It's not dumpster diving, but there is an unwritten code in our neighborhood that anything put out on the curb is for the taking. We've put out stuff we don't want and then have watched to see how long it takes to get picked up. We also got a computer desk that way.
Same here. There's no dumpsters in the neighborhood, trash gets put on the curb. There's been a few times that I've finished my run, then gotten in the pickup to rescue a treasure that I noticed on my run. In fact, all of the Adirondack chairs around the fire pit at our mountain house were picked up from the curb, repaired, and repainted. We call in the island of misfit chairs.
One should spend some time at the transfer stations in Fairbanks, AK ... there are people who wait at those stations & go through the "trash" that others throw into the dumpsters. And there is a special spot set up (kinda like a pavilion) to place items that one might feel someone else could use. Lots of stuff gets re-purposed up there ... mostly out of necessity.
There's been a few times that I've finished my run, then gotten in the pickup to rescue a treasure that I noticed on my run.
A lady friend once asked me to help her get a chair from the curb. I didn't wanna but that's what friends are for right - ugh! So we get there and she starts going through some of the other stuff while I load the stupid thing in her trunk, when all of a sudden some teenagers on a porch a few doors down started yelling, "GARBAGE PICKERS! LOOK AT THE GARBAGE PICKERS! GARBAGE, GARBAGE, GARBAGE PICKERS!"
I was so freakin' embarrassed that I think I turned as a red as a tomato! Yes, me! Funny thing though was that it did not faze her in the least!
Fast forward 20 years and I got a dresser for one of my daughters dorm room from the curb and she turned as red as a tomato! lol Shoot, I was not paying for a new one, screw that! Humility comes much easier the older you get!
A lady friend once asked me to help her get a chair from the curb. I didn't wanna but that's what friends are for right - ugh! So we get there and she starts going through some of the other stuff while I load the stupid thing in her trunk, when all of a sudden some teenagers on a porch a few doors down started yelling, "GARBAGE PICKERS! LOOK AT THE GARBAGE PICKERS! GARBAGE, GARBAGE, GARBAGE PICKERS!" I was so freakin' embarrassed that I think I turned as a red as a tomato! Yes, me! Funny thing though was that it did not faze her in the least! Fast forward 20 years and I got a dresser for one of my daughters dorm room from the curb and she turned as red as a tomato! lol Shoot, I was not paying for a new one, screw that! Humility comes much easier the older you get!
This made me laugh.
PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013
Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013
18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010
Every May, in the area of Philadelphia surrounding The University of Pennsylvania, it's "Penn Christmas". Students graduating / leaving Penn put all sorts of good things out on the curb; most of it gets picked up and used by poor graduate or medical students moving in.
Smaller By The Day
I took a chair from the curb once. It was really nice. Then, I saw them hauling more furiture out and looking for the chair. They waited for the truck to bring out the rest. I love that chair.
Improvements
Weight 100 pounds lost
5K 31:02 Sept. 2012 / 23:36 Sept. 2013 (Same Course)
10K 48:59 April 2013
HM 2:03:56 Nov. 2012 / 1:46:50 March 2013
MARATHON 3:57:33 Nov. 2013
It's not dumpster diving, but there is an unwritten code in our neighborhood that anything put out on the curb is for the taking. We've put out stuff we don't want and then have watched to see how long it takes to get picked up. We also got a computer desk that way. DH likes to dive in the city's paper recycle bin for books and magazines.
DH likes to dive in the city's paper recycle bin for books and magazines.
When I lived in a more working class neighborhood, I could easily get rid of things overnight. All I had to do was put it out by the curb. Now that I've moved to the 'burbs, I have to call Waste Management to pick it up and, no matter what I stick out there, it will stay there until Waste Management does in fact pick it up.
Short term goal: 17:59 5K
Mid term goal: 2:54:59 marathon
Long term goal: To say I've been a runner half my life. (I started running at age 45).
I immediately thought of this when I saw the title. : ) The recycle platform is even covered to protect the items. It was a great place to leave good stuff when moving and the town has a lot of turnover in population.
Nothing wrong with picking.
My office chair at work is picked, as is the microwave stand in my kitchen. My best find (during high school) was a canoe. It was fiberglass with a hole the size of a quarter; nothing a cheap fiberglass patch kit from the hardware store couldn't solve.
Uffda
We do have an all-city 'picking' day that has gotten out of hand. It used to be like someone from out of town would cruise around in a pickup and grab a decent looking microwave. What it's turned in to is people hauling large trailers, and cutting the cords off of literally anything for the speck of copper in them. Even though I've gotten a few items from the curb, I don't really care for the whole spectacle that it's become.
I have gotten a few things from this:
- Andrew
Our town is great at taking everything curbside. When we have something of interest for someone else we put it out a day early, and most times they are gone before the trash gets picked up. Any big metal items are probably gone in 30 minutes.
Drink up moho's!!
So far what I can remember picking up for free.
3 kids bikes (1 of them just needed air in the tires)
1 women's 26" 10-speed bike. Needs an intertube and the front wheel trued up
1 plastic frog sand box
1 toddler bed in perfect condition
1 wooden 7 foot ladder, all it needed was to tighten up the bolts through each of the steps
10 plastic chairs. Cleaned them up and used them for a back yard BBQ then tossed them later