My Lucky Finds

I am constantly surprised by the differences between Australia and New Zealand.  Something that I love about the Australian people (that we don’t do in New Zealand) is that they put their material belongings on the side of the road in front of their house once they feel the object(s) has outlived its usefulness.  There are probably people who would say that in fact this is a terrible habit that makes decent neighbourhoods look like dumps and encourages scavengers.  And they’d probably be right.  But I can’t help but like it that they do this because I’ve benefited so profoundly it.  I have picked up lots of little treasures.  In my mind I’m saving Australia’s landfills from filling by extracting useful tid-bits from piles of trash doomed to death by being buried alive.  Essentially that’s what this is.  Taking something that is still fully functional and burying it in the ground is being buried alive.  The object still has life left in it.

In all seriousness, having not come across this before it provoked a conversation with myself about consumerism and recycling. 

When I first moved to Brisbane I found myself in a curious position.  My partner and I needed to fit out our little apartment with furniture and kitchen utensils.  I wanted to achieve this on a small budget while not conforming to the ever growing epidemic of ‘consumerism’.  I came up with the perfect solution of shopping at second hand stores to acquire what we needed.  However, when I found the few second hand stores that were located in my area I realised that this option was by far the more expensive.  I couldn’t buy plates for less than I could get them at Kmart.  I was very disheartened when I conceded that yes, it would be off Ikea and Kmart to fit out our little apartment with a minimal amount of items to start with. 

It was while we were in Brisbane that I first noticed people setting things on the side of the road for passersby’s to collect.  We picked up a bench for Ollie to put in the garage for his tools and a little shoe rack to go in the closet.  

In Sydney however the ‘dump gods’ have really shown their heavenly light on me.  I have found so many things in perfectly good condition on the side of the road for FREE.  So the conclusion is hopefully in the eyes of the ‘anti consumerism gods’ I have balanced out a little of my Ikea purchases by rescuing outcast household items from a horrible death and the filthy grave of the landfill.       

       

These little hanging spices racks were someones rejects.
They fit  perfectly on some existing hooks in the kitchen.  
It must be a sign, we were meant to be. 

White crockery, stainless steel plunger and painting
 in back ground were all outcasts that I've saved. 

Super funky little stacking baskets that are
 handy for keeping odd bits and ends.

The jar for spaghetti pasta and the ceramic utensil container are
the newest members of Heidi's Home for Orphaned Kitchen Stuff.