Subtle art of the scavenger
Embrace your frugal side and you might just find a treasure in someone else’s trash
Ithink everyone has at least an ounce or more of scavengerism in their blood. Yes, that’s a made-up word but you can do these things when you have your own column.
Anyone who has ever worked in an office will know the seagull-like swarm towards a colleague’s fresh baking.
But I’m not talking about that kind of scavengerism and certainly not the eating of decaying flesh kind either, that’d be too weird.
I’m talking about searching for and collecting discarded items.
I don’t want to bore you too much about my living situation each week but — after moving into a proper home from a laundry — I’ve been lacking furniture.
The first night in the new flat, my fellow tenants and I were forced to use cardboard boxes as tables.
To help fill the void I’ve been forced to go full hermit crab mode; grabbing stuff out of skips, taking stuff from the roadside, and always being on the lookout for junk.
I’ve found cane chairs, an office chair, a stool, and countless wooden pallets — I come home with one every day it seems — they’re everywhere.
My colleagues have also been generous, donating couches and chairs, which has gone a long way to making our lounge comfier.
I didn’t know I had this scavenger side — it’s come naturally and I think it’s because this stuff is free.
I’ve transformed from a full hipsterwannabe to a guy who creates a bed base from three pallets. I’ve even downloaded Pinterest on my phone to gather more DIY ideas.
The house is surrounded by wooden pallets and scrap wood. I race home each evening and hammer and saw away. The noise must drive my neighbours mad.
I’ve created a couple of planter boxes, a bookshelf, a couple of tables and am now formulating a grand plan for a bar leaner.
My flatmate recently bought a cheap 40-gallon oil drum from a scrap yard and we’ve kitted it out with the grill of a barbecue we found on the roadside.
Untreated pallets make for great firewood and we’ve cooked a couple of steaks over the coals in the drum — the grill works great but our braai skills need some work.
It got me thinking about that old saying: One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
I’ve become a regular at my local charity op shop, a gold mine for finding materials or furniture for around the home, golf clubs, books, and a few great clothing pieces.
While I love finding these hidden gems around the place or stacked on shelves in op shops, it’s a harrowing reminder about all the crap we accumulate in our lives.
Without getting too political, commercialism has infected our minds. We think we need the latest
I’ve transformed from a full hipsterwannabe to a guy who creates a bed base from three pallets. I’ve even downloaded
Pinterest.
and greatest inventions to get by. We don’t. Commercialism packs quite a punch on your wallet but it’s also having a huge impact on our environment.
Take a look around your
neighbourhood when you’re commuting to and from work or school, the amount of ‘junk’ people are throwing away is staggering.
There are alternatives to our throwaway culture.
Instead of throwing something away, put it on social media for free first to see if anyone can take it off your hands and find a use for it. Think: One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
And when you’re out and about with your head on a swivel, the key is to not care about what people think of you as you try and cram a chair into the back of your hatchback.
I felt self-conscious at first — fearing
the judgment of others while I eagerly took ownership of someone else’s junk but, as far as I know, no one batted an eyelid.
It’s also important to think outside the box about how you might be able to use the junk you have collected. To be clear, I’m not talking about hoarding here -this is about repurposing.
The internet is a strange and wonderful place. It’s great for finding unique and clever ways to convert junk into something incredibly useful. Pinterest is the new rabbit hole I get lost in.
Embrace your frugal side, forget what people might think and get creative — the possibilities of repurposing another person’s junk is endless.
You might just find a treasure.