February 2013 – Things I find in the garbage

Drought

February 28, 2013 garbagefinds1 Comment

It’s the end of the month, which usually brings lots more good stuff on the curb, but this week has been pretty dry in terms of good trash. I’m guessing that February is one of the least popular moving months (I’d like to see the statistics!), so I figure it’s all uphill from here.

I biked around a lot today but found nothing. I came across this pile of stuff after I returned home, conveniently only a block away from my place. It isn’t trash day in my neighborhood until tomorrow.

It looked like someone else had already rummaged through it and ripped a few bags, although it could also have been that the people moving out were in a rush, or didn’t care about making a mess.

I saw this knife standing straight up in the snow. I wonder how it got stuck in that spot. Regardless, not the best place for it.

I ended up taking some dishes and a garbage pail (and the knife!). A woman walked by and took a few martini glasses. It’s nothing super exciting, but I cleaned them up and put them on the CL free section. They’re in fine shape and hopefully someone can make use of them.

Maybe I’ll have better luck tomorrow!

A tip?

February 21, 2013February 23, 2013 garbagefinds10 Comments

I was out walking earlier and came across another pile of trash in front of the house on St Urbain that used to belong to the old Ukrainian lady. Most of these bags were full of renovation materials.

I’ve found a lot of cool stuff here though, so I did my due diligence and looked through most of the bags. In one of the bags was a bit of older junk, none of which was particularly interesting. However, inside was this old manila envelope. Inside I found…

28$ in old bills! There’s one 10$ bill (from 1971), three 1$ bills (all from 1973), and three 5$ bills (all from 1986).

The 10$ bill is in very good condition so it’s worth slightly more than 10$. Otherwise it’s just cash in my wallet – and a nice reminder of the days when money wasn’t made out of plastic.

Pineapple skate bike

February 20, 2013February 20, 2013 garbagefinds2 Comments

There hasn’t been much to speak of so far this week. I found this bike frame in a trash bin on Monday and brought it to the bike co-op where I sometimes volunteer. The guy there told me that the fork and the stem were still good. I left it there, and some volunteer (possibly me) will strip the parts from the frame in the near future.

I came across a box with six unopened Pineapple juices sitting on the curb. The “best before” date is in December, but I tasted it and it’s fine – really tasty actually. Another reminder not to take best before dates too seriously!

Finally, I saw these pair of Daoust-brand skates casually laying on top of some bags in an alley. They look fairly old. They definitely need a sharpening and a little love (and some new laces), but the leather is in nice shape. I think they’re hockey skates, as on the bottom they’re marked as being “officially approved” by the NHL Rules Committee.

I hope to find some more stuff soon!