==Dumpster Divers==

[Lilith]

Any of you shameless trash collectors? Anybody the type to pick stuff up off the side of the road, and no I don't mean pussy?:D Any body ever found a treasure in someone else's trash? I have a friend , who shall remain nameless, whose hubby will bring stuff home from the dump even and always finds something to do with it! Any dumpster stories?

[Steph]

When I lived in the Rocky Mountains, tons of people went to the dump because the hotels would often toss out brand new things when they redecorated so you could get nice chairs, tables, etc. Also, in Ottawa, I lived near a tony neighbourhood and would sometimes bring home nice stuff from there, too. People would leave magazines, books, chairs, etc. On garbage nights, you'd often see people rolling chairs up the street.

[WildIrish]

My wife slammed on the brakes to rescue four windows. It was her intent to paint the frames and insert mirrors in place of the glass. I measured and purchased the mirrors and everything has been sitting in the garage for six years.

[Oldfart]

Not quite, but I throw out nothing without a court order.

[hellsbells]

I once saw a pheasant lying dead in the road with its mate going frantic. I stopped the car and picked up the dead bird and put it in the boot, in the hope that its mate would stop running into the road to squark at it. I cried all the way home. But waste not want not, I plucked and gutted it and it made a fine meal. (Isn't that just awful of me...lol)

[BIBI]

I am an avid garbage voyeur.....

I used to bring home things and I finally stopped, but there are times when I get such a pang seeing some of the great items people throw out but to this day I still can't resist taking home an old wooden tool caddy. I have three thus far and I fill them with flowers for on my patio and in my front garden. I also saved an old pair of work boots and sliced them in areas and planted hens and chicks in them, ties the laces together and hung them on my backyard fence.....I know, I'm weird! I like to think I am creative :)

[BlondeCurlGirl]

College move-in/move-out days are famous for treasures among the trash.

At the dumpster behind my place (shared by 3 complexes), I happened to notice a perfectly good bookshelf that had been discarded. Of course it was that 1960s avocado green, but in great shape otherwise. So I cleaned it up and put it in my closet for a shoe rack, where nobody would see the avocado green anyway! When I moved out in May, I promptly returned it to the dumpster where I found it, and I hope that someone else decided to recycle it too!

It really is a shame though, so many students just trash perfectly good stuff sometimes, just because they can't sell it or take it with!

[Irish]

Hellsbells---Your story reminded me of the time my Brother-in-Law
&I,were coming back from pheasant hunting,in his van.We were driving thru a country area.We drove by a ranch-style house,with
a mother&3/4kids looking out of a picture window.There were a few pheasants running around on the front lawn.I told my B-I-L,to
pull over.I got out and shot one with my 12ga shotgun!After cleaning&cooking,I mixed the meat in with spagetti.The mother&
kids tears didn't make the meat any saltier.It was the best spagetti,I ever ate. Irish
P.S.One of the reasons that I don't drink anymore!

[GingerV]

True story, my grandparents used to live in a very nice area of LA...and my grandmother's short cut between her house and the library passed through her alley. She noticed, one day, a shirt had fallen out of the neighbor's garbage...a NICE one. She put it back in their trash can, and went on her way. The next week, she saw a corner of fabric sticking out of their bin, so she had a peek, and found another lovely shirt...this one accompanied by a matching skirt that still had a pretty hefty price tag on it. The next week, more clothes.

That was as much as her frugal little soul could take...she started fishing out the nearly new clothes, inspecting them, washing them, and sending them to her various grand-daughters.....letting all of us know they were rejects from the girls across the alley. She wasn't ashamed of her dumpster diving...just figured it was one of those wierdnesses of life in LA.

Four years of dumpster diving later, the girls across the alley were arrested for prostitution. My grandmother appreciated the humor of it...my cousins never seemed to get it.

I was actually more pleased with my dumpster finds when I realized I'd spent most of my teeage years wearing call girl cast offs ;).