MY PROUDEST POSSESSION these days is the round green sticker on the front bumper of my car. It’s my ticket to the Town of East Hampton Recycling Center, aka The Dump. As a “residential self-hauler,” I’m entitled to use separate dumpsters the size of freight-train cars for paper, cardboard, metal, plastic, non-recyclables, and batteries, as well as an open shed called the Home Exchange area, open four days a week, which a local friend told me could yield some real finds.
She herself scored a Martha Stewart outdoor dining set, below, which now sits under the trees on her front lawn. (It’s a longish story: she claimed the chairs, someone else claimed the table. She ended up paying him $40 for the table and another $10 to transport it to her home, as her car was already full of chairs and cushions — so it wasn’t strictly free, but close enough.
People virtually camp out there, poised to swoop down upon any arriving vehicle offloading unwanted furniture and other household detritus.
The blue T-shirt guy wasn't too pleased with my taking pictures. He demanded the 'film,' then made a great show of taking down my license plate number.
Earlier in the week, I got some some decent green metal outdoor chairs there, while a woman nearby grabbed a big straw laundry basket in great shape.
This morning it was my turn to be beneficent, pulling up with three cartons of pots, pans and dishes found in the cellar of the house I bought last week in Springs, and where I’ve been doing a herculean job of clearing out the remnants of the previous owner.
There wasn’t anything at the Home Exchange but the dregs of dregs. That doesn’t mean I won’t go back tomorrow. I hear that Saturday afternoons is the best time for yard-sale leftovers.
casaCARA: Old Houses for Fun & Profit 
Sounds like fun!!! Enjoy your weekend in your new digs!
Not sure how much fun it is to be threatened by a toothless old guy in a garbage dump, but walking on the beach and puttering around my little cottage is definitely fun!
Citizens on Patrol!