I come from a long line of thrifty, resourceful people.  My uncle has been a “professional scavenger” for the last 20 years; on the night before trash pickup, he rides his bike through his neighborhood looking for useful items.  He’s mechanically inclined, so he loves finding broken mowers and snow blowers.  He takes them home, fixes them, and sells or gives them away.  Then there’s my grandma.  She used to pick up furniture from the trash, whether she needed it or not.  She’d find someone to give it to!  Finally, I got some thrifty nature from my parents.  They’ve never had much money, so they frequently shop at flea markets, yard sales, and thrift stores.  

…Which brings me to this morning.   I had full intentions of going on an errand, when I got side-tracked by the things I saw in peoples’ trash.  With the garbage trucks at my heels, I saved three carloads of things from our landfill.   Most of it’s plastic toys for my son.  But hey, it’s free, and when he’s bored of it, we’ll pass it on to someone else.  It makes me sad though, that so many other useful things surely went to the landfill today, especially considering there’s a Goodwill in my neighborhood that takes donations.  

Do you have any ideas on how to save useful things from our landfills?  What does your community or family do?  What programs or awareness campaigns are out there?  

*By the way, if you have big plans of “dumpster diving”, check on the city ordinances where you live.  Some places don’t allow you to take anything off someone’s yard unless you have permission from the homeowners.*