How about this one: "One man's trash, is another man's treasure."
Yet another phrase with real merit. Usually the word TRASH would turn most folks away and when you combine them: FREE TRASH, what type of response can we expect?
Hello, my name is Jack Williams and I'm very excited to share my thoughts and experience concerning one man's trash. Well, as it applies to me, many men's trash. Oh, and women's trash too. Not to mention the trash of my friends and family!
Hello, my name is Jack Williams and I'm very excited to share my thoughts and experience concerning one man's trash. Well, as it applies to me, many men's trash. Oh, and women's trash too. Not to mention the trash of my friends and family!
Now that I've accustomed you to the word TRASH, let's redirect our thoughts to FREE. Free, interestingly enough, is the single most powerful four letter word known to man. Don't quote me on that, but I'd be willing to bet all my trash! Not many things come to us as cheap as free, but when they do, you'd better believe we take all we can get. Whether it be - an extra soda from the machine, making off with nothing more than a warning from a traffic cop, or simply finding a dollar bill on your morning walk - free is key.
Ok, let's transition from this notion of free and apply it on a larger scale. Imagine this, you're perusing the isles at your local hardware store. Your spouse (wife in my case) points out a simple but sturdy potting table with adequate work space and additional storage beneath. She comments saying how perfectly convenient it would be having it next to the shed. Turning to her, you realize how similar it looks to the antique desk your neighbors are throwing out. After a quick glance at the $150 price tag, your wife asks, "What's wrong with that antique desk the Johnsons have put out to trash?" The light bulb clicks...
Reusing items others have put out to "trash" isn't wrong, it's Re>Purposing. Now would be a good time to revisit the word TRASH. Identifying trash is much simpler than one might imagine. My philosophy has always been: "If there are bugs, rats, or wild animals crawling from the pile...then it's trash!" Following my philosophy, a gently used desk is no longer considered TRASH, but rather a newly acquired RESOURCE. When in the market for a new potting table, isn't money just as valuable a resource? So when the resource you need is discovered why pass it by? I've not known many to turn down FREE RESOURCES. That's like saying, "NO, I would not like your free money!"
Besides saving you money, re-purposing also helps the environment. We've all heard of the three R's, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, well lets add one more - Re>Purpose! By re-purposing you automatically hit both reduce and reuse by NOT allowing the old item to sit amongst a true trash heap. Another example of re-purposing can conserve water resources by salvaging a used food-grade quality 55 gallon drum and collecting rain water in your very own rain barrel.
Re>Purposing is easy and can be fun. My wife and I use this wonderful money and environment saving opportunity to spend quality time with one another and we love coming up with new - inventive ways to re-purpose. Re>Purposing enhances creativity, with the sky as the limit because all or most the resources were FREE!
Please stay tuned for future posts on Re>Purposed where I will give you helpful hints, answer some reader emails/comments, and share some of my own re-purposed creations.
Thank you!
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