How to get rid of it?

Before anyone freaks, no, it's not all going to a landfill. There are so many ways to get rid of things in my area, there are no excuses not to. A Goodwill superstore (or whatever they call it - it's BIG!) just opened about a mile from my house. They're open to drop off donations 6 or 7 days a week. I'm not sure exactly, but come on, one day doesn't make that much of a difference.

If I don't feel like driving a mile, I can always call the Vietnam Vets. You put the bags or items on the front step and they pick them up for you. You don't even have to be home.

There's also freecycle. I usually freecycle things I can't outright donate for some reason. No, not junk, but here's a good example. I recently freecycled a VCR/DVD combo on which the DVD part was broken. If I had sent it to the Goodwill store it would have been bought by someone who'd be disappointed to find it was only half working. Instead I freecycled it and clearly stated that the DVD wasn't working so it was basically just a VCR. I had to turn people away!

We are lucky enough to have a children's consignment store also a mile from my house. Outgrown children's clothing and toys go there most of the time. I also buy most of my kid's clothing there.

Finally, there's my Aunt's church sale every October. Starting around summer she begins to collect items (or at least that's when my mom reminds me). I can already think of a few things that I'm going to give to her (such as books for the booksale room).

What it comes down to is that I only throw in the garbage the things that are actually garbage!

Last weekend my husband dropped off three garbage bags full of unloved toys to Goodwill. A week or so earlier he dropped off bags of adult clothing culled from our dressers. Upstairs right now I have two bags of winter clothing waiting for the consignment store to change seasons (in one week they'll take winter). I also just gave away a bag full of my son's outgrown cotton clothing to my nephew. And, as I type, there's a beautiful kitchen faucet on the front steps waiting for a freecycler to come take it.

We're making progress :)