to think it's twattish to leave your unwanted crap outside your house for passers-by to take?

[TheIncredibleBookEatingManchot]

I probably am being unreasonable because the person I know who does this is someone I just can't stand for no discernible reason and everything she does annoys me.

Every so often stuff gets left on the pavement outside her house. Sometimes with a note saying "Free to a good home! :)" but usually just left there. Books get soggy in the rain, and seriously, is anyone going to pick up a dog-eared picture book from the pavement and give it to their baby anyway? Wheelchair users can't get past (very narrow pavement) and stuff just sits there for days looking sadder and sadder and I was sure there were more reasons to be annoyed by this but as I type I realise it pretty much boils down to it's annoying because it's her.

But why doesn't she offer her things to friends or donate it to a charity shop or sell it or freecycle it?

I bet she's smugly thinking "I'm being so kind and generous letting anyone who needs my unwanted crap just come and take it. And everyone can see how kind and generous I am every time they pass my house. I bet they talk about how lovely I am all the time."

YOU'RE NOT BEING KIND AND GENEROUS YOU'RE JUST CLUTTERING THE STREET WITH RUBBISH

I'm being unreasonable, aren't I?

It's common practice in Brighton.

Very common where I live too, mostly books. We all have low-level garden walls here to put stuff on top of.

We all do it, most of us have a small patch out the front or drive. It doesnt hang around for long, Even broken electricals are taken by a local bloke who does recycling. He's got a licence and scratches a living doing it alongside his other job.

I think it's fine - in fine weather. Right after Xmas though I saw loads of stuff out, abandoned in the pouring rain getting ruined. Such a waste!

I've been very grateful to those that have been kind enough to do this in the past. Yabu.

Really?
This behaviour is laziness
She should take the stuff to the charity shop or the tip if it's not gone in a day and it should not be left on the street
I leave stuff out occasionally but it's stuff I know will go straight away and yes I do it cos I can't be bothered to go to the charity shop

And if you have no transport?

YABU - it's a great way of people reusing stuff that might otherwise end up in landfill.

I mean, most people who do it don't put stuff out in the rain, and obviously no-one should block a pavement, but the idea about leaving stuff you are going to throw out out for a few hours to give other people the chance to use it if they can, is an excellent one.
Stuff usually goes within about 20mins outside my house.

Very common practice in my bit of the US, and it's great - we have passed on odds and ends this way, and got a few bits and pieces (mostly books, but a few toys, a toaster, a coffee table...) ourselves. We passed on some big, garden toys in the UK in this way too - left out the front, gone within 10 mins!

It's very common practice to leave any sort of scrap metal,mostly washing machines,fridges etc. out for the scrap men.I am not keen on it as I have twice been a victim of thefts by them-2 old dolly tubs that were being used as water butts and the earth wire off the outside of the house.

I'm in a rather poor town in the US. It is customary to leave things at the end of your driveway that are useable but no longer want. Everything we have put out has disappeared. You can arrange for the town to pick up large items that the bin men won't accept.

I have left many things outside my gate with a poster saying "free to a good home"and they have been taken within 30 minutes.
I put my daughters scooter out a couple of months ago as she had grown to tall for it and it was gone within 10 minutes.
I don't see the problem .

Why don't you say something to her about it, maybe suggest filling in one of those charity bags which are collected or maybe even bringing one over to her to fill. Or she might try phoning such companies as Unnecessary Furniture who will collect most big items and small( no electrics though) and pass it on to people who cannot afford furniture or who have just been housed from being homeless. If stuff is left out all day and night in all weathers YANBU.

Reusing stuff is good for the environment. When I go to the community tip I am amazed by what people throw away and think it is far better for someone who sees a use for some disgarded goods to do so. I am guilty of climbing into a skip and rescuing a bedside lamp, twenty years ago and still going strong! Blocking pavements not a good idea and leaving out longer than a day should tell you that no one wants it.

I think it is a brilliant idea to leave outside. I may consider doing this, but leaving on my drive, I don't drive so charity shop is out of the question mostly. I think you should mention about wheelchair access/buggy access as this is unfair.

I do this and I've never thought anyone would think I was smug! Common sense, as people have suggested above. If it hasn't gone in a day or overnight take it away.
Charity shops open short hours and although there are clothes and shoe banks there aren't bric-a-brac banks (what I mainly put out). Books are a special case though, I still have nightmares about the rusting outdoor bookshelves in Haye on Wye full of sodden books!

I'd love to be able to do this and get rid of stuff but I live in the middle of nowhere so there wouldn't be anyone passing by. I'd definitely take free books if I saw them left somewhere.

Well if it's cluttering the payment that is not on, but doing this generally is absolutely fine. We do it from time to time with something too big for a charity shop (or when I cannot get there) and someone always swoops within hours and takes it home. I'm not talking about crap but maybe an unwanted desk or something. I refuse to use freecycle, street bank or any other type site because people invariably mess you around and don't turn up while you've just written 20 other people emails to say it's been taken.
It's easier and faster. No uploading pics, writing a description and replying to dozens of emails. It just gets taken!

Common practice round here

Op I think it Is far more ''twattish'' to be overly judgemental of folk for pathetic reasons

how very sad

Yes YABU (see above)

It's common practice in Brighton and Hove, I hadnt seen it anywhere before that in the U.K.

Its scrap metal and a lot of people drive around in vans and pick anything metal up so they can sell it for scrap.

This morning the pavement was strewn with bits of soggy books.

I think the thing of taking stuff from outside people's houses just doesn't happen round here. I've noticed several houses in the area with old appliances or scrap in the garden that have been there a few days at least. And my old next door neighbours used to leave their pushchair in the front garden and no one ever took it.

Yabu, it's an acceptable way of recycling.

Its particularly useful for furniture. Freeclye etc are full of time wasters so this is by far the easier.

It is good for the environment. In Germany you had to file for the council to come and take away your rubbish, I think you were allowed to do it twice a year, so you would save up all the things you didn't need any more and the night before it was due to be collected you could put it out. They nor,manly did neighbourhoods on the same day so lots of houses in the area would have their stuff out on the same day. People could take what they wanted until the council picked it up. My book-collecting children have brought many an unwanted book home that way!