Kerbside skip browsing - have you? Would you?

Surely putting stuff in a skip means you don’t want it. Otherwise you would have sold it or taken it to the charity shop. In fact stuff taken would make room in the skip. Having said this I have never taken anything from a skip and should I want to I would out of courtesy ask permission. For one thing the owner might well prefer to take it off for you as he has probably stacked it to enable more storage.

Stuff via not stevia! Annoying autocorrect!

At the end of my daughter’s time at uni in Birmingham she found some really useful stuff on the street that students didn’t want to take home. She was moving into a furnished flat but it was a bit basic so extra stuff very handy. Some of her finds are now stored in my garage as she’s about to emigrate!

I get rid of unwanted stevia free cycle or the charity shop.

I had a friend who worked at the recycling centre. He often rescued stuff and found it new homes. He got me a few electrical items. When he had his bike stolen he was quite philosophical saying well I got it for free from work so it’s not the end of the world!

Maybe they only wanted the slide part Lizbethann55
We had a massive fiberglass slide years ago that was re-used once the metal frame became unsafe. The slide part was perfect.

I think it's unlikely someone would take something as bulky as a slide without checking it was suitable for what they wanted it for.

Some years ago now we had a skip and we put an old garden slide in it. The next morning it had gone. I don't know who took it or what they did with it but we had thrown it away because it was broken. One of the bars holding the actual slide bit in position was split rendering the whole thing unstable and dangerous. If the person who took it did so for children to use I hope they realised before a child went down it. Perhaps skip raiders should take into account that some things are not merely unwanted but may be unsafe.

Been doing this since the early 80s.
If the skip is in the road help yourself.
If the skip is on private property, ask the owner of the property.

Main rule is, don't dump your rubbish in someone else's skip wherever it is located.

FrankandEarnest

Callistemon21

What is more annoying is finding things in your skip that you didn't put in there.

This is an old Liverpool legend - have skip delivered pm, by nightfall it’s full of OP junk, miraculously by sunrise, it’s empty again.
I’m confident John Bishop could tell it better.

😂😂😂

To be fair, it was a neighbour who asked if he could put something in our skip.
We thought he meant one smallish, item
Wrong - it was three very large items but they were metal so DH contacted someone who came and took them away.

I've had loads of stuff from skips. When GD1 was coming home from school one day with DD1 (her auntie) she said 'Let's have a look in that skip, there may be something for granny'.

My sister lives near a city center, on a main pedestrian route, near many starter homes. When she has something she doesn't want she puts it out on her wall or small yard with a laminated sign saying 'Please leave the sign and take what it is stuck to...' She generally gets the sign posted through her letterbox so she knows something has gone I'd love to do the same but don't live anywhere near a public road :/

I would ask the people who had ordered the skip before taking anything, as it is theft here, as by law we own our rubbish until it has been collected, when it becomes the property of the company removing it.

Formerly, I lived in a block of flats that had a shed we put things into that were too big to go in the bins - this is common in Denmark and the landlord pays extra to have these sheds emptied once a month or so. Although strictly speaking it wasn't legal to do so, the residents of the flat were in agreement that if you saw something you could use, you might take it,

In Germany, I have seen householders when putting furniture, clothes etc out for collection sometimes write a notice saying, "take anything you can use", Whether this strictly speaking gives you a legal right to take it, I do not know, but I presume it amounts to you having spoken to the householder before helping yourself.

My son does it looking for wood for his carpentry projects. He always asks the householder or builder.

Callistemon21

What is more annoying is finding things in your skip that you didn't put in there.

This is an old Liverpool legend - have skip delivered pm, by nightfall it’s full of OP junk, miraculously by sunrise, it’s empty again.
I’m confident John Bishop could tell it better.

We were getting a new kitchen and the old one went in the skip. A man asked if he could take it. We were delighted. Recycling at its best.

Several years ago I was managing a nursing home and we got a skip to get rid of some old chairs, a lady asked if she could have some and I advised her they were a bit worse for wear and smelly, she replied 'oh nothing a scrub with bleach won't fix'😅 we later saw her sat outside of her house, having a cuppa in the smelly old armchairs 😅 no accounting for taste 😅😅

When I moved house, the previous owners left lots of rubbish and I had a skip. Members of the local allotment asked and then happily took things. I was pleased. Also had people knock on the door and ask.
I put things outside I don’t want and just put ‘Free, pleae take’. Last was a swivel chair with a rusty base and had become very wobbly. Was gone in 15 mins.
However I would never put things in anybody else’s skip. Get your own.

Oh Gin, that’s 😄 so funny!

Personally, I haven't done it but my nephew has and he always asks permission from the household where the skip is located. One person told his that there was stuff still in the garage if he wanted to look through it before it went into the skip; nephew was delighted and bagged some fabulous bits of hardwood which he repurposed into beautiful pieces of furniture - I guess it is easy when you have the skills and the tools.

I am saddened by what I see thrown away

Me too. I was once looking for a small table and saw someone a the skip throw away exactly what I was looking for in really good condition. We're not allowed to take things at the tip, sadly.

Gin 😅😅

Certainly would not unless I had permission otherwise it's theft.

Most people here list stuff on the FB hub, just saying they have put stuff on the end of their drive, just help yourself. We got a fab bird feeder last week! There is also a man in the village who collects, free, any metal stuff such as washing machines which is handy. I have never looked in a skip, but on the very rare times we are at the tip, I am saddened by what I see thrown away.

(I’d rather like a skip, but I’m rather ignorant about hiring one and what if any regulations I might need to abide by.)

My French town has a collection month when everyone can put out on the kerb household items to be collected, often a day before allowing others to rummage. My neighbours don’t like people with vans doing this but I think it stops landfill. Pieces often sold in the vide-greniers, brocantes, or marchés aux puces earning money for some.
I wonder why the UK don’t take the idea up as it would stop fly tipping.
I have picked things up here and my daughter in Oz, when she returned here, is still please with her items she found over there.

When we were living in The Netherlands, once a month we had ‘rommel dag’ or rubbish day when everyone left things they no longer wanted on the kerbside. My children loved touring round the neighbourhood searching for ‘finds’. One day my elderly neighbour had left a old but robust sit-up-and-beg ubicycle outside her house. It was just what I wanted so I grabbed it. How embarrassing to have her knock on my door asking for the return of her cleaner’s bike!

Absolutely yes. Would never take, but will ring the bell and ask 'may I'. Wonderful.