Wow Shelly we are on parallel courses here. I lurk a lot and hardly ever post , but this week you' ve come up with an I gotta post to that topic twice.
This week I cancelled my garbage pickup service. It was handy and the company was reliable and polite, but it was costing me 120+ a month for two dumps of a small dumpster (they charge 60 dollars for one dump of two cans the small dumpster is figurd the same and they rent it to you for a small one time fee). So I will be hauling it to the dump myself. The dump charge is usually 7.50 bag I usuallally get away with one or two bags + recycle (free), way more reasonable, but still high.
The local governnment want as many people as possible to haul thier trash away with them and dispose of it other places. We have only a "transfer station" and the garbage is hauled off island by ferry, on big trucks.
One of the good things our dump has, is a sort of cute little recycle thrift store where you can get rid of / purchase for practically nothing still useable stuff.