by Dana Ross
I really don't like to go shopping anymore. Maybe it's because I got rid of my TV, but I have stopped getting pleasure from the act of buying objects, and I find I don't have to go to stores to get the things I need. It's strange, but in my neighborhood I seem simply to find a lot of the great things that my family needs or wants. I really do walk a lot and ride my bicycle too, so I probably have more opportunity than most to stumble across things that have been put out in the alleys near the trash cans.
Our neighbors must appreciate that, even though they don't have a use for something anymore, it still might be useful to someone else. They have a tendency to put nice things out next to their trash cans for others to pick up. Maybe people do this everywhere, or maybe it is just a local phenomenon.
I have found so many things that I need, sometimes right when I needed them, that I no longer assume that a store is the best place to go to get something.
This is a partial list of objects that were put out in my neighborhood. Everything I list here works, was in good to excellent shape, didn't need a car to transport and was immediately useful to us:
Birkenstocks, new, my wife's size, nice color, on top of trash can.I have been at some of our neighbor's apartments and noticed things that we had put out years ago. Once we were given some construction-photo-art-piece by a friend after we had an art show at our apartment. We lived with it for a while but put it out near the trash cans. Five years later, maybe six, I found the same art-piece out near some other trash cans on our block. I admired the piece and left it. I don't know who had it on their walls for all those years but that same week there was a glowing, effusive art review in the Los Angeles Times about this fine artist's incredible construction-photo-art-pieces. Maybe her new stuff is better.Bicycle, man's size road bike. I pumped up the tires, oiled the chain and adjusted everything so it ran flawlessly and sold it at a yard sale over a year ago to someone who rides it daily and thanks me often for the good deal.
Two point and shoot motorized autofocus cameras that I gave to my kids.
Computer monitor, super VGA. This is too weird. I got a new computer but no monitor. I plugged my old monitor into the new computer but my kids wanted to use their games on the old computer. I told them we'll have to get another monitor and then found one on the way home from tennis that same day. As usual it was set out by the trash somewhere in the network of alleys near us and I carried it home, plugged it in and it worked great. The people must have got a new flat-screen monitor and got rid of the old one.
Boogie boards. We live a bus ride from the beach so these get used a lot in the Summer.
Vacuum cleaners, lots of them. I love the old Electroluxes. Most people don't seem to know that you have to change the bag once in a while. That's usually all they need. I don't bring them home if they're made of plastic. I swear that I could open a vacuum cleaner store. I don't even stop to pick them up anymore--my wife would kill me: we have at least four of them.
Great sub-woofers for our stereo.
A great little FM radio/cassette player. My daughter and I cleaned it up with soap and Q-tips. It still works great after several years.
A lot of decorative and useful baskets.
Pots and pans. No problem. Tell me how many you want and when you need them and I will find them.
Clothes, of course...lots of clothes. Our neighbor is a scavenger too. She's a lawyer and walks around listening to books on tape and looking for antiques. She has found some great jackets and coats for my wife. I have found some great clothes myself. All clean, pristine really, people don't seem to put out junk. It's like a big Thrift Shop.
Potted plants and trees. No problem, any day of the week. We have some beautiful ficuses on our balconey and in our home. The owner didn't have a green thumb but we do.
Lamps. Most lamp's are pretty ugly but some are okay.
A friend was visiting and I told him about a big-screen projection TV up the alley from us. We loaded it in his car, and later he called me from his home--it had a cut in the power cord that he spliced to fix. He was elated.
An entire set of encycopedias. This was outdated but is still a great reference that we use often.
Toys. I love the wooden boats with the sails that the kids sail in French parks. Now we have two of them, and there is a nice pond a short bike ride from here.
Rugs. For some reason my wife loves rugs, it's sort of like me with vacuum cleaners. We have them all over the place.
Suitcases. I don't need more suitcases than I have but I'll bet I find 20 a year.
Pylons. You never know when you need more traffic cones. Great for skateboarding.
Picture frames, preferably without the picture. Quite useful really.
A fax machine, a great one, absolutely works much better than the one I used to use.
Cordless phone, Sony. I guess they didn't know you can get new rechargeable batteries for these things. Excellent phone. I use it in my office.
Water Pik. Good for the gums. I wouldn't buy one of these, but is fun to use once in a while.
Commuter bag, absolutely brand new. I guess they didn't like it. I use it everyday--it's my portable office. I would have bought one a long time ago if I had known how useful it would be.
Purses and wallets. It's fun to come home with a new little purse for my daughter. I found one my wife likes too once.
A watch. I left my expensive watch to be cleaned and it took over a week and I didn't have enough money to pick it up when it was ready but luckily I noticed a metal object embedded in the asphalt while going to the post office. I peeled it out of the hot tar and found a great digital Timex that had the right time and fit my wrist. It's been running for over two years now. I never had a digital watch before and I like the alarms and time-zones. I did pick up my Rolex two weeks later--it still runs great after 26 years.
A crazy metal CD holder that looks like a 4 foot tall Springer Spaniel. I found it three weeks before Christmas and gave it to my daughter on Christmas day. She loves it.
Picnic coolers. These are great because they look so innocuous. They're the best way I know to keep camera equipment in your car. They insulate your equipment from the heat, carry a lot, and don't look valuable.
I run across hubcaps all the time but never bring them home. I just don't need hubcaps. Maybe I could open a hubcap/vacuum cleaner shop.
Tools. All the time, especially when riding my bike. It is easy to pull over and pick them up.
Work gloves. They probably fall off of trucks. Lots of leather. I could guarantee you a dozen a week and match them up after I have a bunch of them. I could sell them in my vacuum cleaner/hubcap salon.
I had to replace the cord, but the iron we now use is a lot better than our old one and looks great too.
Toaster ovens usually have something wrong with them so I don't bother anymore.
I can't call these things "trash." Everything I have found has been useful, interesting or amusing. I am delighted that people think enough of these objects to put them out for others to have, not just throw them away. Actually I don't go picking around in garbage cans, so for all I know there are more treasures in there.
What astounds me the most is just how often I find useful things when I need them. Is it Divine Synchronicity? Am I somehow tuned in to the Garbage Gods of the universe? I wonder if trashtruck drivers get lots of cool stuff this way. Do they have to declare it on their taxes? Somewhere under "tips" perhaps…?
When you do buy something, buy something that you can hand down to your grandchildren.
Text and photos by Dana Ross, who is a commercial photographer in West Los Angeles. See his website at www.danaross.homestead.com.
