Down at the dump

[Dave2002]

I have mentioned buying CDs at council dumps before - though in recent months there hasn't been anything interesting.

I bought a CD rack for £5 from one dump a few weeks ago - good condition.

Latest - a couple of solid wooden planters for the garden - completely free. Not sure if these were a bargain, as it's costing me a small fortune in paint and time to renovate them, and change the colour to something approved by the "inmates", but similar ones in new condition are arguably worth £50+.

Am I the only one here who picks up things from the dump? [Though I don't actually do this too often ...]

[Richard Tarleton]

There isn't a facility for buying stuff from our tip - everything goes into separate skips large and small for recycling. Presumably that would require extra staff for sorting and pricing? Definitely no bin-diving allowed - once it's gone it's gone. The tip was tastefully decorated with a consignment of garden gnomes at one point, but they seem to have disappeared.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

There isn't a facility for buying stuff from our tip

Nor at ours (the nearest such facility that I know of is 15 miles away)

I did once attempt to "rescue" a couple of picture frames that someone had deposited in a skip and was told in no uncertain terms by one of the staff that this was very, very naughty of me. (I presume that the number of times I've seen staff taking items from one skip to their "tea base" it was in order to relocate said items to a more appropriate skip after they'd had their tea break.)

[teamsaint]

We got six ikea folding chairs for £15 at our tip with five cushions, in near perfect condition. I managed to buy a missing cushion at ikea for £4.
They were exactly what we wanted. A bit spookily, we had actually been saying that same morning that we needed 6 fold up ikea chairs, for a big xmas gathering.

There is plenty of decent stuff to be had there. At least one local trader, one of those shabby chic places I guess, has an arrangement where they take a job lot off them once a week.

[Richard Tarleton]

Nor at ours (the nearest such facility that I know of is 15 miles away)

I did once attempt to "rescue" a couple of picture frames that someone had deposited in a skip and was told in no uncertain terms by one of the staff that this was very, very naughty of me. (I presume that the number of times I've seen staff taking items from one skip to their "tea base" it was in order to relocate said items to a more appropriate skip after they'd had their tea break.)

Indeed. I did once see a reasonable-looking rescued guitar through the door of their "tea base", and did just ask to have a look at it, in case it might have been a Hauser - in which case I'd have kept a straight face and offered them a tenner (remembering a story Julian Bream told about his younger self ).

Our "recycling facility" must get a commission from ATS Tyres, given the number of punctures people get there.

[BBMmk2]

I have mentioned buying CDs at council dumps before - though in recent months there hasn't been anything interesting.

I bought a CD rack for £5 from one dump a few weeks ago - good condition.

Latest - a couple of solid wooden planters for the garden - completely free. Not sure if these were a bargain, as it's costing me a small fortune in paint and time to renovate them, and change the colour to something approved by the "inmates", but similar ones in new condition are arguably worth £50+.

Am I the only one here who picks up things from the dump? [Though I don't actually do this too often ...]

Must be rather lucky there. The tip we have hasn’t that facility. Which I think is very bad.

[Dave2002]

Talking of chairs, I was about to dump an IKEA Åbo chair when someone came and asked if he could have it. I pointed out that it was broken, but he said he could fix it, and it looked as though he was really keen. I let him have it.

Sadly there were (at least) two seemingly identical designs for the chair. We had some from Sweden (good) and some later additions to make up numbers with a different construction (significantly less good) bought in the UK. The ones from the UK were relatively useless and when they broke very hard (impossible?) to mend.

OTOH I have sometimes taken stuff to the tip which wasn’t too bad, and asked if anyone (the guys in the shop perhaps) wanted it. Mostly I was told to just dump stuff.

[Sir Velo]

OTOH I have sometimes taken stuff to the tip which wasn’t too bad, and asked if anyone (the guys in the shop perhaps) wanted it. Mostly I was told to just dump stuff.

You're really living the dream aren't you?

[cloughie]

You're really living the dream aren't you?

In the past our local tip sold stuff, but this stopped with some council contractual change. This came as relief to the wife of a friend of mine who claimed that on his visits he retuned with more than he had taken.

[Dave2002]

You're really living the dream aren't you?

