A colleague and I took a mini road trip this afternoon and went shopping at the Dawson City Free Store, a euphemism for the Dawson City… dump. 😀

Dump diving seems to be a northern sport, with the dump in Yellowknife, NWT, being the most famous. I wasn’t surprised that Dawson City has one. In a town with few stores, it makes sense that there is a reuse/recycle mentality.

People drop off usable things in a reasonably weather-proof location and can pick through what’s there. What impressed me the most was the mountain of clothes. I found five perfectly good and very pretty tops. My colleague left with a huge pile of items, including a very stylish and perfectly good winter parka. She also found a much needed table and chair and some kitchen items. With the table strapped to my roof rack, it was obvious where we’d been tonight. 😀

There are people who would turn up their noses at ‘shopping at the dump’, but I’m not one of them. I love going through flea markets, used clothing stores, and garage sales to find unique items not available in the big box stores. There is also absolutely no ‘gross factor’ in shopping at the Dawson City Free Store; the reusable items are far away from the household waste.

The free store is open noon to 7pm, Tuesday to Saturday.