Should I Take That Literally?

I have discovered a couple of recycling Dumpsters for the public to use near my house. The trick is that they're both labelled "newspaper only". I wonder if they literally mean only newsprint is allowed. That doesn't make much sense to me--I mean, there is a lot of paper out there to be recycled and it would be a shame to only collect actual newspapers. (Especially since the print newspaper is a rapidly dying convention.)

I'm going to operate on the assumption that all paper is welcome except, you know, gross things like used paper towels and toilet paper. But that still leaves me wondering where to recycle my cardboard. I have a decent stack of flattened cereal boxes and the like. I know it's recyclable, the question is where? And do I dare leave it in the "newspaper only" Dumpster? The really sad part is that I'm overly rule-abiding and leaving cardboard in a paper-only recycling container makes me feel all civil disobedient-y, like Thoreau.  Pathetic, isn't it? 

For the record, "Dumpster" is a trademarked brand name and should always be capitalized. It's like Kleenex or Xerox that way.

Day One

There are certain things I expected from myself as I grew older. Starting a small business was never one of them. Neither was working in what could technically be termed the sanitation industry. But here I am, with my nifty little home-based business called Unpaper Route.

The Route is, so far, me taking my paper to a recycling dumpster every Friday because the community I live in doesn't offer recycling. But I'm offering to pick up my neighbors' paper on Fridays as well for the low, low rate of $5 a month. Why? Because it's driving me crazy that I have to throw away so many recyclables and I figured maybe there were other people in the area who felt the same way.

I've never started a business before. I've barely even worked in business. I'm a stay-at-home mom who teaches ballet and, in my pre-mom life, worked for government. I'm a little nervous, and completely unsure of where to go next. For example: I'd like to advertise this little gem of a service I'm offering but how should I go about it? One obvious option is to put little flyers on everyone's door within walking distance but do you catch the irony of a paper recycling service using flyers? So I'm calling on you, savvy reader. What start-your-own-business advice do you have? (No horror stories please.)