
I know a lot of people who go through other folks' trash. I'm not usually one of them, although I did surreptitiously "rescue" a dresser, drawer by drawer, from the dumpsters of an apartment complex at which I lived in Baltimore.
After I moved to my current home, I had to arrange to move my 92-year old mother here as well. I found her an apartment in a senior citizen retiremenet community about three miles from my house. It was there that I found out that old folks throw out some really good stuff.
The first thing I found in her trash room was a crock pot that looked virtually new. When no one was looking, I "rescued" it from the trash and took it home, thinking that it probably had a bad switch or some other problem.
Nope. It worked fine. It's now sitting on my counter.
Then I found (in no particular order), a practically new microwave oven, a living room lamp, a new, over-the-door ironing board and ... a box of canning jars.
The canning jars were perhaps the best find for me, since my vegetable garden was starting to show signs of extreme production, and I really wanted to try preserving some of my harvest.
Lately I haven't found any treasures in the trash room. But I check every time I'm visiting my mother. You never know what someone might throw out.