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A Garbage Tale

Living in the country, we have to take our rubbish to the dump ourselves. No truck to pick up the bin and dump it in the back (which is a little sad because both Meg and Toby loved the garbage truck – for a while garbage day was our favourite day of the week). Instead Country Boy backs up the farm truck to the gate pulls on the garbage bins and recycling bins, then drives into the village dump (5 minutes away).

Yesterday, after I had tackled Mount Washmore, and Toby had emptied the Lego all over the floor, Country Boy announced he was going to the dump. I had been meaning to go into the village and take some photos to show you all, and so I decided that we would all go.

Ms. Lopez's Recycling Reflection Blog
image credit

Country Boy is notorious for returning from the dump with ‘useful’ things – usually 44 gallon drums which he can use as tree guards, or planks of wood to build a bridge over the creek. I generally shake my head in bemusement and leave him to it. But to be honest I am also proud that he is able to find things that can be useful around the farm.

So we piled the kids in the truck and rocked up to the dump. I couldn’t believe what was in the pit where we all throw our stuff. There was a complete nursery set – cot, change table etc, multiple bikes, bags of clothing, a new looking swing set. It looked like someone had done a massive clean out. But here is my point: most of the stuff was still in good condition (well it was before it was sitting in a garbage pit). Surely it could have been reused or recycled rather than being put into a pit to be burnt and buried. I have written about how we don’t pay the true cost for many items, and this confirmed it to me. I have no problem with throwing out broken, soiled furniture, but surely someone could have used some of these items!

As a general rule, we love to reuse what ever we can. Last year when we lived in the mountains, we toured the council clean up (also known as the community junk swap) and got some fantastic things. I am still proud that I found a heap of Thomas the Tank Engine stuff in great condition! I found things I later sold on a garage sale!

In the country there isn’t council clean up, and it is quite a drive to a clothing bin or Vinnies. It really is hardly surprising that all that stuff was there.

On the way back, Country Boy and I were lamenting that people will go to so little effort to recycle, or reuse things which are still useful.

Am I being stupid and naive? Or are we really wasting so much stuff? Would love your thoughts!

Let everyone know:

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Comments

  1. Anne@GtSlamseysFarm says

    July 4, 2012 at 6:13 pm

    My husband and I are both from large families so all our children's stuff was endlessly recycled through the families and is probably stored in someone's attic ready for the next generation. Our High Street seems to have more Charity shops than proper ones, so there's always somewhere to donate good things and browse around for a bargain.

    Reply
  2. A Farmer's Wife says

    July 4, 2012 at 9:56 am

    Jo, I am a big donater. Local hospitals, child care centres etc. To me the effort of selling on eBay is not worth the pleasure I get from giving it so someone in need. We are lucky that we have a Good Sammies bin in town that is frequently chockers. I have also contacted the Child Health Nurse in the past and given her some baby gear that went to parents who really needed it. Throwing out broken stuff is fine. The rest of it needs to be found a new home!

    And I agree with Anne – there is much better second hand stuff around than the rubbish in cheap shops.

    Loving how thoughtful your blog is at the moment. (As opposed to mine which currently has the depth of a muddy puddle….)

    Reply
    • Jo says

      July 4, 2012 at 10:11 am

      Thanks for your kind thoughts! Hopefully as I get to know our local town better. I will find where we can donate some of our excess stuff. I find it so frustrating when people throw away perfectly good stuff. I don't need it myself (Definitely don't need more junk), but there must be some one out there who could use some of it.

      Reply
  3. ANB says

    July 4, 2012 at 9:22 am

    I've been surprised by the quality of kids stuff that I can buy on eBay and Gumtree. Our most recent acquisition was Duplo which new costs $40 for a small box with less than 50 pieces in it. We got 200 pieces of it from eBay for $30, the worst of it being that we had to drive about 30 minutes in the pouring rain to pick it up!

    Reply
  4. Anne @ Domesblissity says

    July 4, 2012 at 5:53 am

    I totally agree with you Jo. I'm not sure whether or not it's because I have old fashioned values or because of the way I was raised but it really gets me that it takes so little to recycle stuff. My ex husband was one to just throw it away. There are so many places to recycle stuff now like the local paper, freecycle and council clean ups (although ours doesn't do it either). I got my first push bike when I was around 12 and it was a second hand one, done up. My son only got his first new bike last Christmas. Before that they've only ever had second hand. Most of their Christmas toys for the last 2 years have been from Freecycle. I really can't see anything wrong with the stuff. If you're worried about germs, just give it a wipe with some soapy water. I think the same with every though. Stuff for the house, kitchen, clothes etc. Just imagine if everyone did it. There'd be less and less $2 shops and cheap, nasty furniture and electrical stores around. xx

    Reply
  5. Deb says

    July 4, 2012 at 5:25 am

    Good idea to the above post! What about a car boot sale? I too hate to see functioning things thrown out.

    Reply
  6. Fussy Eater's Mum says

    July 4, 2012 at 1:57 am

    No Jo you are not being naive. It's too much effort for most people to figure out how someone else can make use of their rubbish. Recently I hosted a White Elephant Sale to raise funds for a charity. I was amazed at what nice 'junk' people had. Perhaps this is an annual event you could organise in your Village to give people a place to off load their goods?

    Reply
    • Jo says

      July 4, 2012 at 10:06 am

      Great Idea!

      Reply

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Hi, I’m Jo

I'm a city girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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Team work makes the dream work. We were asked rec Team work makes the dream work. 
We were asked recently whether we “make” our kids work on the farm. The answer is “of course not”. Having said that, all three love to help out whenever they can. They all work hard because they want to; because they take pride in working hard and contributing in a meaningful way to our family life; because they love living on our farm and don’t remember life before we moved here. Whether it be planting trees or doing sheep work or feeding animals, they all want to be involved. As a parent, nothing is better than watching them grow in skill and confidence as they work along side you. We’re so glad that we get to spend time with our three, working together.
We’ve had an unexpected addition to the family ☘️🐑. She is a lot easier to look after than the other family members but she does try to escape her yard and head butt people. Poddy lambs are super cute but they tend to think they are a human. Clover the lamb is sure that Meg is her mum. Can’t think why… 🤔🤣
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It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got through shearing without a hitch (thankfully 🙏) but we’ve had a run of the flu followed by Covid run through the family since then. The kids and I have tested positive (this is my second time getting it 🦠) though so far C has managed to avoid it. There has been a lot of lying on the couch feeling pretty ordinary. Han had to reschedule her driving test for a 4th time due to Covid, which is disappointing for her because she wants her freedom and for us because it would be so much more convenient if she could drive herself places. Just to add in to the mix, our hot water system has chosen now as a good time to die so we’re on cold showers until we’re all out of iso. This is not meant to be a whinging post but sometimes life just sucks a bit and it’s good to be real. Fortunately, the sight of the fire going with a stack of wood next to it cheers us up. Things will improve soon. Onwards we go…
A picture perfect Autumn afternoon to end the scho A picture perfect Autumn afternoon to end the school holidays. We’ve been busy spending time with friends and family, harvesting the last of the summer produce, as well as a short escape to explore the big smoke. After the craziness of last term it was the break we all needed. It’s back to school for me tomorrow, and the kids are back on Wednesday. Shearing starts soon and so it’s all systems go over the next few weeks.
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Hi, I’m Jo

City girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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