A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
As the saying goes, one person's trash is another person's treasure. And that's true some 80 miles east of Los Angeles at the Lamb Canyon Landfill in Riverside County. Workers there have started rescuing items from the landfill to resell at a new store on site. Madison Aument from member station KVCR in San Bernardino went landfilling at the new shop.
MADISON AUMENT, BYLINE: Some people like to put on a cute outfit when they go thrifting. But that maybe wouldn't be a good idea at the Found It Again reuse shop at Lamb Canyon, where the dress code is sturdy closed-toed shoes and an orange safety vest.
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AUMENT: Dump trucks lumber by hauling trash. Nearby, the store is set up in and around shipping containers. About a dozen people browse the wares, barbecue grills, kayaks, bikes, even some artwork. Jonathan Rodriguez drove about 20 minutes to get here.
JONATHAN RODRIGUEZ: I'm really into thrifting, so I'm always looking for secondhand goods.
AUMENT: Rodriguez picks up a bag.
RODRIGUEZ: It is a Harley-Davidson. It says it's a premium luggage day bag.
AUMENT: It's in good condition and costs $6.
RODRIGUEZ: I mean, anywhere else, that'd probably be a lot more, especially name brand.
AUMENT: He gets it and some headphones for a friend. That's two less items going into the landfill, says Joe Laffoon, who's the county landfill worker who runs the store.
JOE LAFFOON: The idea here is to prevent as much tonnage going into the landfill and diverting it elsewhere.
AUMENT: Workers at the landfill already sort drop-offs. They separate hazardous materials and break down large items. Laffoon says they noticed that much of people's so-called trash was still in good condition and usable.
LAFFOON: You'd be surprised what people throw away.
AUMENT: There are dozens of bikes and old exercise equipment. Laffoon marvels at the rarer items, like a footlocker full of World War II memorabilia and Chinese rice baskets that appear to be antique. Sometimes he thinks...
LAFFOON: It's like if the museum had a dumpster.
AUMENT: To set prices, Laffoon researches what each item typically sells for used. He takes the lowest price he can find and then slashes that.
LAFFOON: Right there I got sitting a $2,000 grill that basically somebody just upgraded. And now we just put a price tag of $12 on it.
AUMENT: The staff cleans the items up and tests them to see if they work. All the money from the sales goes to support recycling things, like electronic waste and tires. The stores open the last Saturday of every month for just three hours, which means customers have to act fast to get what they want.
LAFFOON: The gentleman with your kayaks rolling away in the sunset.
AUMENT: I learned that the hard way as I watched two red kayaks I had my eye on while reporting drive off atop another customer's car.
LAFFOON: Yeah, I know, right? Oh, it hurts.
AUMENT: Like with so many shopping experiences, even at the landfill it pays to be early.
For NPR News, I'm Madison Aument at the Lamb Canyon Landfill.
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