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One man's trash is another's Spring Clean Up treasure

There was a great ad a long time ago for Army and Navy. Through a series of “on-the-street” interviews, they asked a bunch of people if they ever shopped at Army and Navy. No one admitted to shopping there.

There was a great ad a long time ago for Army and Navy. Through a series of “on-the-street” interviews, they asked a bunch of people if they ever shopped at Army and Navy. No one admitted to shopping there.

The best shot was a lady coming out of the store with about a half-dozen bags in her arms, struggling with the door. “Do you shop at Army and Navy?” With a serious face, she looked at the interviewer and said, “No.”

“Are you sure?” Just as serious, she replied, “Yes.”

That basically sums up my relationship with Spring Clean Up.

Spring Clean Up, which is also known as the Great Delta Recycling Event, starts this weekend. And when I say starts, it’s like a race.

First up is the metal guys. They drive around grabbing all the aluminum, copper and steel they can lay their hands on. Barbecues are stripped. Wires are gathered. Appliances piled on.

And then come the gatherers. They are looking for those things you don’t want, but they could use. It’s a wonderful way for neighbours to share things. Tired of that old TV? How about a computer you upgraded. Kids not using the Playstation 2 anymore? How about that desk you replaced?

It’s a challenge selling it, and tossing it in the landfill just doesn’t seem right. But put it on the street and someone will come by and put it to good use. It’s a win-win situation.

I’ve never done it, though. Not me.

I remember one year my kids and I weren’t driving around. We saw a kid’s ride on front-end loader by the road. It was quite new, so we knew it wasn’t for pick-up, and feared that someone would grab it. We stopped, knocked on the door and told the owner about it. They were new to the area and didn’t know about Spring Clean Up. I can only imagine how a little boy or girl would have felt if their beloved loader was gone.

I always worry that someone is going to take our basketball hoop. It sits near the roadway, so every year we pin a sign to it saying ‘Not junk, please do not remove!’ Thankfully, metal guys see the sign.

That was around the time that Beyonce had her big song ‘Single Ladies’ out, so we wrote our own lyrics to the tune:

“If you’re keepin’ it then you better put a sign on it.

If you lost it then you didn’t put a sign on it.

Uh uh, oh, where’d it go?”

There’s lots of stuff we haven’t picked up over the years. We didn’t find a Lifecycle, or a lawn mower, a few TVs for a spare room, a ride on front end loader (I found another one, my son loved it for years until he grew out of it and we passed it onto the next person) or the occasional skateboard. We also didn’t find any interesting pictures, one that ended up being worth about $500. Nope, not us.

So while you’re out hunting this weekend, please drive carefully as there’s lots of other people looking, and the roads can get a little crowded.

Too bad I won’t see you out there.

Brad Sherwin, MBAis a long-time resident of South Delta, and has over 25 years’ experience in marketing, public relations and business strategy. He teaches marketing at Douglas College, coaches hockey goalies and is president of the board of directors at Deltassist.