I had a student (basic English composition, so we could talk about anything) who admitted he'd thrown away a gold bracelet because it was broken. He'd already caught hell from his dad (Who throws away GOLD?) so we made it a learning experience-- showed em how karats worked, estimated weights compared to 5g nickels, taught a bunch of Juco kids what they'd get for it at the coin store in Pelham vs the pawn shop in Clanton.
We estimated he'd made a $50 mistake (bracelet must have been spun air.) It was still a dumb mistake, but who hasn't made a dumb 50 dollar mistake? He was able to move on from it and I doubt he'll ever toss anything again.
I knew a woman in DC with wealthy parents. Mom was crazy and would regularly dump trays of jewelry in the garbage. Dad, in theory, would fish them out and pass them on the Daughter, who may have gotten top dollar for them but I kinda doubt it. She was into leaving family jewelry buried in the dirt to "cleanse" it.
If you are a landlord with witchy tenants, maybe get a metal detector.
Back to the Juco, I had another student who would carry around collectible coins in this wince-inducing home-made copper chain. He monitored Kitco every day, worked his ass off in the hot sun at a plant nursery. I hope he held onto his loot until now.