One person's trash is another person's treasure

I used to be a property manager for a very upscale student apartment complex near a major university. It was full of rich spoiled kids, and when they would graduate or move out, they didn't want to be bothered with packing and boxing and getting moving vans and all that stuff, so they would just abandon everything. Hey, no worries, right? Their mommy and daddy would just buy them all new things. We are required by law to hold onto everything for a month, and we had this big storage facility where we kept everything. Once a month, we would hold a big "garage" sale at the storage facility and sell all the fancy stuff and make a killing. I would split the money with all our staff, and we'd usually make $200-$300 each every month. And of course, if there was good stuff, we would pick through it and keep it for ourselves. I still have a 65-inch LED smart TV that I grabbed up from there. It was a good gig while it lasted.

That is a do-gooders dream! Hope you enjoyed your lunch!

That's the law of reciprocity. Or the Golden Rule. "Do unto others what you would have others do unto you. You are a stickler for neatness and cleanliness, and in your resolve to keep the environment pretty for the eyes to see, you go out of your way to pick the litter. That is actually an act of kindness to your fellow man and to our ailing planet. You must be commended for being an exemplary steward of nature. Your reward of 50% off lunch treat, I hope, is only a foreshadowing of greater blessings that will come your way. Cheering for Bree.

I've never been lucky enough to find anything but pennies

That's great! I don't usually find anything good on the ground.

No, I hadn't any luck recently.

I can't think of anything of mine that was trash although that expression one person's trash is another's treasure is very true. I did have an old set of headphones from 1985 that I sold to someone in California. So, although it wasn't trash, I wasn't using it, and I guess that person felt it was a treasure. Funny thing, when I visited Florida and went to a flea mkt. there was a sign posted with that exact same expression!

I dont usually walk in the park and keep picking up trash. I usually put into my pocket candy wrappers and dont throw them away across the street. The ecological consciousness, developed through the years of formation, has been my treasure and it has made me feel good, having done something for the environment and for the future generations.