Jennifer McPhee
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (May 06/01) - Spring is the traditional time for tossing out old junk and starting fresh. It's also a chance to score some good stuff that others throw out.

Kamiga Noah recalls picking up a set of discarded furniture for her campsite across town from a family who moved.

And, while sorting through her old clothing one spring, Noah found $67 in the pocket of an old vest.

"They were even old bills," she says. "I gave the vest to my sister."

Noah goes through her clothing in the spring, tucking away or passing on the old, and bringing out summer gear.

A few items she can't bear to throw away. She's kept clothes from her teenage years. Sometimes, after a time, the clothes come back in style.

For more than 20 years, she's kept her old bikinis.

"I thought, when I get a daughter, she might want them," says Noah. "Then they say -- what are you doing with that type of clothing?"

She adds: "I'm still hoping I will fit back into them."

Some things are worth hanging onto for sentimental reasons.

"Some things were given to me from my mother because she passed away," says Noah. "Some blankets and clothing even if they are torn."

Over at NorthMart, retail manager Kieran O'Sullivan says sales of cleaning supplies like mops, brooms and floor mats, rise during spring.

"The snow melts, the mud arrives," he says. "There's a need for it."

True enough. But, as Elisapee Gordon points out, the need for cleaning house isn't confined to spring.

"I do my spring cleaning maybe four or five times a year," she says.

The women agree keeping dust and garbage out of their yards during spring is impossible. The wind blows it right in.

Gordon wishes spring cleaning was a community effort in Iqaluit.

"It would be nice if everyone in the town worked together, especially outside," she says.

Still, cleaning her yard alone proved lucrative for Gordon one spring. Along with dust and garbage, the wind blew in some cash. "I found about $32," she says.