The Bagster Bag & A Home Renovation Project for The Cottage Mama

I was so excited to be contacted by the folks at Waste Management (WM)!  You're thinking, Lindsay.......you have lost your mind.  But no, I haven't......not entirely.  My husband and I have been talking about getting a dumpster for a home renovation project for awhile.  Renting a dumpster can be pretty pricey, so that's probably the main reason we've been putting it off in addition to being so busy with our three little kiddos.  So when WM emailed me asking if they could 'give' us one of their new The Bagster Bags to try, I said 'sign us up!

My business is pretty much taking over the house.  Yes, I have my studio where I do most of my creating, but what takes up even more space is my inventory.  There are boxes and boxes of my printed sewing patterns, bolts of fabrics for custom orders, shipping and packaging supplies, read-to-ship clothing, photography props and tools and the list goes on.

 Organized Side

(Don't be fooled, that's maybe half of my inventory)

Non-Organized Side

Right now we have somewhat converted our loft space into a storage area.  One side is pretty well organized, but the other side could be used much more efficiently.  There are still a bunch more boxes that we need to move from our mud room either up into the loft or possibly out into our coach house.  Now the coach house......it sounds a lot more lovely than it really is.

When we bought our 1934 cottage, the previous owners had just let the coach house go (as well as a lot of other things in this house).  It was really sad because it used to be a studio apartment with a brick fireplace, kitchen, bathroom and hardwood floors, but now..........it's nothing close.  Basically it's just sort of falling down.  My dream is to someday convert the coach house into a two story studio / guest house, but that's not happening any time soon.  In the meantime, we need to clear out some of the debris in there (i.e. falling down drywall, construction material, ect.) so that we can at least use the space for additional storage.  Most of the things we need to clear out of there aren't able to be picked up curb side during our regular trash service.

 Door Leading Into Coach House

So WM and The Bagster Bag to the rescue!  Over the next month the hubby and I (and perhaps a few extra helpers) will attempt to clean out the coach house and work on some of our other spaces to make our storage of all my inventory a little more organized and user friendly.

So how does The Bagster Bag work?  It's a pretty neat idea.  You purchase one of the large bags at your local hardware or home improvement store for about $29.95 (click HERE to find a store in your area).  You unfold it, load it up with all your junk and then call to have WM come pick it up.  Now don't be fooled, the whole process is not $29.95, you have to pay for the pickup which varies from area to are from between $79-$249.  But it's still far less than renting your own full dumpster and having to wait for them to deliver it.  This way you can start your project whenever you want, keep the bag out for as long as you want and have it picked up whenever you want.......definitely more freedom and more cost savings!

The Bagster Bag is supposed to hold up to 3,300 pounds and be made of a really durable woven material.  You can throw out most things but there is a list of approved materials that can be thrown away in a Bagster.  Here is the list:

You pretty much can't throw away things that you can't throw away in your normal trash.......paint, batteries, chemicals, ect, that should be disposed of in the proper place anyways.

I'm excited to try out this new product.  I'll let you know what I think. Wish us luck.  I'll be back with a follow-up post and a $100 Amex Giftcard Giveaway.  I'm glad WM gave us the push we needed to take on this project.  Not sure my husband is super-glad.......but I am!!

PS:  I would never share a product on this blog that I didn't think was a neat idea or one that I didn't intend on using wholeheartedly.......just so you know :).  But one of the perks of being a blogger is that I do get to try really cool things out for free and sometimes I get paid for doing so.

Waste Management partnered with bloggers such as me to participate in its The Bagster® Bag Blogger Challenge.  As part of this program, I received compensation to cover the cost of the Bagster bag and pick-up as well as my time.  They did not tell me what to purchase or what to say about the products used for the The Bagster® Bag Blogger Challenge. Waste Management believes that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. Waste Management’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations. A winner will be chosen by random and voucher fulfillment will be handled by a third party.