Top 5 Craziest Things That Have Been Thrown Away

Clearing out a home that’s filled with clutter isn’t always straightforward, but at least you’ll be satisfied with the end result – unless you accidentally throw something away that you really shouldn’t have. Mistaking an important bill for junk mail is far from rare, and it’s a problem that’s usually simple enough to remedy. However, what happens if one of your prized possessions ends up in a landfill due to your spring cleaning mistake?

Believe it or not, some people have thrown away items they assumed to be valueless only to later realise that keeping them could’ve made them a millionaire. After reading our list of crazy things that people have disposed of, you might be a little more conscientious when deciding what stays and what goes the next time you give your home or workplace a thorough spring cleaning.

At Allmetro Bins, we’ve provided skip hire to Perth residents for years, ensuring everybody has access to an affordable, reliable and responsible method of waste disposal no matter how much waste they have. However, while we can make disposing of a large volume of waste simple, there’s little we can do to help you decide what should stay, what should go, and which items could potentially be worth thousands – or even millions – of dollars.

Below, we take a look at items that have been thrown away as junk despite being worth a significant amount of money in reality.

The World’s Most Valuable Waste Disposal Mistakes

The next time you take advantage of skip bin hire in Perth, take extra care when sorting through your stuff so that you don’t end up throwing away something that could be worth a lot of money, such as the following:

  • Who Says Books Are a Thing of the Past?

Nowadays, people seem to be more interested in watching TV, playing video games and communicating with people from all over the world using popular social media platforms than reading books, but that doesn’t mean books no longer have a place in the world. The Harry Potter series was so successful that the books were adapted into feature films that were a hit all over the globe, making the author, JK Rowling, a multi-millionaire.

Before the Harry Potter franchise became a global hit, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the books weren’t going to perform especially well, just as Nigel Reynolds did. Nigel was the very first journalist to interview JK Rowling, and he was given a first edition Harry Potter book as a thank you for his time. However, believing the Harry Potter series would amount to very little, Nigel threw his copy in the bin with little hesitation.

First edition Harry Potter books are currently worth up to $90,000.

Perhaps the lesson here is that books don’t belong in the bin. Even if you want to throw your books out, you ought to consider donating or selling them. You might even be lucky enough to own a book that’s worth thousands of dollars.

  • Don’t Throw Money Down the Drain

Nowadays, we’re aware that landfills harm the environment in a plethora of ways, from emitting methane into the atmosphere to contaminating waterways. That’s why most companies offering skip hire in Perth try to salvage your waste rather than add it to a landfill, and it’s also why people try to recycle their waste rather than dump it into their general waste bin. Unfortunately, accidents can happen no matter how hard we try to be responsible, and some accidents have disastrous consequences for the people involved.

In reality, despite our understanding of global warming and pollution, we can forgive ourselves for accidentally throwing just a couple of recyclables into the general waste bin. However, nobody can forgive themselves for throwing £12,000 (around $21,000) in cash into the trash, just an elderly woman from Sussex in the UK did a few years ago. Unfortunately, her life savings are now lost in a landfill forever.

  • Diamond’s Aren’t Always Forever

There’s an old saying that goes “diamonds are a girl’s best friend,” which is perhaps why some disgruntled husbands may decide to unleash their frustration on their better half’s jewellery. However, nobody in their right mind would wittingly throw US$50,000 worth of jewellery into the trash, so we have to assume that the American husband who did just that made a colossal mistake rather than threw away his incredibly unlucky wife’s collection purposely.

  • Obsolete Technology

New computers are released every year, and they’re always better and more powerful than previous models. For that reason, most of us tend to replace our computers every year or so and dispose of the old one without sparing a second thought. That might be what happened when a woman in California took an Apple 1, one of Steve Job’s first computers, to a recycling centre without realising she possessed a machine that would later be auctioned for US$200,000.

  • A Virtual Reality

Most people still don’t fully understand what Bitcoin is or how it works, but its value has increased exponentially over the past few months. One lucky man from Sydney managed to secure 1,400 Bitcoins for just $25 in the not so distant past, and those same Bitcoins are now (December 2017) worth over an astonishing $26 billion. Unfortunately, Campbell Simpson threw his hard drive and his hopes of becoming a billionaire into the trash, where they will remain forever.

Is Your Waste Really Valueless Junk?

When spring cleaning your home, it’s wise to sort through any unwanted possessions in an orderly fashion to make sure nothing ends up in the trash accidentally because, as you can see from above, people really do dispose of items that could’ve made them rich. If you’re unsure of the value of anything you own, use the internet to your advantage to check that you won’t forever regret throwing something away.

If you’d like any more tips on waste disposal or want to know more about our skip bins for hire in Perth, don’t hesitate to contact the professionals at Allmetro Bins on (08) 9201 1118.