Turning trash into Christmas gifts - Riverton picker makes a living selling discarded items

It is impossible not to spot heaps of household appliances and furniture when travelling in the vicinity of Riverton Meadows.

Most of the items are trash that was destined for the Riverton Landfill, but many of these pieces will be at the top of someone's Christmas wishlist and the highlight of their homes. Just ask Michael Carter, a picker who says there is no time for rest during the Yuletide season.

"Right now the sales not suh fast but mi know it soon pick up because uptown and rich people soon clean out dem house, suh Christmas ago hot. Yuh can get a working fan for a grand ($1000) or so on. Sometimes mi take all $500 because a fan will all broke down at a time when a person don't have any money, so we help them out and tell dem gwan with it. The tings dem weh we sell out here suh ago pretty up a lot of people house. Dem ago make gift to a whole heap," he said.

Carter not only sells, but also purchases from others for his roadside 'furniture store'. As he spoke with THE STAR, a man arrived with scrap metal and loom intending to make a sale. At first, Carter appeared uninterested but it didn't take long for him to accept the items from the persuasive buyer, who, with a bright smile, walked away counting his cash.

According to Carter, this Christmas season is no different from others, and washing machines, stoves and refrigerators are among his top sellers. He said much of the trash is in usable condition when they are dropped off by the garbage trucks, but others require a simple fix, whether by him or the buyer.

"A lot of the times we don't even have to fix the things dem because dem a come from rich homes and dem just wah get rid of some things to get in some fresh tings. Is just that sometimes we credit the things dem and di people dem don't come back come pay. A man owe mi fi two machine about three months now and all now mi can't see him," he said.

Carter explained that a washing machine, fridge and stove will go for about $3000 each.

"Christmas a come now and yuh have appliances and furniture weh people can't get a store, suh a right here suh dem a come. A lot of times, the big folks dem dash weh some antique things and mi a tell yuh say a nuff people Christmas gift that. Nuff time we get furniture from down in the 70s and 80s and those are hot bread," Carter added.

The Riverton Landfill has been the place of employment for Carter since he was a child. He said he was introduced to the job by his mother and has no regrets, adding that he is able to steadily provide for his five children by selling another man's garbage.

"A mi kids dem make mi a work eno, and from dem alright mi good good. Di pickney dem expensive but mi can find it to give them. Dem nuh give mi Christmas list yet, but mi know say it ago be sumpn dear because mi grow dem dear because mi grow dem spoil. Anything dem tell mi say dem need, a it mi a give dem and dat is why mi work suh hard. From the year start mi nuh take any day off eno, even when mi feel tired," he said.

Carter will be celebrating his 48th birthday on Boxing Day, but doesn't plan on treating himself to any fancy gifts. He said that his only wish is to get a pair of test glasses for his 13-year-old daughter.

"She say her eyes a bother her but the glasses come to $80,000, so that is my Christmas and birthday wish right now. She a say she nah see the blackboard and mi know mi have to go get it. Five kids mi get and mi nah lie, sometimes mi would wah go get a pants and a shirt and treat mi self. But when mi see say a their money mi have to go trouble, mi leave it alone. Christmas is for dem man," Carter said.