ok, so this just randomly happened. this morning, g (my hubs) and i were working together in the next town over. on our way to our destination, we passed what looked like a yard sale.
in a pile.
next to the trash bin by the street.
ok, so really it looked like someone’s landlord got stuck with clearing out the storage shed. but i noticed a cooler. like, about the size that would hold two twelve packs…however big that is…with a sticker on it. not like a grateful dead sticker – like a just off the shelf sticker. i said, “if that’s here when we come by again, i wanna get it.” then there were lots of jokes about what if there was ……. in it? or …….? (fill in any number of gross things here – it was early – we were just trying to stay awake).
anyway.
it was still there. we stopped. i removed the miscellaneous stuff (empty shoebox, rusty drill bits, broken vase) from the inside and claimed my treasure: a good-as-new cooler that thank goodness didn’t have any gross-ness about it.
i wasn’t in the market for a cooler, but hey – that thing was headed for the dump! and we sell grass-fed beef that comes from the butcher frozen. we can always use another cooler.
so, maybe you’re not into stopping on the side of the road and sorting through someone else’s less-than-desirables. fair enough. i get that – it’s not something i make a habit of doing either, but I’m pretty sure we’d be hard-pressed to find a cooler made in our neighborhood.
maybe the take away here is not necessarily to rifle through people’s old stuff on the curb more often, but more about being aware.
Pay attention to what’s around you.
Look for opportunities to think/act/consume locally.
what about you? have you ever upcycled anything found on the curb?
oh, and lookie: here’s a website called curb alert where people can list stuff for other people to pick up on their curb. ha!
100daysoflivinglocal 