moving day – Things I find in the garbage

Moving day 2018

July 18, 2018 garbagefinds8 Comments

I didn’t plan on trying particularly hard this moving day and the sweltering heat did nothing to increase my motivation. I think it was 35 before the humidity which is way too hot in my books! Thankfully my car has air conditioning so I toured around town with the cold on full blast. I tried to think of relatively wealthy parts of town with: 1) a high number of renters and 2) less competition as compared to somewhere like the Plateau. My brain came up with the apartment buildings in TMR and Old Montreal.

Neither of those bets really paid off, though I did find a few things worth selling in TMR. I sold the brackets, towel racks, and journal at a yard sale, and a bag of change is a bag of change. I gave the canvas to a friend, and left the dishes in Park Ex where they were more likely to be picked through.

One spot in Old Montreal produced some decent stuff, including a whole bunch of jars, some of which were filled with dry goods. A friend who came for the ride got some free stuff, but I left most of the rest (including the food) on the curb for others to pick through. I’m sure it was still good to eat but I didn’t feel like dealing with it myself. Hopefully it found a good home!

I also tried looking around Griffintown but only found huge piles of actual trash. This one in particular was a bit depressing, evidence (at least to me) that many products these days are disposable junk from the day they were made.

Ironically, after travelling around so much and finding little I happened upon my best finds no more than 30 seconds from home. One of my many neighbours tossed out an array of quality stuff, including a cool lamp (which I sold for 5$ at a recent yard sale), some laundry detergent, a wooden rolling pin, a few books, several miscellaneous cables, and some unopened tea.

The crown jewels were a Focusrite guitar doohickey and a Parker fountain pen that looked to have barely (if ever) been used. Without doing much research I’d guess that these two items will make me around 100$, a nice little haul that keeps the chains of profitability moving.

Another neighbour was bringing down some junk around the same time. He wasn’t moving, but was cleaning out a storage room that was full of random stuff from previous tenants. I had to have this industrial thing despite having no idea what it was made to do (neither did he, for that matter). I did know that the auction house would take it, however, and it sold last week for 20$. Not a huge sum, but definitely better than nothing. (Oh, and apparently it’s a riveting machine of some kind).

I also picked up a bike frame with parts and a pair of lightly used mining boots that I’m sure were very expensive new.

Later that evening I went for a little walk with my roommate. We happened upon a pile not far from home that contained a bit of cool vintage stuff, the best of which were these two mid-century watches and a nearly full bottle of Ralph Lauren aftershave. I doubt the watches are worth much but the vintage aftershave should sell for a good price – I’ve had good luck with vintage RL scents recently.

I’ve found more stuff at this spot in recent weeks so the purge wasn’t actually moving day related. Regardless, my overall moving day haul was decent in spite of the heat! Let’s hope the weather next year is a little more tolerable, I would have spent more time biking around otherwise.

In recent weeks I’ve happened upon some interesting and valuable hauls in many different parts of the city. I’ll be sure to share some of those stories & finds sometime soon!

Oh, and I figured I should clarify some things about the eBay links below. I mentioned that I get a bit of money when you sign up for an account or buy things after clicking to eBay through those links, but I’m not sure that I told you that I get credit for sales no matter who you buy from. So, if you’re looking to get a newer iPhone, a gift for a friend (that I don’t have), or whatever please consider going through my site before doing so! Currently I’m making around 15$ a month through this program, which isn’t a lot of money but I do appreciate it as an extra passive source of income.

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Moving day 2017

July 4, 2017July 4, 2017 garbagefinds49 Comments

July 1st is a bit of a phenomenon here in Quebec. Due to a law passed in the 70s a plurality of Montrealers, estimated at around 115,000 (or 7% of the population) move on or around that date. This leads to massive amounts of trash lining the streets, particularly the more transient ones where renters vastly outnumber owners (like rue Chapleau in the picture above).

In theory it’s a great time for garbage picking. This year was the first in a few that I wasn’t moving myself on July 1st, so I went on a bunch of extra trash runs in hopes of acquiring a bumper crop of trash.

However, the extra effort didn’t pay off. Maybe it was just bad luck, not being in the right place at the right time. But it might also be that a lot of the people moving on July 1st aren’t rich. It’s not like the McGill move-out day where most of the people are privileged. Those moving on July 1st are renters, not owners, and often aren’t well-to-do.

