It's sometimes said that one person's trash is another's treasure, and some really take that maxim to heart. In a discussion on the Reddit community r/DumpsterDiving, a poster shared an astonishing find.
They found a storage bench in great condition, but it had been discarded because "three screws needed tightening and the top was loose." After performing some easy maintenance work, and hopefully ensuring no bed bugs, the poster repurposed it as a piano bench.
The discovery prompted a lively and supportive discussion in the comments.
"Gorgeous! And it looks much more comfy than a typical wooden piano bench!" wrote one poster, while another commented, "My jealousy knows no bounds."
The discussion highlights an important point about the amount of needless waste produced by the public and retailers. Many discarded items are still perfectly usable, but they will end up in landfills nonetheless. Landfills have an outsized negative impact on the environment, from the release of methane to the loss of natural habitats. They also have negative social impacts, such as posing health risks to locals and sharply reducing property values.
Clothing returned by customers is usually just thrown out. Of the 3.5 billion products returned by American customers each year, only around 20% are actually defective, per Optoro data reported by BBC Earth. Similarly, around 30-40% of all food produced in the United States goes to waste, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
So, it is little wonder that those who practice dumpster diving so often find quality goods wastefully discarded. It's not illegal in public areas, but divers may run into difficulties if they do so on private property.
Fixing furniture thrown out on the side of the road, just like the piece shown in the Reddit thread, is one of the practical ways to reduce waste.
As one commenter replied: "Diving to find a piece of furniture in this condition is a dream scenario for me. Nice job!"
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