Shoutout to the alley behind the old mall on Elm Street

I always thought people who dumpster dived for furniture were crazy. Like why would you want someone else's broken junk taking up space in your garage. But last weekend I walked through the alley behind the old mall on Elm Street and saw a whole different world. There was this mid-century lamp with a cool milk glass shade just sitting next to a dumpster. No cracks or anything. I grabbed it and took it home and it works perfect. It made me realize that people throw away stuff that's actually good just because they redecorated or moved. So now I'm kinda hooked on checking that alley every Saturday morning. Anyone else have a specific spot that changed their mind about curb shopping?

3 comments

3 Comments

gavin69220d ago

Found a working record player behind the old Pizza Hut last month. Still use it.

emmawood20d ago

Totally agree with you. Once you start paying attention, you realize people ditch perfectly good stuff all the time just because it's easier than selling it. Seen the same thing with furniture in my neighborhood, half the time it's just a coat of paint away from being great. It's like we've gotten so used to buying new that we forget what's right in front of us.

alice26920d ago

My neighbor threw out a solid oak dining table last spring because one leg was slightly wobbly, and I fixed it with a ten cent washer from the hardware store. @gavin692 would probably appreciate that kind of luck, like finding that record player. Its part of a bigger pattern where people treat anything that needs a tiny bit of work as worthless, even though a lot of stuff from 20 years ago was built to last. Weve gotten so used to things being disposable that we dont even see the potential sitting curbside anymore. Most people just want the instant gratification of something new instead of taking ten minutes to fix something thats already good.