I want to die

[DanaC]

I put two chairs out next to some rubbish yesterday afternoon. Within 40 minutes, in broad daylight, behind the wall that separates my flat from the pavement - they went! I was going to put my dining chairs out this morning in the hope of the same result but sadly it's raining and I think that wet chairs won't appeal to the scavengers as much.

I'm still shaking my head over it now. I was perfectly happy about it - I was disposing of them anyway, it's just the sheer effrontery. Funnily enough, I used to remark on the fact I had never seen people walking down the street with a chair until I moved to Leicester. I always assumed they were walking to a family event and bringing their own seating. Now I wonder if all of them were rubbish pickers instead.

I heard there were areas in France where people routinely leave their throwaway furniture outside their houses for people to take if they want it. The English word for it is apparently 'gleaning'. My brother finds all sorts of stuff like that, takes it home and strips it down, recovers it and so on. Only if it's obvious its being thrown....like if it's in a skip.

[glatt]

SG, glad you are feeling a bit better.

I alway slow down and carefully look over piles of promising trash when I'm walking past one. I've gotten some pretty good stuff over the years.

[monster]

Originally Posted by DanaC

I heard there were areas in France where people routinely leave their throwaway furniture outside their houses for people to take if they want it. The English word for it is apparently 'gleaning'. My brother finds all sorts of stuff like that, takes it home and strips it down, recovers it and so on. Only if it's obvious its being thrown....like if it's in a skip.

Here in Ann Arbor ,Michigan, that's what you do -put it on the kerb and hope someone takes it. Otherwise you have to pay to dump it. I love this system. I suspect it's pretty universal in the US.

[bluecuracao]

Originally Posted by monster

Here in Ann Arbor ,Michigan, that's what you do -put it on the kerb and hope someone takes it. Otherwise you have to pay to dump it. I love this system. I suspect it's pretty universal in the US.

I've only had it happen for me once, when I was moving out of a house in DC. Almost every item I put out in the alley for garbage pickup disappeared within an hour of being thrown out, from lamps to wrapping paper to dead plants, and even a 4' x 6' collage of magazine photos my (then teenage) sister had made. It was a little weird.