# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > General Homesteading >  garbage

## cabingal4

we dont get garbage service as i am sure alot of u homesteaders dont.
its ok when we just go to our cabin once in a while but what about when 
we live there?
when we first bought our property-the neighbor had tons of empty food
cans out in his front yard.
i dont know why -but since then he cleaned them all up.
so how do u content with garbage?

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## crashdive123

What can't be composted, burned or re-purposed can be saved and then disposed of on the next trip to town.  Lots of uses for some of those items, but over time you may run out of ideas or desire to make another soup can table lamp.  Since they are of concern, that probably means that there are enough trips to town to acquire more similar items.  On those trips they can be disposed of or recycled.

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## ClayPick

We separate the bulk of our garbage and leave it at the end of the lane. Before the truck came we carted it to the recycling depot. Gone are the good? old days when you could bury it or just throw it over a bank. Burning cans use to be common, they rusted out and disappeared quicker.

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## BENESSE

Here are some ideas, some of them simply amazing:
http://www.pinterest.com/spanishjone...-with-garbage/

Might even end up making gifts or trading home made items for something you need.

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## cabingal4

i know to watch out for burn piles burning with cans in them with food in them.
me and the grandsons cleaned out  a camper and unthinkingly tossed cans of food
into the burn pile.later a can of beans exploded in my hair,face and coat.
good thing it was not real hot.maybe it was but it was so cold outside that it did not feel hot.
when we bought our property.there was and is alot of junk still on it.
we got some young fella to haul it all off.metal scraps.i think he was new at it and took more than
what he knew to do with .so now he has alot of that stuff he took from us-at his place.
but we were sure happy to get rid of some of the junk out there.

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## cabingal4

thanks BENESSE-i did check that out.
hmm.not gonna be alot of room in the little cabin at the homestead.
i plan on using my go green bags when i do shop.
so i wont have a million plastic bags like i do now .lol.
i love the kind of thing u posted from pinterest though.love pinterest.
thank u.

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## cabingal4

found these.
so funny.i wil be called the tin can craft lady.
http://www.pinterest.com/tippy478/soup-can-crafts/

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## alaskabushman

We don't get trash service either. We separate the food (goes into the compost pile), cans (rinsed crushed and bagged for the next dump load), and burnables which get burned in an old 100 gallon propane tank with the top cut off. This holds a lot more ash and lasts waaay longer than the common 55 gal drum.

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## cabingal4

alaskabushman-love the 100 gallon propane tank idea.
thanks for that.
i figure we can smash the cans flat.
we can maybe not purchase alot of plastics or canned goods .
maybe just using canning jars and such.
growing our own food.
maybe this will cut down on garbage.
we dont get mail either.
thanks for these ideas.

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## alaskabushman

> alaskabushman-love the 100 gallon propane tank idea.
> thanks for that.


It works great! A word if caution however, if you decide to go this route, make absolutely sure there is no more gas in the tank before you start cutting it. To prep mine I shot it with my 30-06 a few times (.223 wouldn't penetrate) and let it sit for a day. The filled the tank completely with water and let sit for another day. I was still really nervous when the torch cut through but it was all good. If you don't have an acetylene torch expect to use quite a few cutting wheels, these buggers are thick!

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## crashdive123

You do know that you could take the valve out right.  Scratch that.......shooting is a lot more fun.

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## alaskabushman

> You do know that you could take the valve out right.  Scratch that.......shooting is a lot more fun.


Tried that, it was so rusty it stripped off the nut flats. But yes...shooting it was much better  :Cowboy:

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## hunter63

> You do know that you could take the valve out right.  Scratch that.......shooting is a lot more fun.


Yup and have never had one "explode"......durn it

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## hunter63

> i know to watch out for burn piles burning with cans in them with food in them.
> me and the grandsons cleaned out  a camper and unthinkingly tossed cans of food
> into the burn pile.later a can of beans exploded in my hair,face and coat.
> good thing it was not real hot.maybe it was but it was so cold outside that it did not feel hot.
> when we bought our property.there was and is alot of junk still on it.
> we got some young fella to haul it all off.metal scraps.i think he was new at it and took more than
> what he knew to do with .so now he has alot of that stuff he took from us-at his place.
> but we were sure happy to get rid of some of the junk out there.


