i spend way too much time looking into other people’s trash cans—with several dogs to walk several times a day i pound the pavement more than the average new yorker, but slowly, on account of the dogs, who take their time. i see a lot of garbage.
this of course leads to genteel dinner-party conversation along the lines of ‘you’d never believe what i found in the trash today’…and amazingly, rather than this leading to my rejection by the more refined levels of society, i’ve found listeners interested, even fascinated.
so i thought i’d try to find something every day, for my own edification, and the edification of my betters. i would keep a list of the things i found, the better to remember, and to try and get an honest idea of what people were throwing out. sure, i find stuff sometimes, but would it be there if i went looking? if i told myself that i had to find something every day? if i wrote it down?
well.
Day 1: 2 large bags of clothes, one in an ikea reusable bag. I took most to the salvation army, and cut a few battered t-shirts up for the animal shelter
Day 2: [while walking my dogs] beautiful small wood chest. currently in my living room
Day 3: [walking to the Laundromat] 1 gallon of paint, unopened. labeled from the local hardware store, I was able to go in and check the color, ‘barrister white,’ against a color chip: it’s quite nice, and I am going to use it to repaint my bedroom. otherwise it would be headed for Build It Green, my local materials reuse center, and my favorite place in Queens.
Day 4: a black and decker coffee maker, with a stainless thermos pot. looks almost new. going to ask around and see who needs it- food pantry? animal shelter? (for the employees, not the animals…)
Day 5: a bucket filled with cleaning supplies: biodegradeable orange wipes, natural bedbug spray, insect spray, insecticide, crack filler, a new cloth kitchen towel, a new pot holder, glade air freshener, 2 new mop refills, utility knife, lightbulb (good, in package), a duster
some of these things I can use, others I’ll pass on to the food pantry, or neighbors.
Day 6: 6 organic apples, in a gift bag
Day 7: brand-new long-sleeved t-shirt, with tags
Day 8: pile of clothes on the street, 3 t-shirts, 2 pillow cases, bathrobe, men’s pyjama pants, 2 collared men’s shirts, brand new wrist wallet (for running?)
Day 9: jack spade messenger bag atop a garbage can: owner had spilled a yogurt in it, and chucked it. this is a $195 bag, and I’ve always admired them from a distance. threw it in the laundry and it came out clean and ready to go. so many pockets!
Day 10: 2 solid wood chairs: took to Build It Green.
Day 11: Poppery II hot air corn popper. This was placed neatly beside a trash can around the corner from my house, a sure sign that someone’s offering something for reuse. It was a tiny bit greasy/dusty, as though it had been in a cupboard for a long time, but was very easy to clean with a little warm water and soap. The butter melter that fits into the top was missing, but a small stainless bowl sits just fine where the butter melter should be, and the heat from the machine melts the butter in the bowl just the same. if I remember correctly the original piece was aluminum, which I don’t like to use for food anyway, and the stainless is easier to handle. and it can be washed in the dishwasher (yes, I have a dishwasher— it was salvaged from someone else’s house by…you guessed it Build It Green).
Day 12: A large bag of mostly men’s clothing- striped sweatshirt, men’s dress shirt, 4 umbrellas, 2 pairs of glove, one with suede and thinsulate, brand-new flip flops still in their bag, another pair also new, but without a bag, 3 pairs of leather shoes, in very good condition, 4 pairs of boxer shorts, brand new womens plastic slippers, sealed in a bag, a cashmere houndstooth scarf, a knit wool scarf, men’s knot pyjama pants, one large t-shirt, one rag.
Everything in the bag I passed on to a thrift store, except for the cashmere scarf, one umbrella, and one pair of gloves, which we pressed into immediate service. Oh, and the t-shirt and rag went to the animal shelter. Thrift stores are drowning in t-shirts- they’re better off at the shelter, where they make perfect cat/small-dog beds.
Day 13: 4 Ikea plywood magazine/papers boxes, which match the ones I already have. perfect, as I’ve just started a massive home tidy. one signed pottery vase— keeping it for now…
Day 14: A super-long shoe horn, a putty knife, and a small humidifier.
Day 15: A gallon of Benjamin Moore trim paint, a copy of Willa Cather’s My Antonia, with an intriguing critique/summary written on the end papers.
Day 16: A huge bag of women’s clothing- 13 pairs of pants, 5 sweaters, 19 shirts, 2 dresses, and 2 sheets. All went to the thrift store except for the 2 dresses, both of which I’m keeping.
Day 17: one t-shirt, soon to be a cat bed at the shelter.
really not that difficult to find an item a day— and wickedly satisfying to write it all down.
