More importantly, they keep acquiring stuff that cannot be consumed and never rots or rusts: plastic toys, metal garden furniture, porcelain knick-knacks.

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Using a metal detector, the unit discovered five plastic barrels buried in the garden 6 inches underground.

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Other gardeners are often generous with cuttings and some vital equipment, ranging from plastic to bricks for the garden, are simply discarded by other people, she says.

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The scheme, officially launched in September, allows rigid plastic items, such as buckets, garden furniture and children's toys to be recycled.

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The man later told police that his dog called attention to a black plastic bag, which he took back to a garden outside his building.

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One modest dwelling on the edge of Koreatown has as many Roman statues in the garden as a medium-sized Italian city, if plastic ones count.

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