The sun is shining in Brisbane again and it is that time of year. Brisbane City Council is kind or crazy enough to have a Big Item collection one day a year for each suburb. On this allocated day you are entitled to put out at the front of your house any big items you no longer want. Read sofas, mattresses, shelves, wood, desks, chairs, almost anything as the Uber Eats ad says. There are some nonos. The Council then collects them on the allocated day.

People launch enthusiastically into this “renewal ” early in the new year. These big items are put on the road curb sometimes a week before the collection date. Now all I can tell you is that there is a lot of garbage out there but also a surprising number of good stuff. So it is perfectly Ok if you spot something that you want and stop, put it in the back of your car, and drive off or tuck it under your arm and walk home. Its so refreshing to see this Upcycling because lets face it every little bit counts and the sad reality is that we may have cleaned out a corner of our precious house but what leaves our house ends up as landfill on a corner of our even more precious planet. Still its something isn’t it and swopping a bit of someone’s trash for your perceived treasure is absolutely joyous. Something for nothing and don’t we all love that.

And I wonder if there is a PHD in the distinct possibility of more car accidents at this time of year as people browse while driving, looking at the piles and getting distracted.

Its a dumpster diver’s heaven – who remembers that programme Steptoe and Son? They did it too.