There is a spot down in a ravine on "Unit two" that was used for a dump for a long time.....
Had a young scrapper cart away 3 or 4 pic op loads of the "good stuff" metal......I still work at hauling off bad of  junk from time to time.

Too bad I used to go over there and shoot bottles before I owned it....cleaning up my mess is gonna take awhile.

We have Wednesday Dump day....with recyclables bin and everything......reason for a trip to town.
Have used the dumpster in the city park on occasion.......

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## kyratshooter

I live out in the sticks too but we have a private service that picks up once a week.

$10 monthly and money well spent.

If the trash pickup stopped for some reason everything else I deal with would burn and the two or three tin cans a week would probably be recycled by me as holders for bent nails, nuts and bolts and nice shiny wind chimes to keep the birds out of the garden.

I keep a "burn pile" collecting down on the corner of the lot and fire it up a couple of times a year to dispose of brush and crap wood I an not recycle.  I'm about ready to run the water hose down there and deal with the spring cleanup waste.

I know that would bring police cars, the forest service and the EPA out in some areas but it is completely safe and legal here.  Our problem is getting things dry enough to burn well.

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## 1stimestar

Since half of our borough population lives out of town, we have several transfer sites full of dumpsters.  They are free and many of them even have a covered concrete platform to leave things that may be used by other's.  We call it the Fairbanks Mall lol.  They would much rather provide free trash disposal then people dump at the end of a dirt road or somewhere.  With our temps, things don't break down very quickly.

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## 1stimestar

I actually have a shot of one of our transfer sites with the covered pad in one of my videos.  It's at 1:40.

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## Rick

We recycle everything. We do have curb side pick up but I choose to cart it to the Senior Citizen's recycling center so they make some money. The upside of recycling/reusing is you don't have nearly as much trash to dispose of. For us that means dumping it in a landfill that will get covered over and never rot. It also means those items recycled can be reused requiring less virgin resources to make products.

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## Grizz123

for those of you living in AK, how do you keep bears and other critters out of the compost pile?

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## cabingal4

Grizz123.i dont live in Alaska...but we call our woods lil Alaska.
one time me and the mister were sitting out by the camp fire having sardines.
they were so big.i chopped them up and put them on our crackers.
i saved what sardines were left over and that nite we had a bobcat on our roof
trying to get in.
so once we retire out there-u are right.its going to be very interesting to see what shows up
around our compost bin.
good question i sure would love to hear about from Alaskans. :Nod:

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## OldFlJarhead

Hi,all.  It's been a while since I posted, but this struck a memory chord for me.  In Viet Nam ( and in a lot of third world countries) they used aluminum cans as roofing and siding.  Simply cut the top and bottom off and split up the side.  Flatten and nail up  It was something to see an entire house made of coke cans or seven-up!  I've been looking  in from time to time, I'll try to post more often.

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## crashdive123

Nice to see you stop by.  Don't be a stranger.

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## cabingal4

how do u keep wild animals from coming around when u have a compost bin?

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## 1stimestar

That's why I don't have a compost pile.

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## alaskabushman

> how do u keep wild animals from coming around when u have a compost bin?


Dogs keep them at bay pretty well, seal bombs second, 12 gauge if the first two dont work.

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## randyt

When I was young, junk was thrown in a sinkhole. Just about every farm had a sinkhole. Most everything else was burned. 

A few years back there was a effort to clean up the sinkholes and the .gov paid out for it to happen in some cases.




Ever notice now days the amount of garbage that gets produced? I didn't notice that back when I was a kid.

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## cabingal4

whats a seal bomb?
well here in the city...we quit our garbage service.
300$ a year for the small can and some recycle bins and one yard debris can.
soo i have one can for things to be burnt.
one coffee can for compost to go in my composter outside in the back yard.
i save alot of containers like the coffee mate creamer container.its a pretty cool container.its heavy plastic with a nice screw on lid.i put berries in it and all kinds of things.
i save jars and re-usable lids.
then we take what we have honed down to hubbys work.
we do good at keeping things small till all the family is here piled in.
i take empty milk jugs and fill with with water and freeze to take in our ice chest to the woods.
i also use them as water jugs cause they are half gallon and smaller.i put them on the meadow for taking a shower later in the day.
so when we get out there to live at our cabin.all this will come into play.
i think of a compost bin out there was a cage of rounded chicken wire.
maybe we should just bury our compost in a hole and cover with a board and then move on to the next hole instead of having it out in the open in chicken wire.

