O.K., this may be a little off the topic of jewelry, but bear with me, it is very close to my heart.
Where I live in Australia, there is a phenomenon that happens once a year, which to me is akin to Christmas, and that event is “hard rubbish cleanup”. Over a period of 3 weeks, people are encouraged to make a big pile of junk in front of their house- all the stuff that is too large to fit in their rubbish bins. Then, council comes around and cleans it all up. It is a really good service, especially for those who have no way of getting their rubbish to the tip.
The only thing is, it’s a bit sad to see all the broken washing machines, lawnmowers, bikes, t.v.’s etc, that probably could be fixed, but because it is easier to just buy a new one, out it goes. We all like buying new things. We have been trained by the media to want new things, so when our 2 year old vacuum cleaner stops switching on, we have an excuse to buy a shiny new one. Awesome. but wasteful.
Anyways, enough of a rant about wise use of resources, the thing I like about hard rubbish cleanup is I get lots of almost working stuff for free. Then I fix it up. Here’s how I fared this year:
- Petrol lawnmower-pullstart needed fixing
- Petrol weed wacker- needed new line cartridge, which I scavenged from another one
- pressure washer- needs new hose
- computer monitor- replaced some capacitors to get it working
- basketball hoop with backboard
- 2 bikes for my son- one needed a new inner tube
- mountain bike- needed a new front sprocket thing
- carpet cleaner washer vacuum thing- working
So, next time you are going to throw something out, have a think about fixing it. If you don’t know how, google is your friend, do a search and I am sure you will find the answer. Let’s save the dump from one more piece of junk.
Just a quick word of caution, if it’s something electrical, make sure you have a good understanding of the dangers associated with electricity. Some electronics can hold a charge even when unplugged.
