They say one person's trash is another's treasure.
Well Canberrans are being encouraged to embrace the adage with the upcoming National Garage Sale Trail.
On October 19 and 20, more than 400 ACT households will gather their unused goods and join 20,000 garage sales nationally as part of the trail.
The ACT government is throwing its support behind the initiative, with Minister for Recycling and Waste Reduction Chris Steel saying the government was committed to preventing household items ending up in landfill.
"We're encouraging households to have a garage sale, register with the trail and reuse the items by selling them to people who might want to use those items that might otherwise go into landfill," Mr Steel said.
"We know that reusing items is better for the environment than recycling."
He also encouraged Canberrans to "upcycle" unused items - transforming them into new objects that serve a new purpose.
At Friday's launch for the event Mr Steel was dressed in the 'Trail Blazer', a jacket designed by artist Jeff McCann to highlight the reusing theme. He was joined by Garage Sale Trail general manager Barbara Gill who wore a bright, woolly jacket constructed with bits and bobs scavenged from op shops and garage sales.
She said the jacket highlighted the issue of textile waste in Australia and while not all second-hand objects might be as quirky as her jacket she said people could find "anything and everything" at this year's trail.
The launch also featured a 1970s-themed lounge room set put together by ACT designer Candice Addicoat completely with items from the Green Shed. The lounge room will pop up at Alinga Street on Monday and Garema Place on Tuesday.
Mr Steel said Canberrans wanting to be part of the garage sale trail should register so people know where it is and buyers can get to as many as possible. Registering is free and can be done online where people can also find an interactive map. Anyone looking to simply donate used items, can do so through Givit, an organisation that partners up charities with donors.
