Use it up, recycle, and never buy anything new – whew!

We may be running out of landfill space in the West, but not because of me. I�m a packrat. I spent summers in eastern Montana with my grandparents, who lived in an apartment above a department store. I spent the warm days rummaging through trash bins in the alley behind the store, and then I�d set up pretend offices in refrigerator crates and arrange my treasures. I carted boxes of stuff up the stairs into my grandparents� home. I referred to this as my �good garbage.� Since then, the sight of an overflowing Dumpster has become irresistible. In fact, I often take my bags of garbage out to the Dumpster in the alley behind my house and come back with more than I took out. I can�t resist cardboard boxes and bubble wrap. I have a new neighbor who buys a lot of stuff online, and he�s been very helpful about putting bubble wrap and other packing materials on my porch so that I don�t have to fish them out of the Dumpster.

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