Yeah, I own a house in the San Francisco Bay area. I just missed the anniversary of the date I purchased it, Nov. 1, 1981, and I hope it isn't too upset with me. Perhaps having a section of my website dedicated to this fine bit of paradise will make it feel better. Probably not as much as if I cleaned it up real nice, but it's a start.
Shin the Homeowner
Another Cleanup
I’ve written about this in years past. The event has taken place for ages, but it wasn’t until I started walking around the neighborhood about five or six years ago that I noticed something going on in mid-September. Masses of items appearing on the sidewalks, much of it reusable. I asked around and quickly found it was the annual Kensington Cleanup.
Kensington Cleanup is a special event run by our trash collecting company (Bayview Refuse and Recycling) in which customers can place up to about five cubic yards of trash outside their houses on their sidewalks. Not only is this a great opportunity to “clean house” it also evolved into a chance for neighbors to pick up lots of “freebies” which actually provides for the re-use of these articles instead of sending them to landfill.
Over the years, people from outside of Kensington have anticipated this event and join in the rummaging. I’ve been told that some of these people turn around and sell the stuff at flea markets. I have no problem with this at all. I’ve never seen any trouble come out of this. In fact, striking up conversations with more than one, they’ve been nice people, respectful, all the good stuff.
This year I was less of a participant. I had some plastic storage units that I’d replaced with wood upgrades. I find these to be much sturdier and visually more appealing. I had a couple of rugs (one of which I’d picked up on the side of the road a few weeks back) some wood scraps from the yard work that had been done earlier this year, but not much more. On the demand side of the equation, I was on the lookout for but two items – a few dinner forks (I seem to run out before anything else lately) and a good coffee table. As for the latter, nothing I saw was an upgrade to my current furniture. Also, I found no forks, but was surprised to find that I could buy singles at Target for $1.50 apiece. I bought three.
Most of the stuff I’d left out was taken before my trash day. There were two small plastic storage units that I decided to keep, but currently can’t find any real use for. At least I’ve got a start on next year’s cleanup!
Last Update: October 6, 2026
The John Shinnick Web Site
A tale of two piles. The top photo is what I discarded on Monday. The bottom photo is what was left for the trash collectors. The shoebox contained six mugs which were taken, but the box was not. I'll reuse it! May the rest find good homes.
This section includes the house, the yard, the garage, the car and environs.
