There is a saying that goes, “Another person’s junk is another one’s treasure.” People discard most of the things they deem useless. However, some people who discover them in the garbage bins have other ideas on how to make use junk they find. An American woman collected some things she found in the trash which she deemed are ‘treasures’. So far, she has estimated the items to be worth around US$ 2 million, which earned her an extra $100,000.00 in just a year!
40-year-old Jennifer Lleras lives in Hampstead, Maryland. She is married with 2 children and is the owner and founder of Hampstead Marketing and Design. Although Jennifer runs her own company, she habitually collects discarded things in the trash that could still be useful.
The New York Post reported that Jennifer has been collecting trash from dumpsters since she was in college, which was influenced by a professor. She was an Arts student, and her professor suggested she look at trash in garbage bins for inspiration since it is the least place you can find it. Since then, Jennifer started the habit of collecting treasures in the trash.
After she graduated and founded her own company, her habit persisted. It has become her hobby. Although her habit of rummaging through trash seems appalling, Jennifer believes that it is more like “treasure hunting” than “garbage collecting”. Although most of the items she collected needed repair and thorough cleaning, it did not stop her.
Jennifer admits that in addition to managing her career and raising her children, she still finds time to rummage through trash bins for collectibles to recycle. “I go there about once a week. As long as I go out to do errands, I will go and look in the trash cans when I have free time.” Once before, she was able to dig out new clothes, food preservatives, and even many famous brand products, such as a working Dyson hair dryer worth US$500, jewelry, and a vacuum cleaner, among other useful items.
These collectibles from the garbage bins could still be resold at a reasonable price after being refurbished. Some items were distributed among relatives and close friends, while others were given to charities. If Jennifer finds things in the bins worth recycling, she will collect them. So far, she has collected “treasures” worth US$2million. She has earned an extra $100k by reselling them!
Jennifer clarified that she is not a hoarder. Her hobby of collecting treasures in the trash did not apply to everyone and may be illegal in some cities and states. However, she was frustrated by some people’s wasteful awareness and carelessly throwing useful items away without hesitating. “When I saw the trash cans full of children’s drawing tools, it really touched me,” Jennifer said.
Jennifer admits to feeling satisfied after donating these items to places in need. Additionally, she gets so much good feedback, which makes her more determined to continue her hobby. However, her disappointment persists with people’s careless behavior in discarding useful things. “Some stores will even deliberately damage them before discarding them, making the items completely unusable than just discarding them, which saddens me,” Jennifer said.
Images credits: © Jennifer @eldestmillenial/TikTok and Jennifer Lleras/Facebook
