I have spent the past three weeks with a group of university students at landfills throughout the region, dissecting loads of garbage.  Most of what we see is "garbage", but some loads, referred to in the waste industry as "residential self-haul loads", are full of treasures.

A residential self-haul load is waste that is brought to the disposal site by a resident, and is usually a result of some sort of clean-up around the home (spring cleaning, moving).  I am not all that surprised by what we find in these loads, but it does sadden me a little to see a product in perfectly (or near perfectly) good condition destined for the grave.

Our team has rescued many of these products, some of which have gone home with the team members, some of which I have claimed, some are stored in my husband's VW, and many more have made their way to the Salvation Army.  Technically we should not be doing this, there is a no-scavenging policy at landfills, but we are up to our elbows in garbage all day (literally) so I feel it is justified, and if nothing else, a reward to these brave students for their hard work.

I have tried to photo document all the stuff we take from the landfill, so take a look and tell me if you think this stuff is garbage?