One woman's trash...

It may surprise some of you to learn this, but here on Clove Island I don't have a garbage service to conveniently carry away my trash. Instead, I sort the trash into things that can decompose/compost, things that can be reused in creative ways, and burnables.

So recently I decided it was time to burn trash. Now, I kinda figure that I do a decent job of using things up and repurposing items. So there's not a lot that gets burned which I would consider salvageable. Any containers have already been gifted to someone who will use them. Notebooks have been written in on every page.

But somehow my burning stuff quickly became an attraction. Three kids saw the smoke and came running over. They started rummaging through the basket of burnables, grabbing and fighting over random items. Oh dear! I quickly informed them that they had to ask permission before running off with anything, and tried to assist with equitable distribution.

What things did they salvage from the burning?
-- Old markers: barely working? No problem!
-- Mascara: same!
-- Used spiral notebooks: I had to go through these and make sure there weren't any personal notes being released to the neighborhood.
-- Cardboard boxes: What kid doesn't want a box in which to store his/her treasures?
-- A quarter: I have no clue how it ended up in the bottom of the burnables, but hey, finders keepers! The girl who spotted it immediately went out and bought 4 popsicles-- 2 for herself and 1 each for the other two kids.

And at the end I had three new friends. They helped me finish the burning, ran an errand for me while I was waiting for the fire to die down a bit, and now they yell greetings at me any time they walk past the house. All said, a worthwhile experience.