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## hunter63

With compost bins, meats, bones grease arn't put in them.....so I guess I would wonder what a bear would be looking for as far a scraps.
Breads and such maybe?

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## cabingal4

very good point hunter.
probably thinking overtime about bears,tigers and cougars!! oh my!! :m107:

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## 1stimestar

Our bears are omnivores.

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## alaskabushman

> whats a seal bomb?


ImageUploadedByTapatalk1406641421.724103.jpg

It's basically a waterproof M80, but twice as loud. Used by commercial and charter fisherman to keep seals and sea lions for stealing fish from nets or lines. Pretty powerful little buggers with a loud bang.

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## Rick

Cabingal - don't use milk containers for water containers. You can not get them clean enough. Using them for ice is cool (couldn't resist) as long as you don't consume the ice.

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## cabingal4

alaskabushman.
well u know what?my son is a commerical fisherman.
so i will ask him for some.
well here is what i dont know.if i have a wire compost bin and toss foods in it.
wont little animals and such carry it off and make a mess?
or should i care?
also.thanks Rick for the info. on milk containers.

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## hunter63

I have a couple of compost bins in the city, I don't put meat, fat, grease, breads, pastry...... in it.
Possibly the mice go after seeds from melons and such, or veg scrape.....but has not been a problem.

So from a Garbage point of view.....still need to deal with these things.

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## cabingal4

here is some things i do with plastic bags.
i covered a vase to add some color and get rid of plastic bags.
10495817_10204408692966515_4275793071902317636_o.jpg

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## crashdive123

That looks great.

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## cabingal4

thanks crashdive123.
i made some place mats today and a bowl.
out of cutting strips from plastic bags.
DSC_0355.jpg
of course the best way is to have a go green grocery bag and not use plastic bags...

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## ace_maveric

Right now I have small anaerobic digester that accompanies my propane all automatic since I can do PLC programming. I need a larger digester to meet all my needs. I am working on one but also need more garbage or pig Sh*$%t.  Plastic I burn in a burn barrel and it could be hauled off.  I grow lots of extra garden stuff to feed to pigs and digest that. Anyway it does save on the propane.  I recycle the metals in one way or another.

Thats good work with the plastic bags

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## roxanwright

The garbage service in our area doesn't collect our garbage as often as we would have wanted too. For years now, we've been doing our best at recycling most of the stuff. Compared to the days when we hadn't been recycling, the improvement was huge.

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## your_comforting_company

Many of the "landfills" around here are converting to methane production and many of our power company trucks are converting to running on natural gas. I don't know a lot about it, but it is something our community is doing to lessen waste. Also our county has elected a SPLOST recycling initiative which pays for recycling bins and the proceeds go to the senior citizens and nursing homes. A good deal of our stuff gets repurposed or just reused (like egg cartons and coffee cans). You'd be surprised at the junk you see at some of the festivals we attend, which was just garbage someone had an idea for arts and crafts.

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## hunter63

> .........................A good deal of our stuff gets repurposed or just reused (like egg cartons and coffee cans). You'd be surprised at the junk you see at some of the festivals we attend, which was just garbage someone had an idea for arts and crafts.


LOL, as I live with a "Crafter"....our house is filled with this stuff.......and seems it is just postponing the inevitable for a length of time.

Gives people a warm and fuzzy feeling for a while....but will end up as land fill in time as all things do.

But it is fun to see the imagination, talent  and work that goes into it.......so you have a good day out and about, ....spend some money, eat local foods,...try to talk the folksingers in to "Stairway to Heaven".....talk to like minded people and have a good time.

We do it every chance we get.

Plastic bags and bottles should be banned.

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## your_comforting_company

"Freebird"!!

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## Roel

We have a weekly trash service, one week te green stuff, not for us we compost everything, the other week the rest of the garbage, which we use four or five times a year.
Once in two weeks they come for the plastics and thats for free.

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