Recycling, aka "dumpster diving" aka "roadside pick-ups"
Hiya
I'm a great believer in recycling and re-using things as far as possible, fixing things up to use again, where practicable and economical. Every little bit, helps to save the planet, eh.
Most councils in the Perth metro area in addition to the weekly rubbish "wheely-bin" collections, have "bulk" rubbish collections 2 or 3 times a year
Sometimes it's just for garden prunings etc and other times for household goods and general junk, like old dead washing machines and fridges and bicycles etc
Several weeks in advance, residents in an area will be advised through letterbox flyers to leave extra bulk rubbish stacked neatly out front their homes (careful to avoid blocking the footpath or the road)
This time is an opportunity to pick up a few bargains, sort of like going to a "yard-sale" or a "car-boot sale" but everything's free
Often it's amazing what you can get just walking distance from your own home but Obviously it's good if your car is a ute, stationwaggon or if you have a small box-trailer, for any larger items. Especially if you are a poor person but live in an area where rich people live nearby........
Once a friend was unsure if the cutlery set and kitchen chairs, both in as new condition, were actually intended for throwing out that she went and knocked on the door of the house and asked to make sure. Yep it's a amazing what some people will throw away.
A year or so back I's visiting a friend on Perth's outer suburbs and as soon as I arrived we went off in her ute to get a lovely dresssing table she'd seen dumped up the road just walking distance away, but too big for her alone to carry, lift or load-up (she later gave it onto a poor family she knows, getting by on social welfare payments and without enough furniture for the kid's rooms)
I also grabbed for myself an electrical extension lead, a heavy duty outdoor type, with the plug off one end missing (soon had that replaced) and a nice shoulder-bag style satchell in new condition
Earlier she'd got a microwave oven from the same house's junkpile
Well I've been without a microwave over for some 13 years since mine broke down with a minor fault.
She's given a newer better oven recently and last Tuesday when I saw her she gave me her old microwave oven
After getting home Tuesday 14th I went to a nearby town on Wed to install a digital set top box at a near neighbour's house so he could get an extra channel not normally avaialble in this area. I had bought this box for him as a gift, as a thankyou in advance for looking after my chooks and potplants when I'll be away, but he insisted on paying me for it.
His neighbours saw and were so impressed that on Thursday, one of them drove to Perth and bought 3 DSTBoxes (price now down to $ 79 each at Woolworths supermarkets) for several other townsfolks.....note it is only a very small town, something like 15 houses and some of which are empty or just used as weekender holiday homes)
Then Friday I got a phonecall asking me to install and tune in one of the guy's new DSTBoxes
On Saturday I stopped by his house and while there I's told that both the other guys wanted me to do theirs too
Anyway I's at the first guy's house for an hour as the 10 minute job was complicated by a dodgy aerial connection
I took 2 hours at the second guy's house, because he had an ancient tv and video machine, both basically "rubbish dump" material, but in the end I got it all sorted....remarkable given the age and condition of his tv and vcr.
The third guy's house also took the better part of an hour but he has major aerial problems at the best of times. Eventually I got the DSTB tuned in, but the signal strength was just 50 % and the reception therefore not satisfactory.....he'll need to get his aerial fixed to view digital comfortably without signal breakups
However he'd just bought a new 2nd hand microwave over and gave me his old one, which is still much newer and more compact than the roadside rubbish one I had just been given days before.
Yep so 13 years without a m-wave then I get given 2 within less than a week
I now have the m-wave oven installed in the spare area in my laundry (conveniently next door to the kitchen anyway).. I didn't have a suitable table to sit it on then I remembered that I'd found an old but strongly made small table at a local town rubbish dumpsome months back
This table had been sitting outside in my backyard, in the weather, not normally a problem but we have had an uncharacteristic amount of rain recently and it's degrading
Good enough to sit a small mwave over on though. Later I may remove it's very damaged scummy looking top, and replace it, as the legs and frame are very sound. I guess I'll have to keep an eye out at the dump for a good piece of table-top, that can be cut down to fit !
