Is there a garbage picking etiquette?

Question

i'm asking this here because there isn't a "are you kidding?" category. so we got new furniture today, and moved the old furniture downstairs to the basement last night. we had a loveseat though that we put out on the street for garbage pick up this morning. when i got up, i saw one of the neighbors down the street come and pick up the loveseat. now i don't have any sort of problem with that...i'm glad someone could use it! i would have taken it to goodwill, but the thing is at least 40 years old (i think it was a college couch of some friends' parents), and i figured no one would want it. anyway...half an hour later the loveseat was back! my thinking is that once you take it, it's yours. is it customary that if you decide you no longer want or need someone else's trash that you return it to them?

Answer 1

Maybe they took it home and their girlfriend said 'no'.

Call your local sanitation department regarding how to dispose of the couch. YOu may have to pay a tipping fee for disposing of it.

If it is still useable, donate it to the Salvation Army or the Goodwill. In some areas you can also call the local veterans organization and they will pick it up.

Answer 2

Honey, they took it, tried it in their house, and found it didn't complement the decor.  So they put it out, too.  Seems like a lot of work to drag it back, but they did and I expect it's gone now.  They didn't return it to you.  They returned it to the trash pick up spot.

Answer 3

Thats nuts! I have this guy in my town "Crazy  Chris" he rides around on a bicycle picking up cans, anyway my dad threw out a tv and he rode up our driveway and smashed it with a baseball bat, there was glass & tv pieces all over the street. My father went outside to yell at him and he rode away, my dad then had to sweep it up after him.  

Answer 4

your neighbor returned to the scene of the crime.

i think you should go put it in front of their house now.

Answer 5

Well, this all took place within a half hour.  I don't think any harm was done.  If you put something out to the curb, expect others to pick it up.  Sounds like this person just changed their mind.

I'm curious.  Was it the husband that took the couch?  I imagine he thought it was a great idea at the time, and the wife screamed at him to take that old thing back to the neighbor's trash pile.  Hehe.

Answer 6

LOL...that's pretty funny. I guess it didn't fit where they wanted it. I agree with you....they should've just put the couch out in front of THEIR house for garbage pickup.

Answer 7

no way they should have put the couch on their own garbage once its off my curb its your problem now!!

Answer 8

I would say there is no reason to return it.

It is junk, it is outside for a reason. You, the owner doesn't care about it anymore and decided to chuck it.

I guess the person was just feeling a level above charitable today.

Answer 9

Actually, I did that once! We found what we thought was a nice dresser.  It was loaded with cockroaches.  Half way home we were like "this can't go into our home" so we turned around and dumped it right back where we found it from.  Then worried about cockroaches in the car forever.  I'm not saying this was the reason in your case, I'm just saying I've dumped dumped furniture right at the dump spot.

Answer 10

oh h**l no.  that's so wrong.

but are there any precedents for this sort of thing?

go ahead and give it to goodwill or... if you keep it out there for trash pickup, tell your neighbor that if he doesn't want it, don't move it, because you don't want to miss the pick up again.

that's a fun way to embarrass them heheheheehehahahar

Answer 11

LMFAO NICE..yeah I guess there is eh bud!

Answer 12

Well,I am not sure but I believe if someone borrow stuffs from you then returning it back is a must.But if you have given it up and someone has accepted your stuff with there free will,then your not responsible for that stuff anymore...I believe if that person wish to though that trash away its his or her own responsibility not yours,as you have already given it up once!!!