Dumpster Diving

Look at the great stuff people throw away... Dumpster diving is one of my all time favourite passions. Each city I have lived in has its own unique methods. In Toronto (Canada) the garbage was put on the front streets and it didn't wasn't in the culture to call charities shops to come get the good stuff. You could find antique furniture and all sorts. I heard of several people who filled antique stores by driving around in a truck on garbage day. Calgary (Canada) was best on the first of every month. This is when rental contracts began and ended and everyone moved. As a result you could find things that people just couldn't take with them to their new place; furniture, clothes, etc. In Florence (Italy) there were pink slips posted on doors in different neighbourhoods. They notified that a charity pickup would be coming around the next day. If you went back the following day you could find bags of great clothes. I once found a whole heap of army clothes and went to get all of my 6 starving artist roommates. In the UK it seems people do give their things to charity shops at a higher rate than other places. You can usually find at least one charity shop on every block. Some are high end and others are real bargain bins, but all are pretty cheap. My current favourite is one where a punk works part-time and has an eye for things that I would like for only a couple of pounds.