Things this guy finds in the garbage..

[PtboEliz]

I heard this guy from Montreal interviewed on public radio today - his blog is called "Things I find in the Garbage."
Some of his finds are quite something (e.g., a gold WWII medal!)

http://garbagefinds.com

I'm a professional scavenger and entrepreneur making a living selling curbside garbage. This blog details my finds and sales. It also acts as an archive for things beautiful and historic that would otherwise have been destroyed.

[LibrarIan]

What an awesome find! This dude finds some seriously amazing things. It actually makes my blood boil seeing some things that people throw away. What kind of environment-hating, uppity, way-too-busy-and-important person puts a fucking perfect electric guitar (in its protective case!!) out to the curb? Ah, humans!

Just a couple of days ago at my apartment complex I found a mountain bike next to the dumpster. A whole mother effing mountain bike, complete with everything it needs to ride. It's a Quasar Raptor, so it's pretty worthless, but now I have a bike I can use to learn with. I don't know the first thing about fixing up bikes, but this will help me learn and not feel bad if I mess something up.

Maybe I should start doing this too. I live in a pretty wealthy area where I can only assume yuppies are tossing out valuables left and right.

[garbagefinds]

Hi, I'm the guy who writes the blog. I just made an account! It seems like MMM might be a good spot for me. Thanks for posting a link to my site.

I mostly just wanted to pipe in and say, you totally should do this! If you're living in a wealthier area (or near one) it makes it all much easier. Rich people, as you'd expect, don't value things as we do. A recent example would be the other day, when I found a container with 56$ in small change. It's really just kind of ridiculous sometimes.

The easiest tip I can give you is to keep an eye out for "for sale" signs. Those places are almost inevitably going to dump a few things, even if it's just some cans of food. You might also find something really sweet. There are more things to look for (and listen for) of course, which you can find on my blog.

Good luck!

[PtboEliz]

Hey garbagefinds, very cool that you joined - welcome to the forum!

Now that I've read more of your blog (I could not believe that $56 in change!) and read LibrarIan's post too (crazy about the mountain bike) I just might keep my eyes out for for sale signs too.

Diverting perfectly good and even some very beautiful things from the waste-stream and giving them new life would be satisfying. Kudos to you guys!

[Seņora Savings]

What is the legality/etiquette of this?  If I saw someone going through my trash I would be worried about them looking for credit card statements.  Have you had negative interactions because of this?

I ask because this is something I would LOVE to do.

[MKinVA]

I love this. My sister and I used to pick trash for old furniture to refinish and decorate our homes. In my city we have two large universities where kids throw out all kinds of stuff at the end of the semesters. The really great resource is the city has a website where you put in requests for the trash department to pick up bulk junk. So go on the website and there are notes by address "furniture in alley by garage for pick up...thank you." If you are a picker, this is sweet!

[garbagefinds]

Regarding legality, it probably depends on where you live. I've heard of some places in the US having laws that make picking pretty much illegal. Whether or not they enforce these regularly, I don't know.

I personally have never had an issue in Montreal. I've had police see me, and they drive on by. I've had a few issues with rent-a-cops in rich neighbourhoods threatening to fine me, but it's never actually happened yet.

Sometimes people will ask you to leave their garbage alone. When they do this, I oblige (though in a couple cases I have gone back later when they're not around, I don't make a habit of it though). It sucks, but if you continue these people are likely to call the cops, who might then consider it to be trespassing. Most people choose to ignore you, and sometimes people will actually give you more stuff, which is sweet. One time, an old guy saw me picking through his trash and ended up giving me his old tobacco pipe collection (which I made around 100$ off).

I make sure not to make a mess when picking. Doing so is a bit of a dick move, and is also cause for you to receive a fine for littering.

Universities can be sweet, especially at the end of semester like you say. Just learn to look out for signs of bed bugs... there's a bit of info about this on my blog, under the "resources" tab.

[EDSMedS]

I just watched a documentary related to this titled "Waste Land" about recyclables-pickers at the world's largest waste-site in Brazil.  Our systems are messed up!

I've been considering tracking Whole Foods' dumpster cycle b/c you can find some awesome chow if you time it right.  I'll check out the blog soon!

[Bob W]

I don't have the time to dumpster dive but one can always check the free site on craigs list.  Lots of furniture, free TVs, ping pong tables etc..   Lots of time they show a picture of the curb with the address etc.

In my rural area there is almost always a posting for free firewood.   It is usually a come and cut it up and take it away deal.   But firewood is pricey, even in rural areas so one could easily score a cord of wood for some time and the price of chain saw gas.

When we bought our house we filled 3 large commercial (like 40 by 10 by 8) dumpsters with left behinds.  We didn't have time to deal or clean much of it although about 30% of our furniture was from the house.   Items included: high school trophies,  6 computers,  TVs,   They left 3 fridges (we kept),  beer,  liquor,  family pictures,  kitchen stuff,  sex toys,  prescription drugs,  decorations,  xmas lights and tree (we kept) etc...

