A burgundy Ludovico velor armchair, a huge onyx, a nearly new acoustic guitar, a retro wood sideboard, a vintage painting, a fully functional children’s bike, and a Benjamin pot with slightly yellowed leaves.

An invisible thread binds objects thrown into the trash or thrown on the streets of the city, and one day they appear in an updated form in the homes of new owners.

Its origin lies in the numerous groups created for this purpose on Facebook, such as Treasure hunters of Athens with 6300 members, Reuse or Lose with 10,300 members or “Abandoned plants looking for a family” which has 7400 members.

The purpose of the above groups is that an object that someone has noticed on the street and found useful or interesting can immediately pass into the hands of someone who wants to use it.

Posts are posted with location, day, and time so each stakeholder can calculate how close they are to the location and how soon they can be there to pick up the item.

Recycling and reusing discarded items that have value for some others implies – in line with the identity of these groups – a strong environmental badge, a sense of solidarity among the city’s inhabitants, as well as an activist mood that spreads through the fabric. cities.

From a student house to a dacha in Mati

“I just picked up a chair yesterday!” speaks “K” Martin, a 22-year-old student living in the center of Athens. An active member of the Athenian group Trasurehunters himself, he describes how, on a recent walk, he spotted his “new” armchair and sofa in excellent condition on a nearby street.

He pulled out his cell phone, took a photo, and placed the items in the group, stating the exact location and time he found them. He noted that he would hold the chair himself so that anyone could “target” the couch.

In addition to a newly purchased chair, Martin’s well-maintained student home is also adorned with a retro green velor chair, and it will soon have just the right size carpet. As the dry-cleaner told him, “it will be as good as new.”

Martin emphasizes how easy it is for many citizens today to pick up things in good condition off the street. In fact, in some cases, some even lend a helping hand to deliver things to their new owner’s home.

“Almost every time I had to lift something heavier, passers-by helped me carry it. The chair was in a corner under the house, and I was assisted by a gentleman who was painting the wall at the time. With the carpet again I was assisted by another gentleman who happened to be passing at this time and offered, without my asking. It should be noted that I was 15 minutes away from my house,” he describes.

OUR Marina Carida, also a member of the group, takes it one step further with the items he collects from the streets of Athens. She transforms them, not only making them (as it were) new, but also giving them her own individual style. She shows us a rocking chair with an impeccable mechanism, which she found almost near her house. “I made new cushions for her and painted her with chalk paint,” she says, adding that she also modified two bamboo chairs in the same way, as well as a wooden sideboard, which she also painted in the colors prevailing in her country house. in Mati.

“You can’t always find great stuff and you have to be lucky enough to be around. The good parts, however, get enthusiastic. Personally, I find pleasure in transforming an object into pleasure,” he concludes.

As for the quick reflexes that these groups “require”, 30-year-old Pavlos, who lives in Agios Dimitrios, notes the following: “For me, this path is convenient, as I walk around Athens on my own business. I also work a few hours as a distributor so I see a lot. If I notice something good on the street that I’m not interested in, I immediately “spread” it. If I see something in the group that I need, I immediately declare that I will go for it, get into the car and drive to the place. While I’m not working.”

Polymorphic coffee tables and lively plants

OUR KostisWithThe 40-year-old southern suburban father of two is also a regular user of Treasurehunt Athens and Reuse it or Lose it. His reasons for using them are, he says, mostly economic, but they also have to do with encouraging recycling and creative reuse, concepts embedded in his philosophy of life.

“I don’t systematically hunt for items, however I have quite a few things at home that I found on the road, either by myself or from group posts. In most cases, the possibilities prevailed over the necessity.”

One such possibility is the coffee table that stands in the living room of the Kostis family. “I found it in the neighborhood and managed to use it. He wanted time, but then I had a lot,” he says.

Kostis stresses that those in need of things but not in such groups would benefit even more if municipalities take coordinated action to ensure that useful waste and particularly bulky furniture are collected in safe places and made available. constantly contact the citizens.

“It would also help them stay clean, as well as take away the shame of those who find it difficult to take something out in public from the street,” explains Kostis, while noting that often members of these groups, when they find something, what is easy to move, but they themselves do not need it, for example, children’s toys in excellent condition, they take it home and hang it up – like an advertisement – for anyone who needs it.

The same thing, he said, could happen to the many pots and flowers left outside. In fact, in groups like “Abandoned plants looking for a family”, the feeling of saving plants that often need immediate care, leads team members to exchange helpful tips with each other, feeling proud when they succeed, and the plant is prominently displayed on their balconies.

The artistic dimension of “hunting”

However, the artistic dimension of this “hunt” on the city’s garbage is also interesting. OUR Gregory Vrittiasvisual artist and professor of sculpture and recycled jewelry, explains that her work requires a significant amount of other people’s waste.

“Caring for the environment is a frequent motif in my projects, and I try, as far as each project allows, to reuse materials, mainly paper and fabrics,” she explains. “Long walks around the city are also part of the production process. The search for material, both physical and spiritual, in particular in Athens, is always fruitful. This city is very diverse and in each area you will find different things.

For my work, I collect small furniture that I use as the basis or part of sculptures, paper from which I build skeletons, fabrics and plastics, which, after careful disinfection, sometimes become stuffing. I think that until we solve the problem of plastic and garbage, the reuse of materials is the least that I personally can offer the planet. Treasurehunters Athens has been very helpful in this process. The scale of the group makes me very happy because I see autonomous efforts with social impact and that sense of belonging is a source of optimism.”

Finally, a happy image is conveyed by DR, who is very fond of special decorative elements. He shows us a photo of a drywall column he turned into a coffee table and explains how he struggled to get it.

“I have a passion for speakers. When I saw the photo on TreasureHunters, I clicked directly on the post to see the details. The column was in Alimos, and I was near the area in my car. I get down to business, but the post was not there! I thought, “when did they catch up with him and take him?” because I really arrived too quickly. In the end, I made a mistake in the place. When I saw him, I was excited!”