08-23-2010, 12:38 PM
Around here, I just put stuff like that out by the road before garbage day - if it's anything at all useable, someone will pick it up. 
We're supposed to notify the collection company if we have large items to be picked up, and they want a detailed list of what will be there. One day, on the afternoon before pick-up day, I was moving stuff to the roadside from my garage, which is located well-behind the house. As I came into view of the road with the second load of stuff, it was apparent that the first batch was already gone. If I put out anything metal, someone usually stops as I'm placing it at the roadside, and will wait if I indicate that there's more.
We recently replaced quite a bit of wall-to-wall carpet with hardwood and I put both the carpet and underpadding by the road for garbage day. It was cut into 4' widths and rolled and tied (as specified by the collection company). I had cut the carpet before lifting it from the floor, so the edges were not especially neat. Within an hour, all of the carpet was gone. I don't know if somebody has a very long, narrow hallway to carpet, but at least somebody's getting further use from it - it was clean and in good condition, although fairly old, and as Cousin Eddie would have said, "That there's a quality ah-tem, Clark."
On another occasion, I put a large dehumidifier by the road. Around here, you're required, by law, to purchase a $20.00 sticker to place on anything containing Freon - supposedly to cover disposal costs for the Freon - even if the item has been run-over by seventeen cement trucks and is completely Freon-free.
While the dehumidifier was still in working order, it iced-up badly whenever it was used. I skipped purchasing the sticker and, sure enough, the garbage guys put their own "You need to buy a proper sticker" sticker on it, and left it by the roadside. My wife said, "Looks like you might as well put it back in the garage until next week and, in the meantime, go get a sticker." "Naw", I replied, "Somebody will pick it up."
Well, it sat there for the rest of the day, then, just as I was about to bring it back in, another garbage truck pulled up and stopped. (At that time, our road was often used by these trucks as it was one of the better access roads to the dump, and was used by trucks working any in-town route.) A guy hopped out of the passenger side of the cab, walk backed to the lonely appliance and picked it up. Alright! However, instead of throwing it into the back of the truck, he carried it to the cab and very carefully placed it on the floor, then hopped in and away they went. My guess is that somebody knew how to fix it and it's probably humming away and doing its job today in somebody's basement. Much better, in my opinion, that simply being scrapped.
Wayne
We're supposed to notify the collection company if we have large items to be picked up, and they want a detailed list of what will be there. One day, on the afternoon before pick-up day, I was moving stuff to the roadside from my garage, which is located well-behind the house. As I came into view of the road with the second load of stuff, it was apparent that the first batch was already gone. If I put out anything metal, someone usually stops as I'm placing it at the roadside, and will wait if I indicate that there's more.We recently replaced quite a bit of wall-to-wall carpet with hardwood and I put both the carpet and underpadding by the road for garbage day. It was cut into 4' widths and rolled and tied (as specified by the collection company). I had cut the carpet before lifting it from the floor, so the edges were not especially neat. Within an hour, all of the carpet was gone. I don't know if somebody has a very long, narrow hallway to carpet, but at least somebody's getting further use from it - it was clean and in good condition, although fairly old, and as Cousin Eddie would have said, "That there's a quality ah-tem, Clark."
On another occasion, I put a large dehumidifier by the road. Around here, you're required, by law, to purchase a $20.00 sticker to place on anything containing Freon - supposedly to cover disposal costs for the Freon - even if the item has been run-over by seventeen cement trucks and is completely Freon-free.
While the dehumidifier was still in working order, it iced-up badly whenever it was used. I skipped purchasing the sticker and, sure enough, the garbage guys put their own "You need to buy a proper sticker" sticker on it, and left it by the roadside. My wife said, "Looks like you might as well put it back in the garage until next week and, in the meantime, go get a sticker." "Naw", I replied, "Somebody will pick it up." Well, it sat there for the rest of the day, then, just as I was about to bring it back in, another garbage truck pulled up and stopped. (At that time, our road was often used by these trucks as it was one of the better access roads to the dump, and was used by trucks working any in-town route.) A guy hopped out of the passenger side of the cab, walk backed to the lonely appliance and picked it up.
Alright! However, instead of throwing it into the back of the truck, he carried it to the cab and very carefully placed it on the floor, then hopped in and away they went. My guess is that somebody knew how to fix it and it's probably humming away and doing its job today in somebody's basement. Much better, in my opinion, that simply being scrapped.Wayne