[eyePod]

He has a great interview with the folks over at ScavengerLife.com If you haven't heard of them, they're full time eBay sellers with part time video work. Awesome people, awesome podcast, living a good life.

[Gone Fishing]

Picking is one of my favorite activities!  I used to do pretty well in my suburban neighborhood growing up until they distributed the large wheeled trashcans, made things a bit harder.  Not much picking in our rural community, most people haul stuff to the dump, and they are pretty tight there.  Maybe I'll start back up again once I get FIRED.  Probably a 15 minute drive to the fancy hoods though...

[2lazy2retire]

Picking is one of my favorite activities!  I used to do pretty well in my suburban neighborhood growing up until they distributed the large wheeled trashcans, made things a bit harder.  Not much picking in our rural community, most people haul stuff to the dump, and they are pretty tight there.  Maybe I'll start back up again once I get FIRED.  Probably a 15 minute drive to the fancy hoods though...

I noticed around here most people leave "good stuff" out the day before thrash day so people can help themselves. We get professional pickers driving around. Some interesting stuff the guy manged to collect but I'm sure there were a lot of days trawling through crap to end with nothing. Not sure everyone would be ok with their family photos been posted online.

[Gerard]

Thanks for the link! That's some cool stuff. Very Montreal-y vibe, too.

[garbagefinds]

So close - The bins do make things much harder, but some areas have garbage pickup policies that can make it worthwhile still. For instance, Montreal has one borough (Ville St Laurent) that requires use of a bin. However, every first garbage day of the month is a heavy garbage day, and people are allowed to put out however much they want. I only go to Ville St Laurent on those days, though sometimes if I get a "hit" on a potentially good "long-term" spot I'll go back in following weeks. It's good to read up on the local regulations - you can usually find them on the city website.

2lazy2retire - There are definitely days where I find nothing at all, or nothing worth going out of my way for. That might be most days, in fact. However, I think the average person can casually make a bit of money by keeping their eyes on the curb. It's also a lot of fun, and sure beats getting a regular job (though I imagine it's much easier to get by doing this in a place like Montreal).

When I share photos or other personal items online, I'm sure to black out any names that might identify the tosser. I included a photo album in the last post, but strategically chose a page with photos from the 1920s - the likelihood that anyone will recognize them is very tiny (no one has ever emailed me about going through their trash yet). Sometimes I wonder if this is a bit of a shame, as people in the family might like to have access to these at some point in the future.

Thanks to everyone for the support!

[EDSMedS]

DW and I have earned at least 4 large furniture pieces from curbs within 3 blocks of our DC apartment.

Garbagefinds, keep it up, bro! (yeah, I used the b-word)

I'd love to learn more about your cleaning/restoration strategies.  I found your website a bit cumbersome.  Can you point me to locations on your site where you address strategies?

[Gone Fishing]

A woodstove is a handy thing for a picker to have as well.  Even if you don't find anything good, you are pretty much guaranteed to find some wood already cut to stove length most days.  I used to heat our suburban house with scavanged wood.  I didn't even own a chainsaw.  My best finds have probably been a brand new turkey fryer and 3 nice steel dog cages.  I sold one of the cages and kept the other two for livestock.  I fried a couple of turkeys, but decided that wasn't for me, so now the fryer gets used for other large boiling and heating tasks.

[garbagefinds]

Sorry about that, I'm no web designer and use just a Wordpress default themed (though I'm pretty happy with it overall)

At the tops of the page there are buttons (ie: "Resources") that are clickable, and have pop-down links that are also clickable.

I don't actually mention much about cleaning strategies, and I don't personally do much in the way of restoration (though I'd definitely like to try this at some point, especially with a super cute sewing table thing that I have). Most the tips I have on my blog are my general finding strategies, and ways to avoid the dreaded bedbug (which is pretty crucial, I think if doing this often).

[eyePod]

Sorry about that, I'm no web designer and use just a Wordpress default themed (though I'm pretty happy with it overall)

At the tops of the page there are buttons (ie: "Resources") that are clickable, and have pop-down links that are also clickable.

I don't actually mention much about cleaning strategies, and I don't personally do much in the way of restoration (though I'd definitely like to try this at some point, especially with a super cute sewing table thing that I have). Most the tips I have on my blog are my general finding strategies, and ways to avoid the dreaded bedbug (which is pretty crucial, I think if doing this often).

I think your site is fine.

Best find for me was a jogging stroller. It would have only been ~75 new, but it has super bouncy wheels that are good for terrain that my umbrella or regular stroller won't handle.

[Sibley]

I trash picked a floor lamp recently. It'd been thrown out as the switch was broken, but it's pretty easy to re-wire a lamp.

I come from a family with a long history of trash picking. Bathroom sink!