Project Trash and Treasure - 06-11-08

The schipperkes are being very patient with all this time I'm spending in the basement. Of course they do need to bark every time I bring another bag up the stairs and put it in the garage. And they are still waiting for Melissa to come home. I think in another month they will start to accept that she is not coming back to squeeze their feet, howl with them and give them an occasional bath.

Here is this week's haul.





This Thursday finds 6 -30 lb. garbage bags full of trash at the curb. Out of the basement for good and forever.

I'm realizing as I throw things away that I have to find a method for not allowing so much junk to go down there.

We need to cultivate an attitude of discernment about acquisitions and discard more stuff immediately.

Elemental Interference

Sunday morning found our efforts floating in water. The storms that swept through mid-Michigan on Saturday night brought 1/2 inch of water into the front of the basement.

I don't have a picture of the two water-vacs full of water that I vacummed up, carried upstairs and threw away.

It is difficult to see the water but I tried to photograph it for the blog post.

Onward!

Visible Results.

This is the first photo that shows progress. I did not snap a photograph of the room before we started. This is what we call the "storage room" and the floor was covered with boxes piled three deep. You could not see the floor at all.

This is how the "storage room" looked after about 7 hours of work!

I plan for this trend to continue. Volunteers of America is pleased. East Lansing Public Works Garbage Workers are not.

Significant Efforts!

Mike came down to East Lansing Memorial Day weekend and continued the project he had started approximately six weeks earlier. I helped him when I could, while Jack was napping, or out for a walk with Debbie. We managed to fill fourteen yellow garbage bags with discardable stuff. I did not get a picture of all the cardboard boxes I hauled off to recycling. The count was 15 old cardboard boxes.

It is my plan to document quantities discarded and improvements as they become visible.

Here are the first batch of bags waiting for garbage pick-up. I was worried the city would say there were too many bags. I was delighted when I arrived home that night to find them all gone.

Seeing is Believing!