Every city seems to have different policies on garbage pick-up. We used to live in a town that required all its residents to pay a flat trash pick-up rate every month. I have heard of other towns that don't charge at all.

Where we currently live, there are a number of different garbage disposal companies, with varying rates, and it's up to the residents to choose what they want to pay for.

However, being the frugal person I hope I am,  rather than simply deciding on a cheap garbage service, I decided to try to eliminate the need for grabage pick-up, period.

So, here is how we avoid paying for trash to go into the landfill!

1. Recycle. This takes care of glass, cans, and aluminum for us. If you aren't able to burn your paper waste, you can also recycle cardboard, paper, plastics, old phone books and catalogs, etc. Check locally and see what all they will be willing to take for recycling, and then enjoy dumping your trash off for free while helping conserve energy and resources!

2. Compost. We made a compost pile in a little section of our yard and in our kitchen we have a small "garbage bucket" (actually an old plastic ice cream container) where we throw all our food scraps, banana peels, etc. At least once a day, the bucket is dumped on the pile and washed out, to avoid any bad smells or fruit flies. :)

3. Cloth diapers. For most of this year so far, I had two children in diapers, and by using cloth diapers there were no dirty smelly diapers to have to get rid of. Yay! No paying for diapers, and no paying to get rid of them. And, no super-stinky trash cans of diapers, or the need to buy lots of plastic bags to trap the smell.

4. Re-use things. But even more importantly: the less disposable "trash" you buy, the less you will have to get rid of. Just stop buying the stuff that you're constantly having to throw away... paper plates, styrofoam cups, paper napkins, etc. and you won't need to throw it away anymore. The "extra work" won't be so bad once you get used to re-using things, and the best way to do that is just stop buying trash!