Found in the trash: Furniture, free money, and fuel

Dekalb and I went downtown again to harvest ‘garbage‘ today – one of our favorite ways to save money and recycle at the same time. Here’s the first spot we hit:

dumpster full of futons
On the top layer, I saw three full futons, two futon frames, an (admittedly hideous) couch, a bedspring, and a dresser with missing drawers. There was six more feet of stuff under that.

A lot of this furniture was in good condition even after being thrown into a dumpster, but neither of us needed any so we left it there. Both of our places are well-furnished, thanks in part to previous years’ garbage gleanings. I hope someone who could use it found it. (I should note that it is also illegal to go into a dumpster without the property owner’s permission, at least in the United States. I’ve blurred the edges of the above photo to protect the property owner’s privacy.)

dumpster full of futons
I liked the white futon. Too bad I don’t  need one.

We moved on to other areas. We found lots of clothes to clean and donate, charcoal and lighter fluid, about a bazillion Swiffer refills and detergent pods for my dishwasher, a waterproof mp3 player (you know, so you can listen to music while you swim —I didn’t even know there was a need for that) and boxes full of pantry items that the owners had never gotten around to opening. I also found money:

a cup full of free money
About $4 in coins, and a USB cover.

It wasn’t anywhere near the $60 in cash we found in the pocket of hot-pink short-shorts one year, but it’s nice anyway.

We also got a lot of coffee, including a pound of vacuum-packed fair-trade coffee, four-packs of canned Starbucks coffee, and a hundred or so K-cups – even flavored decaf, which Mindy Celeste tells me is hard to find in box-and-mortar stores. (I have to trust her on that one since I’ve never looked for them. I have a reusable filter for my Keurig brewer that I fill with bagged coffee.)

archer farms vanilla creme brulee K-cups and toaster
Found next to a dumpster: K-cups, a toaster, and a reusable Trader Joe’s shopping bag with the tag still on.

This isn’t even a dent in all the stuff we gleaned in our 5 hours of gleaning. I have a living room full of bags left to sort through, but this is what I can say for sure: I won’t be buying detergent or coffee anytime soon.

0 thoughts on “Found in the trash: Furniture, free money, and fuel”

  1. ...and I found even more detergent and coffee for you! Plus some clothes you might like and canned green beans. The good frozen I found the last night was salmon, a beef tenderloin and pizza puffs. YumReply
    • Awesome! Today I used the dishwasher pods you found, woot! Are the salmon whole or filets? You know how I always worry that the frozen stuff wasn't properly stored, though.Reply

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