Scavenging tips
• Respect reciprocity and don’t make a mess.
• Beat garbage trucks to reusables the night or morning before they arrive.
• Follow dated garage sale signs to after-sale giveaways.
• Check beside apartment dumpsters. Tenants have a culture of putting good stuff aside.
• Check for bedbugs or mould.
• Don’t risk being an inadvertent thief – if you’re not sure it’s free for the taking, ring the doorbell.
Giving your rejects curb appeal
• Don’t make people sort through diapers and rotting melons to find treasures.
• Let your unwanteds speak, as in: “Please take me” or “I’m in working order” or “I just need batteries.”
• Repair your offerings as far as you can and attach a note describing the flaws.
• Put them out well before garbage day to avoid turning off the squeamish.
• Be kind: put warnings on mould-infested items.
• Watch the weather. Don’t let rain soak your donations to the common weal.
• Don’t muck up the system – if no one wants what you’re bequeathing, take it inside again.
