How do you toss your BIG trash?

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Photo by randomidea

The photo with this post isn’t really on my block, but it could be.

Last weekend, I spent a day going through our basement, rearranging rooms and getting rid of some unused items. One of those was a twin-size mattress we are no longer using. I wound up posting it to our local Freecycle organization Web site, and someone near me claimed it. I was able to cram it into my car along with a load of goods to donate to Goodwill and deliver it to the taker. Yippee, another item saved from the landfill!

Imagine my dismay when the next day I looked outside, and our neighbors had plopped down a queen size mattress and box spring and the bed frame for trash pickup. OK, some mattresses are truly worn out and can’t be reused anymore. But the bed frame looked fine — and even if it wasn’t, surely the metal could at least be reused instead of landfilled.

Then, to continue my garbage-related emotional roller-coaster, I was getting into my car to take Mlle. Cheap to school when a pickup pulled up. It had a rack on the back and was already loaded with an old refrigerator. The driver hopped out, broke down the bed frame in about 30 seconds and put it in his truck. He quickly scanned the more promising trash piles on our street before moving on.

I’ve seen these gleaner-recyclers before. They trawl the streets on large-item-pickup days, which in our area have been reduced to once every month or two instead of twice a week — a schedule that probably simplifies their large-item recycling. I’ve heard before that they either sell the metal to scrap yards, or repair and resell appliances — some domestically, some to locations in Mexico, where poor but practical consumers are more concerned with whether a refrigerator keeps things cool than whether it looks cool.

I was glad to see him at work this week — and glad that the sight inspired a discussion with Mlle. Cheap, who observed, “People are so wasteful nowadays. It’s really shocking.” We talked about some ways we already have reduced our use and waste, and some ways we could do more.

What do you do with these types of items? Share your tips with the rest of us, please!

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Comments ( 7 )

[...] How do you toss your BIG trash? [...]

Friday wrap-up: Getting ready for V-day | Cheap Like Me added these pithy words on Feb 05 10 at 5:33 am

I’m a big fan of Freecycle and Cheapcycle as well. If those outlets don’t work, I donate to one of the many thrift shops in my area. Things that are truly worn out get donated to people who will use the metal, or if they can be repurposed somehow (I have a garden full of non-traditional supports and containers)I use them myself. I have trouble getting my husband to relinquish certain items like old computers, but I’m seeing recycling opportunities for those as well, if I can pry them away from him!

Sandy added these pithy words on Feb 04 10 at 7:08 am

We use the free portion of Craigslist a lot. Usually I will just put things on my curb (with or without a notice on Craigslist) and within 24 hours the items are gone. When I do use Craigslist I don’t put contact information. I just put the address and let people know I will remove the post when the item is gone. That way I don’t get caught up in dealing with people on Craigslist. My dad was always finding amazing things on the curb and I have a few things in my house that I found on a curb as well. I love that.

Erin added these pithy words on Feb 04 10 at 10:22 am

My biggest problem are for those things that shouldn’t or can’t be reused and there’s no local way to recycle them. I will be replacing my mattress soon. Most of the stores will deliver the new one and take the old one but they toss the old one away. There are mattress recycling programs, but unfortunately none that I know of are close to me

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Condo Blues added these pithy words on Feb 04 10 at 3:04 pm

I try salvaging what I can, but it doesn’t help when you have no storage space left in the house.

If I have a bag of stuff or something that is at least smaller than I am, I’ll post a notice on Facebook. Usually, someone from church will see the notice, say something like “I know who could use that!”, and then it leaves my house on Sunday morning.

For large items, we’ll post it to Craigslist or wait until the community clean up day. If it’s something we just can’t fix ourselves (but know to be fixable) we’ll save it for the clean up day. Once a year, the town is allowed to pile stuff in front of their houses that they’d normally havt to take to the dump themselves. It’s like Freecycle Christmas the night before the pick up! Families drive around, find furnature, storage, scrap wood, appliances… Anything that can be salvaged is taken before the dump trucks arrive.

Ashley added these pithy words on Feb 04 10 at 6:03 pm

Well lets see- matresses – first I call around to see if anyone is recycling mattresses. I usually save the box spring for lumber. Large sheet metal and other metal- if it is to big for the recycle bin, I usually see if I can cut it up to fit, otherwize it goes in a pile, that when it gets big enough I take to the metal reclaimers, Yard tools (lawnmowers et.al.) I take the plastic parts off, save the wheels, and the whole implement goes to the metal reclaimers as well. Large cardboard boxes are broken down and used in the garden for weed block, (same with bed sheets and towels etc that have seen better days)- Old appliances are recycled by the proper authorities!