Featured Best Things That You Have Seen In The Dumpster

I still use that white paper when I wrap stuff to mail out.

I planted FOUR HOUSES with cast iron (aspidistra) plants I'd found curbside and sold the rest. I sold 3' tall mother-in-law plants I found. I've found furniture and paintings and more. My list is too long...!

I am grateful. <3

 

people throw away plants here just before winter.....I've saved a few.

 

My finds were not worth much in the way of serious money -- however, I often come across exactly what is needed. My child's first porta-crib was found (in new condition) on E 74th Street right off of Lex. Two years later I needed another. (First one had been stolen) Went back to same location. There was another, just one house down from the first. That one still had the price tags.

Then there were the four bookcases, all different sizes. My carpenter shortened one, narrowed another, and made them all the same size to line a wall in my dining room.

Fortuitous!

 

Wow, I am obviously not looking hard enough or there is nothing here to dive for.
Love your stories.

 

I'm still growing rhubarb from plants I took out of the trash in the early seventies

 

Rhubarb?????????
What you do with that stuff, Terry?

 

Hi Silver,
I love NYC finds. I was on the bus going cross town when I saw an Oriental rug in the trash. I jumped off the bus, opened the carpet, rolled it back up and got back on the bus. Some of the passengers were aghast (they must not have been NYers). Had the rug cleaned and the owner offered me a grand for the rug. I had that darn rug for 27 years until I sold it for 3 thousand. Sorry but the rug reminded me of when I first moved to NY. I was going down the street when I noticed a trash can moving just slightly. I thought it was the wind and stuck my head near the opening.
A giant must have been 2 feet long rat jumped out of the can. I was so scared I ran right into traffic between cars. Taught me a lesson to be sure.
greg

 

Hi Gila,
I use it to make wonderful rhubarb and strawberry pie.
greg

 

I love rhubarb pie, strawberry-rhubarb cobbler, strawberry-rhubarb jam.......

 

My best find was when an apartment owner was cleaning out an apartment and I found a 14K gold necklace in the dumpster. Another time, I found an air cleaner valued at $200.00 in the dumpster of an auction house. The best finds are nearly free or .50 cents.

 

Oh my G'd, a rat Greg. Musta been a cousin of the now famous Pizza Rat.
Do not like them critters.

 

I met my third girlfriend in a dumpster.

True story.

Back in the early 80's, I was in the Army and stationed in Texas. Every evening I would go for a run. My run would take me through a few fields and eventually past some strip malls. One of those strip malls had a fabric store. Sometimes I would see people dig through the dumpster of that fabric store looking for scraps. Evidently, you can get some good "threads" from those dumpsters!

One particular morning as I was making my way behind the strip mall, I watched as a woman lost her balance and fell out of a dumpster that was behind the fabric store. After she hit the ground, she wasn't moving very well and looked like she might need some medical attention. She had a broken wrist and collar bone. I stayed with her at the hospital to make sure she was okay. She called me a few days later...

To make a long story short, we dated for about a year. She dumped me because she couldn't deal with me being deployed to Central America for 90 days and returning home for 30 and then going back again for 90 days.

I guess it was a good thing it ended. My mother wasn't really fond of her anyway.

 

Great story, Vitry.

I've actually never been in another entity's dumpster (one that wasn't contracted for by myself) - I'd be afraid to do that, even when I was younger. Of course "dumpster diving" wasn't yet a fad when I was young.

 

Hi,
I remember my FIRST dumpster dive. I was 7 years old and we lived in the country. I was going down my favorite "road" to play in the woods. Someone had dumped rolls of wallpaper along the side the road. I dug through them and found 15 or 17 matching rolls. I gathered them up and took them home. My Gram thought they looked really nice so she papered our living room with them. My first dumpster score.
greg

 

• Greg's rat story reminds me... One day I was waiting for the light to cross Park Avenue at 73rd Street. Got the feeling I wasn't alone, but...there was no one there. Then I looked Down!

And there he was! Not as big as Greg's, but at least a foot (not counting the tail), and a nasty shade of mustard yellow. Ugh!

We both waited for the light and then crossed together.

Well, what else was I going to do? He didn't look hungry!

 

Hey, Greg ...
Look familiar to you?

claimed to be a 41lb rat found in NYC ... coincidentally shows on my FB feed this morning ... so needs to be taken with a grain of salt

 

Hi,
The first NYC rat I saw was at least 18" long with a 12" tail. It was in the subway and I watched the darn thing for 20 mins until my train came.
greg

 

And I'll bet you were almost the only one! The obliviousness of New Yorkers never fails to amaze me. 'Round my 73rd Street area, we had the man-on-the-motorcycle-with-a-chimp, the fellow who walked his duck on a leash in Central Park, and down by Altmans ( sob), was a guy who wore an enormous snake as a boa. I always wanted to ask him if it were a pun, but somehow...

But I was just about the only person who paid any attention!

 

When the mood strikes me, do a trash-picking run through Mom's neighborhood, mine, and a couple of others nearby. Along with actual junk that I repurpose , have found numerous salable items, furniture is usually put on CL, but have eBayed many items for decent money, including a small autoclave, brand new w/tags travel golf bag case, set of oddly desirable children's books, a Bodyblade, lots of cookware, including a perfectly seasoned 1930s-40s Wagnerware frying pan (which I kept). Not too long ago picked up a fairly pricey MCM piece missing a leather part, intended to check my stash of leather, but that night, stopped to investigate a big plastic tub and it was filled with all kinds of leather, including a piece perfect for my repair - few weeks later found more, along with tools, at the same house. And recently found a little chest, one drawer filled with barely used designer scents, all to my taste except for a stinky one that was almost empty - most could be sold for $15.-25., one discontinued that would bring $40.-50., except I like it best and can't quite bring myself to give it up (yes, I will wear perfume found in the neighbor's trash)...

~Cheryl

 

Of course! It's called the sweet smell of success.