Save $300 with No Garbage Pick Up & Recycling

Well, we did it, we canceled our garbage service. That was a few months back, and I have to say that it was rather successful. Good bye $75 quarterly garbage bills! (We now save $300 / year).

How do you do it you may be asking?

It's rather simple, REALLY simple.

We recycle almost all of our garbage, and I try hard not to have much food waste, and our wonderful dog, Bella, enjoys most of the boy's scraps from the table. I also wash and reuse baggies, tin foil & plastic wrap.

Usually once or twice a week - depending upon how full our recycle bin is, Mike will take the recycling to the dump on his way home from work. At the recycle center he gets a 'punch' on his 'punch card.' This punch card, when full, is good for one free dump run!

A FREE DUMP RUN?

YES!

So that's how we do it! Recycle, get a punch, take our garbage to the dump when we get a full punch card. It saves the environment and your budget! Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

Here's some information listed on juneau.org's website:

Gives a list of what is accepted for recycling:

http://www.juneau.org/pubworks/recycling.php

Other recycling resources (a list including: styrofoam, cell phones, six pack rings, toner, etc.):

http://www.juneau.org/pubworks/r-rec.php

One Small Change

1 Corinthians 10:26

"for the earth is the Lord's, and everything in it."

I have become more aware in the past few years while I have been conciously working on being green, eco friendly and frugal that we are stewards of God's earth and should do our part to create less waste and be more aware of our actions on the environment.

So, having come accross Hip Mountain Mama and it's 'One Small Change' challenge, I thought it would be a perfect match for me and to add to my already growing list of things I am trying to do to be more aware and concious of my actions.

In their own words...



"Our vision with Hip Mountain Mama is much larger than selling environmentally friendly products. We are passionate about educating others about sustainability and passionate about building community. Our desire to create a community of individuals who want to make a positive change has led to the creation of our One Small Change project.


We want to challenge each of you to make 1 change each month leading up to Earth Day (April 22, 2010). It can be small or it can be huge, but all we ask is that you decide on something you will do to make a positive green impact and follow through with it. If everyone makes 4 changes between January and April, this can have a huge effect."



This month, although already half over, I have decided to still participate. I already think that I am somewhat green and eco friendly. But feel like I can continue working on this earth friendly path. As being green is often synonymous with being frugal, I feel like it is something that I need to do, to show my kids how to live responsibly.



This month I have decided to hang dry at least one load of laundry per day. Now, some of you who don't live in our area might think, "what's so difficult about that?" But those of you who do live here (or who have lived here before or visited) are asking, "are you crazy?"



We live in a 'Rain Forest' and here it seems like it rains just about every other day!



So, my only option that I have, unless I want to hang my laundry in the rain, is to hang it in my bathroom and above my washer and dryer! I have a closet rod above my washer and dryer in the hallway and an extra shower rod above the tub in the bathroom (See Photo of Diapers Below).