Bin Diving

In England and most of the UK, our american "trash" is called "rubbish" and is not thrown out in garbage cans, but instead in rubbish bins. Really big volumes of rubbish or construction throw outs are not tossed into "dumpsters" but into "skips". Husbola and I discovered years ago that a person who really scours the shops and fairs and shows for the hidden antiques treasure is called a Bin Diver. How very visual to think of an over eager antiquer seeing something flowing out of the top of a dumpster and then diving in after it. Have you ever done it? Come on--'fess up--I certainly have. Be honest with yourself--have you ever driven past a neighbors curbside garbage collection and seen something that made you slow down or even stop? Have you ever driven past something at the curb and turned around and driven past it going the other way--maybe slower this time--to see if you really saw what you think you saw? I have--I admit it--and yes--I have stopped--thrown open my hatchback and popped it inside my Jeep.

In the last 15 years, it has been one of my favourite projects to work on a very large church rummage sale. I actually would use that as an excuse to stop at assembled curbside treasures, clucking my tongue--"they shouldn't be throwing this out--it could be sold for the common good at the CHURCH RUMMAGE SALE." Ah ha-yep-you betcha--that is what I said. Most of the great "finds' have found there way to the church sale. However--yes I admit it--Confessions of an American Bin Diver--we have items in our home--in use today--from our neighbor's trash.