Trends come and go: Many goods that people buy to keep pace with fashion end up in the rubbish bin. Now, young Chinese people are giving these things a second life. Called "stoopers", they pick up idle goods and reuse them. They are mainly in big cities like Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.
Chen Jiaorong, 27, is one of them. She started stooping in June 2022 when she found that many people were letting go of things hardly used after they were release d from the COVID lock-down （封闭管控） in Shanghai. After that, she often "hunted treasures" in her free time. Now, her small apartment holds things redesigned from the idle goods she collected, including tables, chairs and clothing.
"Some say stooping means collecting rubbish," Chen said. "But for me, it is about making the best use of things." That's why she wanted to promote the trend to others. Sometimes Chen also puts eyeball-shaped stickers （小贴纸） on idle goods that she doesn't need and posts pictures of them on social media for others to find.
With a hobby of keeping things since childhood, Huang Xiaohe, from the Xishan High School of Kunming No 1 High School, also loves stooping. Though the 12-year-old has few chances to go stooping in her city, Huang often looks for idle goods around school. Then, she cleans and redesign s them, turning them into fun things at home. The cotton from a found toy bear dresses a cloud lamp, bottles become decorations and old facial masks are used to make clothes for her Barbie dolls. "I believe that any waste can be turned into treasures," said Huang. She also added that stooping is an action to fight over-buying.
