For most people, a walk down a Surry Hills street involves navigating past piles of kerbside items – that broken chair, the stained mattress, the rusted fridge destined for the dump. But Leonardo Urbano sees treasures where others only see trash. To him, these discarded items are diamonds in the rough, full of potential waiting to be restored.
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The 29-year-old hospitality worker had his hours reduced during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns in Sydney. To supplement his income, Leonardo began scouring the streets of Surry Hills, rescuing and restoring discarded items to sell on Facebook Marketplace.
Leonardo’s thriftiness runs in the family. His mother Ana enjoyed vintage fashion and shopping second hand. His father Oliviero, who moved to Australia from Italy in 2016 with Leonardo and Ana, was skilled at restoring old furniture.
Leonardo has since developed his own eye for spotting treasures in the trash. He shared he would even rent vans to carry large discarded items he plans to refurbish and resell.
One day he salvaged a stainless steel fridge in good condition. Another time he found a painting by renowned Australian artist Dapeng Liu, valued at $3,000.
When Leonardo contacted Liu about the discovery, the artist was delighted his work would find a new home.
Since beginning his trash treasure hunting in 2020, Leonardo has earned about $40,000 selling refurbished items online. But for him, it’s not just about the money. Leonardo hates to see useful things go to waste.
Hoping to inspire others to adopt a sustainability mindset, Leonardo created the Instagram account TheTrashLawyer, where he posts his kerbside finds, demonstrating how with some DIY skills and elbow grease, trash can become treasure.
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Leonardo is proof one man’s trash can become another’s treasure, whilst promoting reuse and keeping useful items from landfills. Thanks to sustainable-minded residents like Leonardo Urbano, Surry Hills is becoming a cleaner and greener neighbourhood.
Published 13-November-2023