To hate people leaving stuff on their front walls?

[blessedbethe]

It’s a prolific problem where I live in an urban area in Bristol. People seem to leave stuff they no longer want on their front wall - sometimes people take it, sometimes it’s genuinely rubbish and they’re waiting for someone else to pay to get it taken away! Can range from shoes and clothes to household appliances and it happens all year round, and things get left out that have been in rain/snow etc.

Walking DS back from school I saw a toaster, 2 used (I’m assuming) gas canisters, various pairs of shoes and ladies clothing, kids snowsuit, metal water bottle. One house near us has had a toddler bed dismantled and propped up against their front wall for 3 weeks now, which has not been taken by anyone and is now warped and unusable. Makes me angry as a charity could have used that for a child in need and now it’s too warped/misshapen from the wet to be used! I just think people should take responsibility of disposing of or donating their stuff!

YABU - let people do it, someone will always want something that’s put out.
YANBU - it’s lazy and irresponsible and people should get rid of their stuff responsibly!

I picked up a beautiful antique chair on the roadside and my family still tease me that they had left it there for a few minutes. I hope they hadn't.

Got a pine desk a couple of weeks ago but that did have a free sign on it.

Charity shops around here no longer take books and DVDs - leave them outside and they will be lifted - driving to the local dump and putting them in land fill is completely unnecessary

My village leaves unwanted freebies in the old phone box.

I am quite naive about this stuff, but why is metal so lucrative? What do people use it for?

Have you seen the piles of perfectly good stuff charity shops just put out to bin? Far better to put it out on the wall, but I wish people would take things in when it rains or put things in plastic bags or boxes at least.
They definitely don't want playwear level clothes, and are often unwilling to take baby stuff in case there's a safety problem with it. A friend of mine picked up a trip trap highchair that needed some tidying up but was completely sound (it just had some stickers and a few splashes of paint on) from in a charity shop bin, they checked in the shop and were told it was indeed in the bin and she could fish it out if she wanted. If she hadn't I would hope it would be pulled out of the rubbish at the tip for reuse but I guess it would depend if it was spotted.

We have a community shed that’s good for this sort of thing. Nothing stays for more than two weeks though. Stuff goes on shelves and then is binned or charity shopped. It works quite well, there is often a flurry of people taking stuff the day before a sort through as if no one else is having it. I will.

I know somebody who had a large fibreglass coy carp pond delivered and it was left on the verge outside the house. It disappeared. It turned out somebody driving by had mistaken it for an unwanted item and taken it. It had only been on the verge for five minutes. They did get it back.

That’s a lot of its.

That’s not a tradition here. We have a village recycle group on fb where people post photos and details of things they want to get rid of. First person to answer is given the address so they can collect. It seems to work very well but I can see it might not work everywhere.

Nothing comes out of bins at the tip. Workers aren’t allowed to. Besides it’d probably be broken when emptied into bin lorry. I remember watching a bin lorry empty out a load of recycling. Like a giant plastic poo. There were half a dozen black bags of rubbish and I asked if theyd be taken out but no not allowed to sort through waste. I was not surprised to hear that there was a £50k bill that quarter due to contaminated recycling breaching 10% limit.

I think it is a good way of helping people out who might not be able to afford something or might live locally (I live in a village and this happens all the time. There are many people who don't drive and might need something but not be able to get to a charity shop).

I also agree with you that it is a shame that things have been wasted this way. Definitely shouldn't leave things out in the rain to get ruined.

I love it - we've had all sorts of useful freebies, and given away lots as well. We always pop a message on the street WhatsApp group and the local FB group if we put something out, and it's usually gone within the hour. I wouldn't leave things out for days or in the rain, though - if it's not gone by the end of the day, we bring it in and take it to a charity shop or the recycling centre.

I think it's a good thing, I've picked up some lovely things outside people's houses including a beautiful vintage chandelier light. Freebies don't stay there long unless it is actual shite.

Very common where I live. Usually stuff goes within a few hours round us. People usually do a FB post as well along the lines of x at number y on z street. We have a rag and bone man who drives round picking up scrap metal. I've put bits out before and they have gone within the hour.

I've also managed to shift 40 cardboard boxes and 3 pallets just by shoving them on the curb. The pallets were gone in 40 minutes and the boxes just under an hour. It's quicker than faffing about on gumtree/ FB marketplace ect where people mess you about for days on end or want you to deliver it for free to their granny who lives 100s of miles away in the Scottish Highlands between 10.30 and 11am on the third Wednesday morning after the new moon.

In terms of stuff left out, our council are dire when it comes to collecting. You have to fill a form out online, you are then told it has to be on the roadside between 7am and 5pm to be collected. You have to pay £35 per item but they will no longer take mattresses, beds, carpets or very large sofas. They supposedly book you in for collection on a certain date but in the small print it says collection could happen 2-3 days either side of collection date due to "high demand and keeping our workforce safe due to COVID".

A lot of the charities are very fussy about what they take too. I know our local British Heart Foundation will only take furniture with fire labels and they have recently put restrictions on the conditions and age of furniture. I know quite a few of the charity shops round us are refusing to take bulky children's toys at the moment, (it's causing quite a stir in the yummy mummy scene at our local playgroup as no charity shops will take those huge paw patrol or vtech toot toot sets that lots of mums are desperate to get rid of).

Our local tip also has restricted times and you have to pre-book a slot online (thanks COVID). No vans or trailers are allowed in so getting rid of anything is a huge PITA.

We call these wall treasures, some of my children’s favourite things have come from our neighbours in this way 🙂

A bit of both really. I hate seeing stuff left for weeks in all weathers and degrading, but I have got quite a few good things from peoples garden walls.

Often leave things out by the gates. Almost always go in a few hours. If they don’t I take them to a charity/the recycling centre. Don’t see the problem.

This happens regularly in my area but doesn't seem to create any issues. I got great toys for DS this way; which I've then put out when he's too old for them and someone else has taken them within hours. Stuff seems to go very quickly - usually within a day. I've never seen anything sitting on a wall or propped up against someone's front fence for more than a week. Not sure if this is because the person realises no one wants it and bins it/takes the item to the tip, or because we also have a few people come around in trucks looking for items that have been thrown out that they can sell.

I think putting stuff out for others to take is fine as long as the item doesn't block the pavement and isn't left there for ages.

We get random tat left out the front of houses sometimes but not on walls.
What people often do though is put their black bags on top of walls and hedges (even hang them from fences) the day before bin day.
Stops all the cats and foxes ripping them apart.

Streetcycling happens a lot round here - we've acquired some nice stuff and got rid of stuff it would have cost a lot to get removed. Win win. But I agree if it's not gone within a day or two, take it back in and dispose properly.