Finding treasures where most see trash.

Today I was reminded of a childhood memory from when I was very young. The details are hazy, for instance I can’t tell you who the other children were with me, as there were a few of us. One resounding detail has stuck with me ever since for some reason. We were huddled together in the dining room window watching as various people went through items put out on the curb by our neighbours several doors down. First there was the odd car that would pull over and someone would jump out and take a quick peak through the belongings, find something they liked and take off. Then something interesting happened. The garbage truck came, a few strong fellows jumped out and rummaged through the items. Yet, not one took a thing. Instead, they waited for their foreman to show up in a separate pickup truck. He jumped out and chatted with the men, then looked through the impressive score of items on the curb. He took a table and a few small items, then let the men have at what was left. It was fascinating to me as it resembled something out of a nature channel where lions fight over a fresh kill. I do remember I seemed to be the only one there to respect what we had just seen. Instead, jokes were made of how the ‘poor’ garbage men took other people’s junk! Junk I thought to myself, I didn’t see junk. I saw building materials for crafts, or a fun project repairing a broken item. Granted I wasn’t very handy until much later in life, I still disliked watching perfectly good items be thrown away in the trash. Sadly, much time has passed and little has changed in terms of how society views used items. If the paint is peeling or the colour fades we often toss it in the dump! Or an order has been placed wrong at work and now you have a skid of glass that cannot be used, trash it! Brand new door came the wrong colour…. better trash that too once the replacement comes! I have seen it all, and continue to do so daily. How is this still happening in 2018 I often ask myself? So, after much thought and procrastination I finally decided enough was enough. It was time to act and try to make an impact towards helping the environment. One way, is by repurposing items that would otherwise go to the landfill. My goal is to turn this website into a place where we can change how society views trash. Through education, city participation, volunteers, local businesses we can help make this the beginning of something very special. Over the coming weeks I will be creating a plan for various ways individuals, companies, and the city can get involved. Sign up and follow reclaimedtreasures.ca for news and updated on my projects using repurposed items.