re: Saw dust

There is no right or wrong answer and nothing to feel guilty about. If it goes out in the trash, I don’t see a problem with it. After all, it’s just wood, which will decompose very quickly in a landfill. I would rather see bags of sawdust go into a landfill than a truckload of batteries or tons of plastic bottles. I was just curious after realizing how much saw dust my limited activities generate. I suppose if you buy mostly S4S lumber you don’t generate as much as someone who buys rough cut. My planer and jointer are by far the biggest producers.
As for being a Nitrogen sink, that is correct. Never till it directly into the soil. I’m fortunate enough to have 2 acres of grass to cut, and a coop full of chickens. In the spring I also raise meat chickens. That is one animal that poops…a lot! The spring is when I am usually struggling to find enough carbon to keep the compost piles from going N heavy and stinking to high heaven.