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Post by eaglesflight on Jun 23, 2008 7:46:15 GMT -5
Like a good little hoarder, I kept various items in my musty basement until the items were infested with mold and thereby ruined. I wrote on the coffee and end tables, "moldy from basement storage do not take" but the other items I left unmarked. Because the desk chair had thick green mold growing on the seat fabric and it was out in the rain, I figured no one would take it. Also, the large stroller which has been been marked by tomcats and has an odor I have been unable to remove. Both of these items were taken and I feel now like I should have also marked these as ruined items. I nearly did but I thought that it was so obvious that they were ruined no one would take them. I told my husband I guess trash pickers just don't realize that some people only throw things out until they really are ruined. I hope the takers figure out the error pretty quickly.
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Post by mouse on Jun 23, 2008 7:56:13 GMT -5
They must know the risks, I figure. Scavengers are a savvy lot, generally speaking.
Good on you for getting rid of your stuff!
~Mouse
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Post by minball on Jun 23, 2008 10:30:50 GMT -5
Eaglesflight, it's so kind and thoughtful of you to think of the health of the people going through your moldy garbage, but it's likely that the people who took the ruined items had a particular use for some part of them and will not keep or use them if they are truly hazardous. One time, I trashpicked a stinky, ruined Baby Jogger because I needed just one plastic piece from the frame to help my aunt fix her stroller...the rest of the gross stroller went right back out in the trash.
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Post by Script on Jun 23, 2008 10:32:52 GMT -5
You are not a mind-reader, so you cannot know for sure how the scavengers are going to use these items. example: they took a stroller. Maybe they just need a wheel or a part of the metal frame. Or maybe they want the stroller to wheel trash around their yard.  my brother put an old bbq outside for the trash. TWO SEPARATE PEOPLE dismantled BITS of the bbq and took different items. life is interesting..... |
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Post by crazycatlady on Jun 23, 2008 12:50:27 GMT -5
I have a friend who had an old broken down lawnmower set out front. Some scavengers took it. Later in the day my friend saw their broken down lawnmower sitting in a neighbor's trash pile. The scavengers had traded it in for a better one!  !
I do not think that you are obligated to mark your trash as trash. And I'm VERY PROUD of you for letting those items GO! 
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Post by dragonchilde on Jun 24, 2008 11:11:18 GMT -5
Trash is trash... if someone's picking items out of the trash, they should expect to get, well, trash! That reminds me of a rug that someone took out of mine. This thing was RANK. It had sat out on my porch and mildewed for weeks, and was animal-piss stained before that. Someone took it. I figured they got what they deserved.  I have a question... who are these trash pickers? I mean, they exist... we see the results of their work... but I've never seen them! The only time I've ever seen one is my neighbor, day before yesterday. She took a baby gate from beside my trash can, but she asked first, and I said yes... it wasn't one I could use, because it had been chewed up by my mom's dog, but she was going to use it to keep an outside dog off her porch, so hey, she had a use for it. I want to know who these people are who are such opportunists, and yet so stealthy! |
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Post by Script on Jun 24, 2008 11:38:17 GMT -5
I have a question... who are these trash pickers? I mean, they exist... we see the results of their work... but I've never seen them! ! I can't speak for YOUR city/town/rural area, but I KNOW for a fact that these kinds of scavengers cruise MY NEIGHBOURHOOD: *the night before recycle pick-up, there are people checking recycle bins for wine/beer/pop bottles for which there is a deposit payable *people checking trash for good junk: as in appliances which still have some working parts (my brother's bbq story above) *collectors who check trash because they see a potential value in something (I know a young man who brings home non-working computers and other tech-thingys) *likewise, hoarders who see a potential value in EVERYTHING I have seen small TRUCKS late at night or early in the morning cruising in our area (nice homes). also, one woman's trash is another man's treasure: I put out for the garbage a VERY OLD folding chair salvaged from my father's store. I took it home because it reminded me so much of him. It was not comfy for me and was very ugly and dirty: not suitable for a home? My neighbour rescued it; it folds up neatly; they keep it in their carport, and use it almost daily in GOOD WEATHER. The boy with CP does special exercises in the driveway, and the father sits on the chair and they chat. |
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Post by threeg on Jun 24, 2008 12:13:43 GMT -5
I have to admit....I was an occasional trash picker. However I never took anything mouldy or with urine smells.  I took two antique oak dressers on 2 separate occasions. I sold one for $60.00 after using it a few years. The other one is still being used. I tried to ask first, but nobody was home, so on top of the car they went! The 90 year old lady that I take care of also trash picked. She has a sewing machine that works, and a nice coffee table that she still uses. Both were out for the garbage pick up. When I was moving, a woman drove up and carefully picked through 16 bags that I put out. She took what she wanted, and re-tied the bags and left. I'm sure that there are many people in today's economy that take items to sell in a yard sale or a flea market. In fact there was a story in our local paper that said so. If the people that raided your trash needed a part of the stroller or whatever, it is likely that was why they took the mouldy stuff. Why they took the rug remains a mystery.... 3g is me
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Post by mellowyellow on Jun 24, 2008 18:30:29 GMT -5
Oh I had to laugh. Who are these trash pickers?
