Last week, I read an article on Wise Bread called Dumpster-Diving 101: 6 Strategies for Success and thought to myself, “Gross, I could never do that.” I’ve seen plenty of stocked trash bins on my way to work for several weeks when people have been moving into or out of various apartment buildings on the East Side. I mean, I could potentially have a whole new living or dining room set by the end of summer, but dumpster diving? I just wouldn’t want to be caught in public going through the trash.
Last night I took the trash out in my own building and while we have three dumpsters in our parking garage, everyone prefers to use the one closest to the door. Since it was piling over, I decided to use the middle one. Then I saw something awesome. Just like the Wise Bread article says, “timing is everything.” There lay a large poster of Marilyn Monroe printed on a wood frame. Now I have to eat my words because I took it.
This thing weighs like twenty pounds, so I’m not sure how I’m going to hang it up, but there are holes in the back…I’ll just have to learn to level it. So I grabbed it out of the trash and cleaned it up. The picture only has a few scratches here and there, but they can be easily covered with black paint or a sharpie. Free art via dumpster diving.