| things I gave away; some things I sold. It | | | | paper, plastic, and cans. If you do this consistently |
| depended on what I thought I could get for it. | | | | and don't have a large family, you should have no |
| This was very effective and was cheaper than | | | | problem using only one can for regular household |
| taking things to the dump. Plus, the idea of less | | | | trash. Savings: $7 a month.With a little ingenuity, |
| stuff going to the landfill is always appealing. | | | | you too can get rid of trash, earn or save some |
| Earnings: about $250, plus unknown savings from | | | | money, and not have it all go to our |
| not needing to haul the free stuff to the transfer | | | | landfills.Jennifer Thieme began homeschooling her |
| station.4. Recycle It. My favorite way of getting | | | | three children in 1996. She is the administrator of |
| rid of metals was to take them to the recycling | | | | a small, private ISP she established for her own |
| center. The one near our home took many types | | | | family and several of her friends. She has been |
| of materials, and even paid for some of it. I took | | | | published in Practical Homeschooling and the Intuit |
| all the scrap aluminum and copper there, which | | | | ProConnection Newsletter. She operates a |
| they paid for. I also took scrap steel to them. | | | | bookkeeping and tax service from her home. |