One man's trash...

Liz Barrett was cruising down an alley between 22nd Avenue South and Park Drive on Tuesday evening, content with her acquired loot for the day. Her pickup's bed was overflowing with two sandboxes and several Halloween decorations.

But even though Barrett hadn't paid a dime for the items or any of the numerous truckloads of goods she had taken since Monday, she wasn't committing a crime.

She was one of the many residents that take advantage of the annual Grand Forks spring cleanup week, a time when people can put almost anything nontoxic on the berm and have it hauled away for free.

Residents disposed of 902 tons of refuse last year, and the city picked up 238 tons just on the first day of this year's event.

Kevin Dean, public information officer for the city, said Barrett's scavenging would have been illegal after the 1997 flood. Then-Mayor Pat Owens prohibited digging through residents' flood-damaged belongings.

But her order is no longer in effect, and there is nothing in the city code that prohibits scavenging, except at the landfill. Dean said city officials don't exactly encourage it but it's not a bad thing, either.

"The city recognizes that reuse and recycling of materials is a good thing," he said. "For the most part, when you throw something out, it's no longer yours."

He said as long as the scavengers are respectful, don't cause a nuisance or trespass on private property, they're not breaking any laws.

Finders keepers

Barrett said the best thing she found so far this week was a two-story kids' playhouse, so big "it couldn't even fit in the truck."

Most of her findings are for friends and family members. She got some old planter barrels and holiday decorations for her mom, and picked up a fish aquarium for another person.

"I kind of know what everybody else wants and just make a day of it," she said.

There are even noticeable trends of what gets tossed out in Grand Forks, Barrett said. For example, many people were getting rid of artificial Christmas trees last year.

She was still kind of surprised by this year's popular throwaway item. "There's a lot of toilets this year," she said. "One guy had three of them. Everyone's been redoing their bathrooms this year, I guess."

Sanitation supervisor Brian Kroese said he's been at his job since 1992 and has seen just about everything imaginable during cleanup week. "Nothing really surprises us anymore," he said.

But he did notice many items damaged in 1997 that appeared on the curb years later. "We were still getting stuff from the flood in 2003 and 2004," he said. "I couldn't figure out why they didn't throw it away then."

Tara and Mike Lee said they've never gone berm hunting and were sick of the many scavengers going through their stuff each spring. So, Tara used an old white door to create a makeshift sign this year with the words "KEEP DRIVIN!" in black spray paint.

She said it's been interesting to see the response of passing motorists, and many people honk or offer words of agreement. "It's too funny watching all these people drive by," she said. "I suppose the garbage diggers don't agree."

Mike said people have respected the sign so far, and he just wanted to prevent traffic problems that can arise when people look around their neighborhood on Cherry Street.

Brent Heinle, a homeowner on Ninth Avenue South, said he usually doesn't mind if people take a look through his stuff. But he said it's weird for his family if their pile on the berm attracts five or six cars of scavengers at a time.

"It gets kind of embarrassing after a while," he said.

He noticed that people have targeted some electronic items this year. Some have even snipped the cords off appliances, but he didn't know what they would do with only the cord.

Heinle said he cleaned out his garage and made the large pile of stuff on his berm after receiving an order from above. "The big influence is the wife."

Reach Johnson at (701) 780-1105; (800) 477-6572, ext. 105; or send e-mail to rjohnson@gfherald.com .