In one hour at our local dump,

[Wolfie]

I "loved" six loose horses, several dogs, shook hands with our mayor, and talked to some friends - besides getting rid of our trash. The horses are range horses, free as birds - that means free to wander onto the highway at well. Several horses have been killed recently by lumber trucks and UPS vehicles. But these six horses were very very sweet, no bridles, halters, but all had a local brand. We have a lot of range cattle here as well. And if you hit them, you have to pay for them, as the roads are all posted! LOL

Well I loved the horses and felt sad too that they were so unprotected. Makes you wonder doesn't it?

The dump is such an informative place!

[Elicia]

My dump is informative as well...LOL....I do wish they would allow dumpster diving in couple of the bins....certainly not the household one....LOL....

[woodland_miniatures]

When I was a kid and young adult in Seattle, they still had one huge open land-fill style of dump in the middle of town. Everyone knew where it was, and one of the standing jokes was that our world-famous TV personality and clown, J.P. Patches, lived there and broadcast his daily kid's show from there. For some bizarre reason, every time my mother and I had to make a "dump run", we'd always end up laughing hysterically by the time we got to the unloading place - people brought such weird things there to get rid of and sometimes transported them in truly unique ways. Like the time the vehicle in front of us in line was a tiny Volkswagon bug (this was in the early 1970's) that had an enormous evergreen tree tied to it - all we could see was "tree" sweeping the road behind this tiny car that was less than half the size of the tree!

That landfill eventually became a very large and truly lovely nature preserve right in the heart of Seattle, and I sometimes wonder how many people still remember what's under all that peaceful marshland, now filled with waterfowl and wildlife. Audubon birdwalks go on there all the time now - but I'll bet the birdwatchers don't see anything half as exotic as we used to on any dump-run!

[tcmorrison]

Oh, I remember having to run to the dump. It was never fun, so I don't miss it. At least Fort Worth has a good recycling program here. 2 trash cans, one for the regular stuff and one for any recyclables. No separating, though I wish some things could be recycled that aren't on the list. Like plastic bags and plastic hangers and what do you do with the shredded paper since you can't put it in a plastic bag? The garbage collectors aren't careful enough and I don't want shredded paper all over the neighborhood.

We finally got a "yard cart" for the grass clippings, small tree limbs and other yard debris. DH really likes it since he can put it out with the other cans the night before and doesn't have to worry about it getting wet like the yard bags we were using. And the thing is like 96 gallons with a 2 1/2 by 2 1/2 foot lid so he doesn't have to struggle with keeping a bag open to dump the lawnmower bag into. It was $80, but it goes with us if we move and the city covers anything breaking/being broken or wearing out, but doesn't include it being stolen. Hopefully that won't happen and I don't care if someone decides to add to my stuff, I pay the same price no matter how full it is. I used to tell my next door neighbor, also one of my best friends, that my trash can was almost never full and if she needed the space left over in mine, she was welcome to it. The city will not pickup anything that is not in those cans unless it's a yard bag or bulk pickup week.

OK, I've gone on long enough...I'll stop now.

[pjnick54]

I must have led a sheltered life. I've never been to a dump.....

Although - I've been to a few friends' houses in the past that were very close! hehe

[Wolfie]

The dump here isn't really a dump...... There is a cliff of about 10 feet and many dumpsters are pushed into place. You back up to the top of the cliff and throw your bags into the dumpster. Nothing is left or buried at our dump. You cannot go into the dumpsters whatsoever. Then BFI from Missoula comes and picks up the dumpsters once a week and hauls them away. Phew! What a caravan!

Our dump however is not the old smelly kind of dump. It's on top of a rocky mountain here in Seeley about 8 miles from our house. The man who "runs" the dump is a friend of ours. Sometimes he saves things for me, but most in general are sent to the big dump in Missoula and used as land fill.

And speaking of landfills, yes, they do make them into beautiful parks and gardens but one always wonders what is underfoot. I certainly wouldn't want to drink any water coming from a landfill.

[bookmarm]

your dump sounds much more exciting than ours (staffed by surly guys with pitch forks). We don't DARE put stuff in the wrong bin!

[Elicia]

You are right Gayle...your dump is surly....come up to mine....it's always pleasant there...A young gentlemen that lived next to me in Irmo works there and he always speaks, smiles, tells me what he's been doing and sometimes gives me a hug which causes all the others to laugh....

[AuntDee]

The small town I grew up in in northern Minnesota had a town dump. My sisters and brother and I always insisted on tagging along when Dad took a load of garbage out. We found it exciting to see what all the towns people had tossed. Some of it was still good but my mother would not let us take anything home! Much to our dismay, we didn't care about germs! Another exciting thing was to watch the bears paw thru the trash looking for good ets. We had to sit in the car when the bears were there but it was entertaining to us no less. Several years ago John and I went camping at the state park located there. Since the town is 4o miles from any larger community and located in the forest there aren't a lot of things to do. One day we were kind of bored so I suggested we go to the town dump. Well things had changed quite a bit. A big gate barricades the entrance and hours are posted. All the garbage goes into big cement or iron dumpsters that are locked. No more bear watching or trash inspecting. I kind of liked it the old way. Rita

[Wolfie]

Our dump is not the kind where you have smelly messy piles of stuff around. It comprises a little cliff and at the bottom of the cliff level with the top above are 10 dumpsters. You back up to the edge of the cliff and throw your things into the dumpsters. Once a week the dumpsters are taken away to Missoula to the big landfill. There is no dumpster diving here. We have two people there at all times, they inspect your bags and even remove them from the car or truck. You cannot get into the dumpsters. There is an area of old home appliances like a graveyard with the appliances all out in the open - sad. Somenice ones too! And another area for logs, wood, brush, animal droppings and other things. That area is cleared away with a bulldozer pushing it back into the soil and tamping it down. That is the "land fill" here. All organic. Iknow the big landfill in Missoula is slated to become house lots down the road. I cringe at them digging wells - you really don't know what is being dumped or what chemicals are leeching into the soils. I still remember the days of Love Canal.

Range cattle and horses walk all through our dump. When the dump is closed there are large metal grids over the dumpsters so nothing can fall into them....they are padlocked too to try and keep the bears out of the dumpster. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't. Grizzley bears are really destructive in their quest for food.