Many home improvement projects require that you excavate dirt, from installing patios to laying out sod to digging out a pool and more. As many homeowners soon discover, the cost of disposing of any kind of significant amount of unwanted dirt is surprisingly high.

Fortunately, you have options. Here are several ways that you can re-purpose or recycle excess dirt so that you can save on the cost of dirt removal and disposal and keep the material out of the dump or landfill.

Use as Potting Soil

One of the best ways to repurpose your excess dirt is to use it for other planting projects. Ready to re-landscape your yard or plant that garden? Now you have the soil you need to get the job done right. If you’ve always thought that some raised beds would be a good idea, now is the time to execute on it and save some money at the same time.

Sell It

Believe it or not, you might be able to make a little bit of extra cash by selling your dirt. Place a quick ad on social media or some other local marketplace app to let people know how much dirt you have and what price you’d like to fetch. Do some browsing first to get an idea of the going rates and let people know about your pickup terms.

Give It Away

In some cases, you’re better off just giving away the dirt to get it off of your property as quickly as possible. Dirt is, well dirty, and a big pile of it has the potential to make a mess if rains or gets too windy. Again, you can post on social media and probably have the dirt vanish within hours.

Nourish Trees

Before you act too quickly to get rid of all that dirt, look for other ways to use it. For example, you can provide extra nutrients for trees with your leftover dirt. By spreading some of the soil around the base of your existing trees, it helps them to retain the moisture they need to stay healthy.

Create Compost

That pile of leftover dirt is an ideal component for compost. Compost requires both “browns” and “greens,” and dirt satisfies the former category of ingredients. When you mix your dirt with vegetable and fruit peelings in a compost bin, you’ll get a nutrient-rich material that will stimulate plant and grass growth and give you a healthier landscape.

Build Berms

Another idea is to use the excess dirt to create berms, or elevated areas, throughout your property. These can be used to create additional structures for planting as well as to give you more privacy or hide certain features that you’d rather not see.

These are just a few ways that you can re-purpose or recycle your excess dirt. If you decide to set it aside for later use, just be sure to keep it covered so that it doesn’t wash away when the weather turns nasty. But, there is enough demand and uses for the material that you should be able to get it moved quickly.