Vas?
One of the reasons that I love love love living in the center of town is that the trash flows like water. For some people, this is a problem. But I have a soft spot for industrial garbage (look at how beautifully that rust has eaten away half of that car!) and, of course, for people throwing away perfectly good stuff (a record player! a pickle jar!) So, for no particular reason, and in no particular order, here are The Rules that I have made up for picking through the trash. Most of them can be summed by the simple 'Attempt Not to Be A Douchbag' rule, but sometimes you need to get a bit more specific.
1. Only take what you need. Yes, it's really cool to find a great big bag of sweatpants. But you're only going to use one pair, and the extra cloth isn't really going to be useful later on. Hang the rest of the bag on the side of the dumpster like a good girl and keep moving. Which brings us to..
2. Leave the area as clean as you found it. This one should be self explanatory- people who have trash spread around their neighborhood will probably be hostile to potential trash-spreaders. You can't do anything about other peoples bad dumpster manners, and of course the municipality is completely dysfunctional about keeping the streets clean, but still. Think of it as a good luck charm to ward off cranky homeowners and empty bins.
3. Remember, though- if you come across somebody, you're not doing anything wrong. Be cheerful and polite in the face of antagonism, and in a worst case scenario, say that you're an art student working on a project. People will believe anything of art students.
4. There are people for whom garbage picking is a livelihood, not a fun way of spending a Saturday afternoon. They get precedence.
5. For god's sake, differentiate between wet garbage and dry garbage. Dry garbage= hmm, interesting, that jacket's in nearly new condition. Wet garbage=do not touch ewww that's disgusting it is not charming to bring that home but rather grounds for justifiable homicide by your roommates. For the person to whom this rule is dedicated- I would have fully supported your chucking him out a window. Bringing home half-rotted organic material is just not kosher.
6. And as long as we're on the subject of cleanliness- wash, bleach, launder and otherwise make pure whatever it is you pull out of the trash. Yes they're cute shoes and yes you will have cute fungus growing on your feet if you don't let them sit for a few days with antifungal powder in them.
7. Apart from that, just try to use the head that God screwed on your shoulders, and you should be ok. Hopefully.
1. Only take what you need. Yes, it's really cool to find a great big bag of sweatpants. But you're only going to use one pair, and the extra cloth isn't really going to be useful later on. Hang the rest of the bag on the side of the dumpster like a good girl and keep moving. Which brings us to..
2. Leave the area as clean as you found it. This one should be self explanatory- people who have trash spread around their neighborhood will probably be hostile to potential trash-spreaders. You can't do anything about other peoples bad dumpster manners, and of course the municipality is completely dysfunctional about keeping the streets clean, but still. Think of it as a good luck charm to ward off cranky homeowners and empty bins.
3. Remember, though- if you come across somebody, you're not doing anything wrong. Be cheerful and polite in the face of antagonism, and in a worst case scenario, say that you're an art student working on a project. People will believe anything of art students.
4. There are people for whom garbage picking is a livelihood, not a fun way of spending a Saturday afternoon. They get precedence.
5. For god's sake, differentiate between wet garbage and dry garbage. Dry garbage= hmm, interesting, that jacket's in nearly new condition. Wet garbage=do not touch ewww that's disgusting it is not charming to bring that home but rather grounds for justifiable homicide by your roommates. For the person to whom this rule is dedicated- I would have fully supported your chucking him out a window. Bringing home half-rotted organic material is just not kosher.
6. And as long as we're on the subject of cleanliness- wash, bleach, launder and otherwise make pure whatever it is you pull out of the trash. Yes they're cute shoes and yes you will have cute fungus growing on your feet if you don't let them sit for a few days with antifungal powder in them.
7. Apart from that, just try to use the head that God screwed on your shoulders, and you should be ok. Hopefully.