Good piece, am actually writing a related piece myself. Regarding the Shaq not using but three rooms of his ginormous shack, I refinanced a couple of years ago and the mortgage company sent an inspector who commented how strange it was that I used all the rooms in my house. She said most people typically live in 2-3 rooms in their home.

And your suggestions were all great *except* using the big industrial garbage bags: all of this goes to landfill and those bags last 50 years and clog everything. So instead I would suggest tying things up in a bundle that trash collectors can easily pick up. I've been doing that, sometimes breaking up things and putting them out a bit at a time. All to avoid those nasty big bags! ;-)

Thanks for your insights and steps forward.