Americans throw away about 12.1 million tons of furniture

 

ACROSS AMERICA — Here’s a fact that may give you pause: Every year, Americans throw away about 12.1 million tons of furniture, most of it ending up in landfills, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. That’s up from 2.2 million tons in 1960.

That’s among the factors that have made “curb mining” and “stooping” suddenly cool. The reasons vary. For some, it’s a way to furnish an apartment or house on the cheap. Others want to rescue still-usable furniture before it reaches the landfill, shrinking their environmental and consumerism footprints.

For Block Talk, we asked readers to help us sort out the etiquette of curb mining and stooping. Brenda, who reads multiple Minnesota Patch sites, heaves some relief that curb shoppers want what she no longer does.

“We're too privileged,” Brenda said, we assume, while slapping herself with an out-of-style curtain swag. “We throw perfectly good things away because the color no longer suits us or there's a small scratch on the table.

“I loathe us for this,” Brenda said. “I'm also guilty.”

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Brenda said she often calls a local charity that helps people experiencing housing instability get resettled but also sets stuff she no longer wants on the curb.

“I try not to put out junk, but I hauled a ratty old chair to the curb and planned to get a tag, so trash services would pick it up, but someone took it before I could do that,” Brenda said, adding she feels her neighbors “shaming me if it stays out there too long.”

Keep Hope Alive?

Constance, a Bel Air (Maryland) Patch reader, thinks people who take things they no longer want to the curb create an eyesore.

“It's tacky and makes the neighborhood look like a flea market is going on,” she said.

“My neighbors do not understand the concept,” Joliet (Illinois) Patch reader Richard said. “They take their junky, broken furniture to the curb and hope someone will take it.

“They hold on to hope for days or weeks,” he added.

Common courtesy dictates a time limit, said LA, a Wauwatosa (Wisconsin) Patch reader.

“Smaller items, I do not mind if it’s out for a couple of weeks,” LA said.” Large items and furniture should not sit for more than a few days. This prevents rodents from invading.”

LA supports this freecycling concept overall and said various apps and social media sites let people list their free items to help curb shoppers plan their excursions.

Summit (New Jersey) Patch reader JZ is all for stooping and curb mining, too.

“It’s how I furnished my first New York City apartment 25 years ago,” JZ said. “I give away a lot of stuff through our town site. I would never leave stuff on my lawn, but if you put something out, it shouldn’t be there more than 24 hours.”

‘If There’s No Sign, It’s Mine’

“It’s the greatest thing ever,” said Jodi, a Tredyffrin-Easttown (Pennsylvania) Patch reader who lives in Paoli and would like to see more people look at freecycling to get rid of their unwanted items.

“If it’s out on the curb, it’s yours for the taking,” Jodi said. “If it has a name on it, assume it was sold or is being given to someone else.”

She added: “Don’t be greedy.”

“If there’s no sign,” Parsippany (New Jersey) Patch reader Sue said, “it’s gonna be mine. Anything left on the curb is up for grabs.”

In most cases, she thinks signs stating the obvious are wasted cardboard.

“If it’s not trash, or someone else is coming to pick it up, that’s when you need to put a sign on it,” she said.

‘It Belongs To The Property Owner, Not You ’

Pamela, an Across America Patch reader, disagrees.

“I think, leave everything alone if it’s on someone’s yard or curb,” she said. “It belongs to the property owner, not you, UNLESS there is a sign on it with a price listed, or that says ‘free to a taker.’ ”

When we asked if it’s good etiquette for the person whose curb shopping to ring the doorbell and ask if it’s OK to take the item, Sue almost seethed.

“I do NOT want anyone coming to my door to ask me about anything,” Sue said, “certainly not my junk.”

Marc, a Tampa (Florida) Patch reader, spring cleanup week was an occasion for hi jinks when he was a kid growing up in the Midwest.

“Back in the day, we called it ‘dumpster diving,’ ” Marc said. “Every town had a spring cleanup when the waste authority would pick up anything we didn't want, unless it was something hazardous.”

He and his buddy put together a “dumpster diving scavenger hunt” for the “most pretentious and weird items” in the swankiest suburbs, he said.

“It was all fun and games,” Marc said, “until someone called the cops.”

About Block Talk

Block Talk is a regular Patch feature offering real-world advice from readers on how to resolve everyday neighborhood problems. If you have a neighborhood etiquette question or problem you'd like for us to consider with Block Talk as the subject line.