It’s like a garage sale only much, much bigger.

And while the discarded items might be seen as trash and treasure, Yolo County’s Big Blue Barn serves a vital function by diverting tons of material that might wind up in the landfill.

Open to the public once a week as well as every third Saturday, people often make a pilgrimage to seek out furnishings, appliances, bicycles, books and magazines, and even toys from the blue facility.

You name it and it can probably be found somewhere in the “Barn.” You’ll just have to spend some time looking.

Just ask Marissa Juhler, Yolo County director of the Integrated Waste Division, about the time she was rummaging through a box of old dishes from a local family and discovered an antique set of opera glasses created using abalone shells.

There’s probably a story to be told about every item at the Barn, which is now in its seventh year of operation. Even local businesses have been getting the message, which has contributed to an overall uptick in donations.

“It’s interesting,” said Juhler, “The landfill overall prior to COVID had between 300 to 400 customers a day. During COVID we increased to over 650 vehicles a day and we thought as we came out of COVID we would drop back down but we have not.

“Of course, during COVID people were remodeling their bathrooms and cleaning out their garages so there was an uptick in waste in general,” she continued, “but there was also an uptick in waste being thrown out as it was no longer of value to people.”

The same cycle also existed with businesses, particularly the larger warehouses.

“Everything shifted for everybody but we’re back to our wasteful ways,” mused Juhler as she stood next to an old player piano complete with music scrolls. “We saw things dip down because businesses weren’t booming. But now we’re getting large distribution centers throwing away truckloads of new things still with labels on them.

“That’s how we get all these Easter décor items,” she said, motioning toward boxes of decorations.

She said the thinking on the part of warehouse owners is that they have to “clear out” old stuff to make room for new stuff. Sometimes entire semi-trailers arrive filled with discarded material.

“You’d think it would be second nature to find homes for things like that but it’s easier and cheaper to throw it away,” she said. “Unfortunately, we’ve tried to do better by the planet and do better in Yolo County, and we strive for achieving the best and we’re now intercepting these boxes and we sell them for a dollar but you could buy it at the store for 15 bucks. But we’re keeping it out of the landfill.”

And it’s not just warehouses. If a hotel decides to remodel, it could throw away the furnishings from not just one, but hundreds of rooms. That could mean hundreds of the same type of coffee pot, televisions, tables, chairs or even artwork.

“We’re definitely seeing that,” she said. “Sometimes it’s more of a corporate model. “(But) it was either throw it all away or try and salvage it here at the Blue Barn. So that happens and we get mass amounts of furnishings.”

It’s also a win-win for the Barn and business, she said. Businesses and warehouses save money because they don’t have to pay the hundreds of thousands of dollars in landfill charges to throw stuff away. By donating it to the Barn, they save money.

“It’s been working really well,” she said, noting two semi-trailers parked nearby.

Nonetheless, she said, “It’s a sad cycle. When the economy is up, we’re more wasteful. But on the positive side, there are more and more thrifters. And that’s reshaping what could be considered a treasure. … It used to be people wanted shiny and brand new, but now people can get shiny and brand new here at the Barn.”

And with both businesses and private residents getting rid of old — and new — stuff, it’s meant a lot more activity. The landfill is now looking to add a second scale because it’s become so busy traffic is backed up to County Road 28H.

And Juhler expects “dump runs” to get worse as spring cleaning sets in during April.

The Barn is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., each Thursday as well as every third Saturday of the month for a half-off sale to accommodate customers. Additionally, the Barn has scheduled an Earth Day Celebration from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, April 19. Everything at the Barn will be 50% off and industry experts will be on hand to offer tips about recycling.

Juhler said the Barn usually sees a surge in drop-offs as people “declutter” their homes while cleaning. “They don’t want to go through grandma’s things, so they just bring us the boxes and don’t look through them.”

That means plenty of opportunities to find new and old things, if one is willing to search for what’s wanted, even though Barn staff work hard to keep incoming items sorted into specific categories.

As it’s turned out, the Barn has also become a big part of the landfill’s overall operation because of the amount of “trash” it has diverted.

“We’re going to divert around 700 tons this year and that’s kept out of the landfill,” she said, noting other changes are diverting even more waste, such as accepting organic material, which constitutes 182,000 tons a year.

“That’s saving the life of the landfill,” she said. “Throwing your food scraps out at home and at restaurants.” Because of that, Yolo County’s Landfill has almost 100 years of life left in it.