Every spring the city of Santa Clara offers residents the opportunity to clean out their attics, closets, garages, yards, etc. With the exception of computer equipment, they’ll take anything you put out: construction material, refrigerators, boxes, toys, paper, garden supplies, tools, furniture, toilets and plumbing fixtures. Just use your imagination; whatever you think of they probably will take off your hands. For three weeks every year the neighborhood is a complete eyesore; people even start putting their trash at curbside weeks before their pickup date. Lots of people scavenge the discards to repurpose these cast-offs.

This scene brought to mind The Velveteen Rabbit story.