I think it makes a difference if the dump is in a relatively affluent area, or not. Better stuff is available in more affluent areas, but equally hardly anyone wants it as most people have bought their own similar stuff already. Hence it gets dumped. Hi-fi (of a sort), large TVs (even fairly new ones), computers etc. Also white goods such as washing machines, dishwashers - I'm sure that not all of these are non-functioning, but if surplus to requirements ....

Experience with Freecycle and Gumtree tends to confirm this, though sometimes there are significant bargains to be had. Also, sometimes it is surprising what people will take. I once gave away some flagstones on Freecycle, and had no difficulty with this. We also gave away some double glazed patio doors, which had been replaced. Sometimes people really can use unwanted stuff, or even use it in unexpected ways. Recently I gave away some rather good wooden shelving, but it is apparently going to be used on an allotment for pallets. Doesn't really matter if it gets used though, does it?

I partially learnt this lesson many years ago when we thought to go to a car boot sale. I was amazed to discover many tables with almost exactly the same stuff that we were trying to offload. I suspect it only works if one is either early or late in the disposal cycle. Early - some people may still not have whatever, and want whatever it is at a low price, and Late - everyone else has dumped or sold their own, but some people still want or need a particular kind of item.

I think I know where there's still a Betamax video recorder ....

[oddoneout]

The inconsistencies across the country with respect to waste disposal are something I find infuriating. It's down to local councils as to whether there is a re-use shop, and how much if anything is made available for the public to buy. When my town finally(many years later than should have happened after the local dump closed ) got a new 'facility' it had a small container that purported to be a shop. The stuff that went in there would have been left behind at the average jumble sale, whereas perfectly usable items were chucked in the skips - mostly the landfill ones, only occasionally in recycling ones. Ten years down the line little has changed, other than there is a second container that has larger cr - sorry, items, in. The staff know nothing about current demand for upcycling items - they don't get the training, have no inherent interest and no incentive(I have discussed this on a couple of occasions when a higher level manager has been on site). Seeing on TV programmes people going 'to the tip' and being able to very nearly it seems renovate and furnish their homes with items they get there, if all I want is some bits of wood which I see being thrown in the skip at my local site, does nothing for the blood pressure!
Re#3 - the issue is that once items are brought on to the site with the intention of disposing of them, they become the property of the site operator. If you are lucky and can get there before the items are actually unloaded from a vehicle you might be able to get what you want by meeting the person bringing the waste when you are both off site - but that will depend on whether the on-site staff are happy to turn a blind eye since even that is strictly speaking not allowed. I have managed it a few times.

[Pianorak]

There isn't a facility for buying stuff from our tip. . .

There isn't one here, but Freecycle is flourishing. I have unloaded lots of still useful stuff (when considering moving to a London flat) which tends to go within the hour. But I've also got some really excellent "bargains" like an exercise bike, a solid-wood coffee table, an expensive looking glass-top nest of tables and, the latest acquisition: a great solid CD case. And all free as in Freecycle.

[Dave2002]

There isn't one here, but Freecycle is flourishing. I have unloaded lots of still useful stuff (when considering moving to a London flat) which tends to go within the hour. But I've also got some really excellent "bargains" like an exercise bike, a solid-wood coffee table, an expensive looking glass-top nest of tables and, the latest acquisition: a great solid CD case. And all free as in Freecycle.

Freecyle is sometimes really good, and we have had things from it too. Perhaps the best is some sewing gadget which mrs d uses - an overlocker I think it’s called. Almost new condition - new they’re well over £100. Not too long ago we got a laser printer - surplus as taking up space apparently, and had been bought for a specific project by the donor.

OTOH we have had items which we couldn’t give away, but then rather than take them to the dump, we advertised them on Gumtree. We have done this a few times with items from Freecycle. We always put them back on Freecycle first, but if that doesn’t work, we put them on Gumtree (or adverts in local newsagents) for prices between £20-£60, and that usually shifts them. There was only one small shelf unit item which didn’t go that way, so I smashed it up. One set of four shelf units, with doors which were in poor condition didn’t go, but in the end I decided to keep them and use them in a slightly different way, after I dumped the doors.