It also doesn’t help that pretty much everyone in the city knows about the event. There’s a lot of competition, and often I’d come across a pile only to find the bags ripped apart and trash strewn everywhere. I’m sure the garbage collectors hate this aspect of moving day, though I’m sure some appreciate the overtime hours.

It should also be noted that, although this blog is dedicated to the cool things that Montrealers throw out, many people, especially those in mixed-income areas are actually very good at redistributing their unwanted items. Charities get loads of stuff this time of year, and I saw many a “free box” on the curb.

The best part of July 1st is probably the furniture. My friend and I picked up several nice, mostly vintage pieces – they need a bit of love but my friend thinks she can fix them up. If all goes well I’ll share some “before and afters” in a future post. My own household acquired this unusual loveseat, it’s a bit funny looking but actually quite comfortable. Plus, the two halves separate which comes in handy during game nights. You have to be careful about bedbugs when taking furniture, but if you know what an infestation looks like they’re easy enough to avoid.

My best moving day finds actually came not as a result of my increased effort, but from just casually walking around with friends. I found a nice Guerlain perfume, and a bunch of other quality cosmetics / shampoos (which my friend claimed) while walking around the lower Plateau. The Guerlain has already sold for 15$ to a local buyer.

It’s good to trash pick with friends sometimes because there’s a lot to be learned from other people’s brains. One of the shampoos we found was made by Kiehl’s, a brand my friend noted as being expensive. I don’t know much about cosmetics so I made a note to remember the brand. Later on, while walking by myself I found another nearly full bottle of Kiehl’s not far from home. The price tag on the bottom says 27$. Pricey indeed! I’ll probably end up using it myself, even though my hair isn’t particularly frizzy. The shampoo smells really good.

I also found a couple containers filled with change. No loonies or toonies unfortunately, but it all probably adds up to somewhere around 10$. Easy money!

My best moving day find though came on July 2nd while walking with a different friend. I spotted these bags while walking to a restaurant. I gave one of the heavier looking ones a light kick, the contents sounded like dishes clacking together. I wasn’t expecting much, but I figured I’d open it anyways because our house needed a couple extra bowls.

Inside was a large collection of really nicely made pottery. And it wasn’t just that one bag, two others had also been stuffed with pottery. A couple people stopped to watch as I pulled piece after piece out of the bags. One lady, a grandma with two of her grandchildren, was dumbfounded and said she never saw anything like it. I let both kids take a piece each, which were going to be gifts for their mother if I remember right.

Another guy, who said that he himself was a potter, was impressed by the quality of the pieces and said that only 100 potters in Quebec could do them that well. I’ll keep a couple pieces for myself but I’ll sell the rest.

Thankfully my friend was there to help me carry it all back home. I filled two medium sized boxes (which were conveniently located near the pile) and we both put some in our backpacks as well. Needless to say our trip to the restaurant was delayed, but we did get there eventually.

Check out the rest of the collection below, and click on the pictures for a better look! Most of them are in perfect condition, only a few have chips.

Otherwise, I did well on the rich people garbage front (not moving day related, because most wealthy people own their home). I found this little wooden box near Westmount.

Inside was a collection of safety pins, as well as a collection of cufflinks.

I immediately recognized that this pair was made by Guy Vidal, the noted Montreal-based brutalist (1960s) jewelry designer. I love his work, and these cufflinks in particular are quite striking. I’ve found his work on a few different occasions now, and I expect these to sell for between 100-150$.

There was also some dental gold in the box, which I didn’t notice until I got home later. Tooth crowns are pretty gnarly, but dental gold tends to be a pretty high carat (16k apparently) and I expect this chunk to net me around 80-100$.

That spot also provided a collection of vintage 1970s toy cars. I thought this was a good find at first, but the cars are pretty beat up and of limited interest to a collector. Still, I should be able to get something for them.

That pile gave me a nice Givenchy perfume as well. It already sold for 17$. The Hermes came from elsewhere.

Let’s finish off with a vintage Bernzomatic torch box I found in Westmount. Inside was a small collection of junk, the best piece being a silver 20 kopek Russian Empire coin from 1870. It’s not super valuable but it’s pretty cool regardless. The box is nice as well and should be an easy sell at a yard sale. I’d bet that the box held a lot more neat stuff before it was tossed out, but such is garbage.

