A Visit to the Dump & Dumpster Diving

When you live in a mountainous area, you have to bring your garbage, recycling, and junk to the dump.  Typically, yard waste gets burned (in a safe manner of course!).  It actually is a process that causes one (that one would be me/we) to think much about everything one/me/we consume(s), because you have to bring it someplace else to dispose of it! There is no bi-weekly pick up around here!

Above is the view of the entrance to the dump...a very pleasant approach if I do say so myself!

The people who staff the dump are quite pleasant, always smiling and friendly.  They have a cozy little set up, with an outhouse, bench for visiting, and they even have a TV in their little shed mostly to prevent utter boredom, though I think they don't need it because they seem to know every single person who lives in the Sylva territory (I think that's what the bench is for, visiting).  They also pull any usable trash out (one person's junk is another person's treasure) that might be of value to someone.  Interestingly, the stuff always finds a new home!

The process is simple, drive through, stop your car along the throughway, put your bag of garbage into the squash-er, the machine farthest to the left (I have no idea what it is called, but that is what it does, put your bags of garbage it, it squashes it to smithereens), then go to the glass/plastic container and drop those items in, the container farthest to the right (I like to throw the glass and hear it smash).

Then on to the cardboard/paper container...now here is where things get interesting...below you will find Mountain Man, looking into the bin and searching for treasures.  Now mind you, he often finds some, newspapers, magazines (he once came across a whole box of late 1970's hunting and gun type magazines...he is still looking through them) and other odds and ends people have discarded.

Sounds crazy, I know, but come to find out that in these parts it is something people do!  And each and every time we go through the dump, there is someone there that we know and we chit chat with!  Almost like the corner store, and I don't mean that sarcastically!  So while we are doing our part to ensure a clean world for our future, we are also doing our own part to recycle stuff!!!  It's just recycling in a new light:)

There are also huge household and electronic recycling containers, which also seem to get filled frequently.  In fact, our friend Ron made a special sign telling people to stack on the pallet (must have been a problem getting people to put stuff in the right place)...

I share this with you because I have never really thought about garbage disposal before, but having to collect our junk, put it in the car, and drive it somewhere to dispose of it makes one/me/us think a bit about our/my waste in a way I have never thought of it before.  Mountain living, gotta love it! 

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise