Gleaning 1

Gleaning at the Metro Transfer Station
(the city dump)

I'm back at my old job (from two years ago) of gleaning at the city dump...only this time I'm volunteering my time to help find "art materials" for Portland's new recycling store, ReClaimIt, which is now open for business (Friday - Sunday). The city dump is a "treasure trove" of all kinds of materials, and several of us have now joined ranks with this season's five Glean Artists. In our case, we're finding  quality trashed materials that can be resold at ReClaimIt and brought back to life in any number of ways.  The story is always the same...we're constantly amazed at the kinds of things that get thrown away that eventually end up at the landfill.   We're all on a mission of "rescue."  


I met with Jane, one of the other volunteers, this morning for three hours of digging through the city's garbage. 

We both entered the tipping floor with our carts...dodging cars, pickups, monster trucks, etc. We made quite a haul of good stuff in short order. All of it was stored in this holding area and soon to be delivered to the store, where it will go through a "cleaning and pricing" and then made available for sale.  


A few of our finds:

As one of the Glean Artists working within the residency two years ago, I gleaned two to three time a week at the city dump for my own projects.  I'm pretty sure that I won't be there that often now as a volunteer. I had a great time today with Jane, but it's HARD work! 

If you live in the Portland area, ReClaimIt (1 N Killingsworth St.)  is having their Grand Opening celebration on June 27th, from 6 to 9 PM.