Well, maybe me.
I won't go through garbage cans and boxes, but I will take something that is placed openly by the curb. If I drive or walk by and see, for instance, a beautiful table or picture frame or shelf, I am very likely to stop and check it out.
Now, granted I will not often take the item (I am picky). But if it is in decent condition and looks attractive, or is useful, I might haul it and take it home.
I grew up with a mum who would whisper to me, "Mellow... I saw this gorgeous table/curtain/chair/vase/box of tiles/lamp (especially lamps) in the garbage down the block... Come with me and check it out. Don't tell your father". We have had plenty of adventures over my lifetime, finding treasures in the garbage. And no, no moldy or broken items.
I have a smile on my face as I type this... These occasions would have my mum and I giggling madly, because we were kind of embarrassed to do it, and kind of proud to have found something cool/different/useful. I felt a little like Bonnie and Clyde because we would stealthily check the stuff out, and then as quick as possible, drive away before anyone saw us (or so we liked to believe).
Every once in a while, even nowadays, when I visit my parents, my mother will whisper to me "Mellow... guess what I saw?" And I will whisper fiercely back, "No mum.. I won't go... I won't..." and a few minutes later "But mum, what is it by that way?"
P.S. My BF and his buddies do "garbage gazing" all the time, and have come home with some sturdy patio furniture and bbq's after the college students go back home for the summer.
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Post by messymimi on Jun 24, 2008 18:57:48 GMT -5
Who are the trash pickers? People like my husband, an archaeologist by training. They make their living by digging in other people's trash ! Even though he is in another line of work now, he will still salvage "perfectly good except for ... " stuff. Some he fixes and we do use, some is just trash and gets thrown out again. messymimi |
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Post by margarita on Jun 24, 2008 21:07:55 GMT -5
Some of you were wondering why people would take your yucky old rugs? Many people (especially people in the country) use old rugs outdoors on a weedy area that they want to have a garden on. The rug will kill the weeds off, then it can be removed and the garden can be planted. Also, if you are planting a raised planting bed, and wish to keep down weeds a rug can be used permanently. I prefer to buy landscape fabric, but know some folks who would rather pick up old rugs and reuse them. When I lived on a farm, we used to use old rugs in the muddy areas outside the barn for the chicken to walk on. Some people who live on farms also will pick up an old rug, hose it down to get the smells out, let it air in the sun for a few weeks - then use it in the barn. It helps take the chill out for the animals in the winter, (such as barn cats,) especially when you have cement floors. Also, when you restore an old house and have broken glass from old windows - old rugs are great to wrap the glass in before it is taken to the dump or put out with the trash, so you don't get cut. I used an old rug to haul some rotten old doors to the dump. The doors had been left outside by the previous owners in a cattle barn for many years and were covered with poo. Both from cattle and from raccoons and wolverines. I felt much cleaner wrapping them up in rugs to load them in my truck than having to pick up such filthy items and breathing in that stuff. Also, if you are hauling old barbed wiring, or old fencing, etc to the dump - it's nice to throw an old rug into the truck first. It prevents scratching the truck, and you can roll the stuff in it and just throw it all way without getting all cut up. There are probably many other outdoor uses of old rugs, but those are the ones I am familiar with. Margarita (who no longer lives on a farm and is a big city girl now) |
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