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Diamonds at the dump
Katie May Northern News Services Published Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Employees at the landfill gate know to expect him. Once there, he'll work until closing time collecting recyclables, as he's done for two years.
Sometimes he finds stuff worth a lot more than a few bottle deposits. Last week, while gathering his usual discarded cans and bottles amid fattened seagulls and ravens in the dump's open scavenging area, Shearing discovered a 10 carat opal and diamond ring still in its box. He showed up at his wife Kathy's workplace to surprise her with it. She was even more surprised when he told her where he found the ring. "It's amazing that people throw out that kind of stuff," she said. "I don't understand." The ring was a rare find, Shearing said, adding he usually collects enough recyclables each day to get a $50 or $60 deposit back. But a while ago he did stumble upon $580 worth of change someone had dumped along with their regular garbage. He doesn't have a special scavenging system worked out to uncover valuable treasures. "I just came out here one day and saw all the stuff I could collect," he said. "When I get to a pile I just dig." Shearing said he's one of about 40 regular scavengers at the dump, all looking for different things, who have gotten to know each other pretty well and all help search for refused computer parts and lumber. Shearing's favourite part about scavenging at the dump? "Fresh air," he laughed. "People don't think it's fresh air, but it is." He said he's just doing his part to help save the land when he collects items that won't decompose, but he's worried the city might try to get rid of scavengers by further limiting areas of the landfill in which scavengers are allowed. "I'm prolonging the life of the dump," he said.
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