From Perfectly Good, a link on FoundClothing’s site

I wrote an article years ago for the daily paper on lost and found boxes in local venues and just how strange the things people would leave behind were: shoes and jackets during winter, beach towels and bathing suits in the summer and more umbrellas year-round than you can imagine.

When I came across FoundClothing, a website run by Lauri Apple dedicated to clothing items and accessories abandoned and found round the streets of Chicago (and elsewhere) by Lauri and her “finders,” I was intrigued.

Not only does she photograph and tell the story of where she found the clothing and accessories, she invites others to post pictures of their finds (hence the “finders” title).

If nothing else, her site makes us take note of how much we donate to the vast waste-stream without realizing it thanks to an overabundance of stuff.

Here’s what Lauri had to say about her fascination with the lost and found of America.

When did it dawn on you that starting a site dedicated to this would get any traction?

I was studying in the lounge of my law school one Sunday afternoon, and the thought came to me that probably no one had done a website focused around found clothes. Found Magazine was doing their thing, but it was not about clothes. So I did a little searching online, learned that nobody had claimed this topic, and set up my blog that day. A month later, the New York Times wrote a feature article about me in the Style section; then I knew I had a good thing going.

Do you charge for found items and how do you base the charge?

I don’t sell anything from my website. People have said that I should, but I keep the stuff that people would want – the designer goods. The crappy t-shirts, I don’t think anyone would buy. I give the found clothes I don’t want to charity shops.

Has anyone ever reclaimed a lost garment?

Surprisingly, no. But I did find a woman’s business cards once and returned those to her.

Is FoundClothing reinforcing your ideas that as a society we waste without realizing it?

Yes. I think our society is very wasteful in all kinds of ways, from wasting resources to wasting time to wasting potential. And certainly I have done my share of wasting. So this is just one small thing I can do, to show people one type of resource they’re wasting – and hopefully get them to think twice the next time they stick a bag of like-new clothes in a dumpster.

Tell me about some of the links on your site.

Everyday Trash is a site I just found run by a woman named Leila Darabi. Her website has about 1000 interesting links on it and also very good content.

City of Sad Toys is run by a woman named Al Hoff who lives in Pittsburgh, and is like my site except focused on toys.

And the Stray Shopping Cart Project is by an artist in Buffalo named Julian Montague – he’s created a whole classification system centered around the conditions that stray shopping carts are left in. It’s a great project.

What’s one of the most interesting pieces you found and where did you  find it?

This is a pretty good one.