Great finds in council collections

[amalan11]

What great finds have people got free that they found in others stuff put out for collection ?

In my area  we have free council collections available if you book and fortnightly green bin collection.  I have noticed that usually  stuff gets taken before council collects as you often see nice items of furniture  out for rubbish . 

My weakness is gardening and my best find was a green bin with several large clivias in it ,when I asked the homeowner if I could take them he said he was digging up stacks and offered to drop off as it saved a trip to tip with them. ... I came home 2 days later to find about 40+ big clumps . They filled a area 6x3 m and are all blooming at the moment which got me thinking of recycled  rubbish.

Only 2 weeks ago I got a heap of bromiliads from a recycling  bin which was also great .

What great stuff have others found?

[latina4621]

We don't really have collections here i think they have had 2  in the past 10 years .

shame really as they should have more of them.

and i have never gotten anything from them.

plants are always good, whenever i have  extra plants i put them out on the nature strip with a free sign as i hate throwing out good plants.

[amalan11]

Thats what amazes me is that people think its necessary to bin nice established  plants. I have got several nice plants from piles put outside for people to take. I think its more people who garden  who think to do that. The guy with all the clivia had  just brought the house and they were in his way as he was putting in a pattio and pizza oven,he did not even know what they were and was really pleased to be rid of them ..

[joz*garage]

i picked up a bicycle in st james the other day, always on the look out for those

edit : in perth, our council in gosnells allows junk collections once a year

[latina4621]

you were very lucky with those as they are not a cheap plant to buy .

This past week i put out a heap of canna's all different colours  they went like hot cakes but i am glad they went to other homes. instead of the tip.

[latina4621]

Hi Joz long time

what  do you do with the bikes joz, do you do them up and give them away?

[joz*garage]

hi latina

i do them up and sell them [one of my hobbies]

this all started when my roadie got flogged out from my garage a couple of years back, thought i could replace it with give aways and build another one

it sort of blew out from there

fully equipped tool wise too now

[latina4621]

That is great joz

do you do repairs as well or just re build and sell?

[joz*garage]

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@latina4621 wrote:

That is great joz

do you do repairs as well or just re build and sell?

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some times

a mate collected a new one, one of those kit types that comes in a box but it was missing a few parts - for free, he wanted it completed for his missus as a birthday gift

also he dumped off a male bike he collected from a verge collection, wanted it serviced for his son

i didn't charge him anything, he does me favours and i do love it when he brings romanian snacks   

[zanadoo_56]

My local council has a hard rubbish collection once a year.

One morning while I was waiting for the bus (this was many many years ago) I looked at the pile of stuff on the nature strip nearby and there was a big very dead indoor plant in a plastic pot inside an open weave cane basket. The basket was a great size to use as a waste bin for my crafts hobby, as it was very wide.  So i picked up the basket and it was in perfect condition, no mould due to overwatering or anything.  Only problem was....I had to take it to work with me...on the bus, the train and a tram, as I was pretty sure it wouldn't be there when I got home. Got quite a lot of funny looks, and it might have been light to carry but it sure was cumbersome so it was not fun carting it about.  I've still got it - with a green garbage bag inside and folded over the top it's even more handy since I bought a paper shredder. I've had years of use out of it and it still looks like new.

Years later the council suspended hard rubbish collections but residents could book one collection a year for no cost.  I bought a new lounge suite as the old was was covered in cat fur, shredded to bits so all the stuffing was showing, plus it sagged badly.  Frankly it should have been chucked out 10 years earlier.  I phoned the council and booked it to be removed the next Wed.  On the Sun we dragged it out onto the nature strip ready for the council collection.  Early Mon morning I set off for work in my car, glanced across at the old lounge....and it was gone!  I couldn't believe it.  I didn't phone the council to cancel the collection until Tue...I was so sure whoever took the old lounge would be soon bringing it back. They never did. 

BTW, they didn't get the old matching ottoman.  It was still in OK condition, so placed near the lounge heater and piled with big pieces of fluffy sheepskin pet mats and cushions it's been a favourite cat bed.  My current cat loves it.

Nowadays, God help you getting caught taking anything from a council hard rubbish collection - it's illegal.