Skip to main content
Diet books from the 1970s adorned with a thin, middle-aged woman on the front. Baby sneakers. Elaborate lace bras. Glass jars and mugs galore. Ski parkas and cutoff jeans. Desks. Couches with all of their armrests, sometimes couches missing armrests. Cat food. Clogs. Plant soil.
These are the items you can find while strolling through Portland neighborhoods in the spring. The items are haphazardly stuffed into boxes or plastic bins or, sometimes, just thrown in piles on the ground. They dot sidewalks and street corners, little treasures ready for the picking.
Portland has spent much of the past year in a furious debate about who should pick up trash. And the regional government Metro has a team that investigates illegal dumps—including furniture.
But perhaps these sidewalk displays can be viewed as a glass half full. It’s half a matter of people dodging a trip to the dump and half a ritual peace offering to the neighbors: Here, take my trash. It might be your treasure.