Pruning Bushes and Visiting the Dump

I blogged previously about chopping the poor bougainvillea bushes down to nothing. Yesterday was the day we were scheduled to chop down the other four. As you can see, they are quite full and beautiful. If you click on the photo, I uploaded a large one so you can have a closer look.

It was almost painful to chop these down to nothing. As I said in my aforementioned previous entry, this is what my FIL requested.

So that's the before picture, and now here's the after picture.

I guess it's not so shocking. Again, it's just that I've never seen this type of bush butchered down to nothing, ever before.

The back of our pickup was loaded, as well as our trailer. We brought along some other things to throw away while visiting the dump. The cost was only ten dollars, which is quite inexpensive! Out where we live, it costs $25 just to drive onto the site and dump anything. Then you pay a per pound price. This dump is a long ways from where we live, so it wouldn't really be economical, even though it's cheaper. Once you figure in gasoline at $2.15/gallon and the vehicle only gets 12-15 miles to the gallon... it's cheaper to just pay the $25 to the locals.

I know you will probably never hear anyone else say this, but going to the dump makes me feel sad inside. The thing that makes me feel sad, is to see all the things that people throw away, which are perfectly usable!!!! When we throw things away, they are totally trash and no longer fit to be anywhere, but in the dump! Note the arrows pointing down to the old mattress and two box springs. They are ripped and torn apart and no one could use them for anything. We throw our old mattresses and box springs out for the dogs to sleep on. They play on them and sleep on them, and rip them apart... so they need to be thrown away.

But while we were at the dump, I saw truck after truck, after truck with men throwing away perfectly good things. One man, I imagined that he was a landlord who had evicted some tenants. He was driving a rental trailer, and he had trouble getting it backed in properly. He kept jack-knifing it and having to pull forward, and try again. He threw away a propane fueled barbeque, not the best one you can buy, but it looked like it was in perfectly usable condition. He also threw away a wooden desk, just a little one that you might sit at and write notes. Not a big office desk. He threw away a desk chair and a la-z-boy type chair. Plus a bunch of other things that looked like something you shouldn't be throwing away!

Another man threw away two big wooden gate looking things, plus a bunch of big pieces of plywood. The gate things looked really neat and I'm sure would have made some really good shades for the goats.

But it's illegal to take anything with you from the dump nowadays. When I was growing up... we rarely had a vehicle to go to the dump with, but when we did, it was okay to take anything there that we might have been able to use. But now people throw away perfectly good things, and smash, into the refuse pile it goes. At least at this dump.

We have been to another dump that does a good amount of recycling and has areas cordoned off for things like bicycles and parts, mattresses and box springs, furniture, etc. But I think they take it someplace and refurbish and then sell it. Or maybe sell it to someone. I know it's probably grossing you out to think of reusing someone's old mattress... but I have never bought a brand new bed in my entire life. The only ones I could allow myself to buy would be such cheap pieces of crap that they would wear out in a year's time.

Until next time.