ETIQUETTE: Kerbside clean up dos and don'ts

We all love a good kerbside clean up scavenge, but there are some things you just should not do.

Rubbish on the kerb. Picture: Geoff Potter

KERBSIDE clean up time has arrived in the Clarence Valley and with hundreds of scavengers about, piles seem to be moving from an organised heap to a chaotic mess strewn from one end of the Clarence to the other.

Here at The Daily Examiner, we have a few thrifty individuals who understand the need to riffle through their neighbours things to find that hidden gem - but they also know there are some things you just don't do.

Dos:

• Check out what people have thrown out, there are sometimes wonderful things on offer. In Westlawn, one of our journalists spotted a few lounges on the side of the road.
• If you make a mess of peoples piles, tidy it up. What was once organised chaos, can soon just become chaos.
• Once it's on the kerb, it's fair game. Take whatever you like - within reason.
• Don't feel like you have to sneak up while people aren't watching, most people are happy for you to take their stuff.
• Try and put out less rubbish each year by reducing your consumption of inferior or disposable goods. Take a photo of your annual pile to compare notes.  Dirtgirl will love you.
• Have a laugh. It can be funny seeing what people have stashed away out on full view in the street but remember glass houses and all that.

Don'ts:

• Make a mess. There is no need to pull the whole pile apart just to leave the place looking worse than when you came.
• It's bad form to scavenge stuff from a pole and then bring it back if you don't like it. Put it on your own pile.
• Put your rubbish out too early. This seems like a silly one, but your rubbish pile could attract unwanted animals.
• Put e-waste on other peoples piles. This is really poor form, council DO NOT collect electronic waste... from you or anyone else.
• Put the item on Buy Swap Sell on Facebook or similar and allow people to bid for the right to claim it when it's already on the street. It could be gone by the time they get there.
• Don't turn up to scavenge at midnight.
• Don't put out too much stuff. There is a limit of cubic metre per household.
• Don't put out perfectly good stuff or vintage items in good shape. It gets wrecked when it rains and becomes useless to scavengers. Donate it to an op shop instead. They will often pick it up.

 

>>>RELATED STORY: KERBSIDE CLEANUP: Find out when your rubbish goes out

Originally published as ETIQUETTE: Kerbside clean up dos and don'ts