I'm a great believer in recycling and re-using things as far as possible, fixing things up to use again, where practicable and economical. Every little bit, helps to save the planet, eh.
Most councils in the Perth metro area in addition to the weekly rubbish "wheely-bin" collections, have "bulk" rubbish collections 2 or 3 times a year
Sometimes it's just for garden prunings etc and other times for household goods and general junk, like old dead washing machines and fridges and bicycles etc
Several weeks in advance, residents in an area will be advised through letterbox flyers to leave extra bulk rubbish stacked neatly out front their homes (careful to avoid blocking the footpath or the road)
This time is an opportunity to pick up a few bargains, sort of like going to a "yard-sale" or a "car-boot sale" but everything's free
Often it's amazing what you can get just walking distance from your own home but Obviously it's good if your car is a ute, stationwaggon or if you have a small box-trailer, for any larger items. Especially if you are a poor person but live in an area where rich people live nearby........
Once a friend was unsure if the cutlery set and kitchen chairs, both in as new condition, were actually intended for throwing out that she went and knocked on the door of the house and asked to make sure. Yep it's a amazing what some people will throw away.
A year or so back I's visiting a friend on Perth's outer suburbs and as soon as I arrived we went off in her ute to get a lovely dresssing table she'd seen dumped up the road just walking distance away, but too big for her alone to carry, lift or load-up (she later gave it onto a poor family she knows, getting by on social welfare payments and without enough furniture for the kid's rooms)
I also grabbed for myself an electrical extension lead, a heavy duty outdoor type, with the plug off one end missing (soon had that replaced) and a nice shoulder-bag style satchell in new condition
Earlier she'd got a microwave oven from the same house's junkpile
Well I've been without a microwave over for some 13 years since mine broke down with a minor fault.
She's given a newer better oven recently and last Tuesday when I saw her she gave me her old microwave oven
After getting home Tuesday 14th I went to a nearby town on Wed to install a digital set top box at a near neighbour's house so he could get an extra channel not normally avaialble in this area. I had bought this box for him as a gift, as a thankyou in advance for looking after my chooks and potplants when I'll be away, but he insisted on paying me for it.
His neighbours saw and were so impressed that on Thursday, one of them drove to Perth and bought 3 DSTBoxes (price now down to $ 79 each at Woolworths supermarkets) for several other townsfolks.....note it is only a very small town, something like 15 houses and some of which are empty or just used as weekender holiday homes)
Then Friday I got a phonecall asking me to install and tune in one of the guy's new DSTBoxes
On Saturday I stopped by his house and while there I's told that both the other guys wanted me to do theirs too
Anyway I's at the first guy's house for an hour as the 10 minute job was complicated by a dodgy aerial connection
I took 2 hours at the second guy's house, because he had an ancient tv and video machine, both basically "rubbish dump" material, but in the end I got it all sorted....remarkable given the age and condition of his tv and vcr.
The third guy's house also took the better part of an hour but he has major aerial problems at the best of times. Eventually I got the DSTB tuned in, but the signal strength was just 50 % and the reception therefore not satisfactory.....he'll need to get his aerial fixed to view digital comfortably without signal breakups
However he'd just bought a new 2nd hand microwave over and gave me his old one, which is still much newer and more compact than the roadside rubbish one I had just been given days before.
Yep so 13 years without a m-wave then I get given 2 within less than a week
I now have the m-wave oven installed in the spare area in my laundry (conveniently next door to the kitchen anyway).. I didn't have a suitable table to sit it on then I remembered that I'd found an old but strongly made small table at a local town rubbish dumpsome months back
This table had been sitting outside in my backyard, in the weather, not normally a problem but we have had an uncharacteristic amount of rain recently and it's degrading
Good enough to sit a small mwave over on though. Later I may remove it's very damaged scummy looking top, and replace it, as the legs and frame are very sound. I guess I'll have to keep an eye out at the dump for a good piece of table-top, that can be cut down to fit !
posted by Catherine Jemma at 8:01 pm
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