They put out this shelf and I want it, but I don’t want to seem strange? It would make a nice plant shelf, but it’s not something I can scurry away with, so people would see me while I carried it. Is that a bad thing to do?
EDIT: Never mind. Someone beat me to it. 😭
You can politely ask them about it. Maybe there’s a good reason they threw it out. Maybe it’s infested, or broken.
I do that all the time. A thing is a thing, and it can be your thing now. I only try to ask myself two things:
- Do I really need that?
- Is it in a good condition? I have a lot of used stuff at home, so if I took something half-broken, it would look like a dumpster already.
Sidenote: I live in Denmark, where people overconsume, and then get rid of stuff which is still in good condition.
I recently moved to Denmark. A lot of my stuff is from the trash, including a huge old school full wood dinner table, TV, and my stereo system (works as a charm, sounds amazing). I also picked up an amazing old cast iron frying pan.
I make sure to check the big thrash (storeskrald) regularly. Things pop up there that I would never have afforded myself if I had to pay for it.
I think Denmark/Copenhagen is a bit crazy in this regard though.
About the craziness - yes absolutely. In most other places, you use a thing until nobody would use it, or sell it online. And here, people are just: “nah…”
Well, better for us. I also have a shitton of good stuff, including half of my clothes (I’m lucky to have size M, so a lot of stuff fits). Second hand stores look weird now: “Whoa, you need to pay for that?”
I think that it is weird that you ask us and not your neighbour
That is one of the reason why many of us are not on reddit any more. Thanks for reminding us!
If I put something by the road, instead of in the bin, it is because I want someone to take it. Yes take it. If you are unsure, go up and let them know you want it,I can say with absolute confidence, they will say to take it.
I put out one of those big plastic storage units with like 30 little drawers recently, figuring although 2 were missing, someone could still use it. I stood it next to the dustbin, on trash day where it would be optimally visible for anyone who wanted to scrounge it.
The bloody HOA took a picture and sent a nastygram.
Once I was moving house and we set an old couch out on the sidewalk. It was very large and heavy so we were concerned that no one would take it. But we lived in a poorer area where most everything got taken, and sure enough it did disappear.
A few more days went by and we continued packing to move. The big day finally arrived and I went out that morning to greet the mover truck and found that whoever took the couch had come back and returned it during the night! I was like “you can’t do that!” LOL
This is totally kosher where I am and I’ve done it before, but if I think I’ll be observed I’ll ask my neighbor. They’ve always responded with some variation of “oh of course, I consider it trash” and sometimes explain reasons they’re getting rid of it that dissuaded me from taking it that weren’t immediately obvious.
