The higher end fake grass substitutes are not cheap to install either... I'd suggest that bark mulch is the most practical, and if you lay it over compacted earth sloped to drain as if for a patio, with weed fabric on top and 3 to 5 inches of bark it should work fine. You will have the incidental bark mulch getting tracked into the house, depending on the coarseness of bark you choose. You probably will only need to top of with new every other year or so. If this mulch is in a full sun location, no need to worry about mold, unless it doesn't drain well.

I use a trash bin but I don't roll it around. I work it through with a shovel or pitch fork. It may not be as effective but I think one thing about compost is true: it will all break down, just depends on how fast you want it to do that. But you can also try vermicomposting (worm composting). You can do that inside your home in a relatively small space. Using similar food and other wastes like a compost bin, but you are feeding the worms and using their castings, instead of using the decomposing compost material.

Yeah, maybe I should have just beaten it to death with my shovel instead of trying to help it survive? One day it 'could' grow up to disturb my bulbs.....oh nooo! I'm not trying to lecture or point a finger at anyone, but these are my beliefs and what I base my decisions on as to how I personally try to treat animals: Proverbs 12:10 "A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast.." We are given dominion over animals. That means also that we are given responsibility. Part or responsibility is having respect for God's creation. We need to practice respect for the animals. "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. Protect the rights of all who are helpless." Proverbs 31:8 I would be very sad if one day there were no possums or raccoons left in this world.

Flylady (the housecleaning guru) has a financial theme for March, 2004, Face Your Finances. If you scroll down her homepage about half way, you'll see some links about saving $15 various ways. The links go to ideas submitted by her readers--there are tons! Once March is over, you'll probably still be able to find the ideas on her website by doing a within-site search using Google. Here is a link that might be useful: Flylady's FACE links