I’ve been looking for a garage or other storage option. However, I’ve had no luck thus far. If you know of anything suitable in the Mile End, Plateau, Outremont, CDN, Park Ex, or Rosemont please let me know! Ideally it would be heated and have electricity (I’d like to set up a photo studio for junk inside). Extra ideally my furniture friend would also be able to store things there and occasionally be able to use a power sander (no power saws though). Unfortunately locations in other neighbourhoods won’t work because I don’t want to to travel far. Anyways, if you know of anything please let me know!

Garbage fatigue

July 7, 2015July 7, 2015 garbagefinds32 Comments

July 1st (moving day) is Montreal’s trashiest day of the year. I fully expected to get a bit of picking in despite my own move. However, after days of packing all my things and transporting them to my new place I totally lost my motivation. I got a case of what I call “garbage fatigue,” where I feel like I have too much stuff or am otherwise unable to deal with any new items.

A mild case of garbage fatigue makes picking less fun and more like a chore. A moderate case causes me to lose motivation to go on the hunt at all. An extreme case makes me wonder why I ever got into the business of having so much stuff in the first place, and causes me to contemplate other lines of work. Any amount of garbage fatigue makes me a less effective trash picker, as even a mild case will cause me to stop less often at potentially interesting spots – I will usually assume they’re just full of junk I don’t want, or don’t want to want. All stages cause anxiety and make it difficult for me to relax in my everyday life.

A factor that contributes to garbage fatigue is a certain guilt I have about leaving good items behind. I save a lot of stuff and this blog is evidence of that. However, it’s only a fraction of what I could theoretically be saving on a day-to-day basis. I hate waste, and unfortunately in this line of work I’m often the last chance for something to be used to its full potential. Nonetheless, I can’t save everything even if I wanted to. I only have so much space (both in my house and in my car), energy, and time, and a lot of that is reserved for items that can help me pay the bills. Garbage picking is my job, after all.

However, I still take home things (sometimes too many things) that I don’t really want in hopes that I can find them a home. Once I save these items I feel a certain responsibility to make sure they don’t go to waste, and often get anxious thinking about how to do so. It’d be easier if I thought I could just drop the stuff off at a local charity, but I’ve seen how many donated items are thrown out by second-hand stores; many of the items I’d donate would likely meet the same fate.

I used to try pretty hard (way too hard in my opinion) to redistribute this kind of stuff. Now I usually just leave these items in a box on the curb. However, I still get anxious thinking about what to do with the items no one takes, and trying to make sure I don’t put the stuff out right before a rainstorm. These thoughts clutter my brain and contribute to garbage fatigue.

The best cure for garbage fatigue is simply to take a break, something I’ve struggled to do but have gotten somewhat better at recently. It can be hard to take a day off from trash picking knowing that great treasures might lie just around the corner. Still, it’s good for me to remember that there’s a much bigger chance that I’ll go out and find nothing at all exciting. I needed to take a break, especially since I had to deal with even more stuff than usual because of my move (and anything new I found would have to be moved yet again).

July 1st (as well as the days before and after) is great for a certain type of garbage. There’s lots to choose from if you’re looking for clothes, furniture, electronics, curios and decorations, the majority of which isn’t infested by any type of bug. However, there’s really not much that I’d call exciting from my trash picking perspective. (To be clear, other types of scavengers, including can pickers and scrap metal collectors do quite well on moving day.) Wealthy people will toss some good stuff when they move (as seen in some of my recent Westmount finds), but average people struggling to pay their bills or provide for their family don’t often throw out much of value. There’s also so much more competition on moving day that you really have to be in the right place at the right time to make a decent score.

In short I was okay with missing out on moving day. This was especially true since it poured rain for hours! I also didn’t go hunting on Thursday, and did only a very brief run on Friday. I ended up experiencing moving day more from the perspective of a casual picker. The people who had just moved from my new place tossed a bunch of stuff when they left.

One of the things they threw out was this old chair. It got soaked because of the rain but dried out fairly quickly. It has some wear (nothing too bad, actually) but is extremely comfortable. It has a new home on my front porch!

For all the talk of garbage fatigue I actually did find some great stuff (which wasn’t tossed because of moving day) last Monday night. I’ll let you know what it was in the coming days!