It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

YorksLass

London_1 said:

I once was taking some no longer needed wooden chairs to our local tip and the chap in the next car asked if he could have them.I said yes, but I will have to give them to you outside as its not allowed on the tip site to swap.
He said great so I put them back into my boot and drove outside and waited and when he came out I gave them to him,he was chuffed to bits and so was I. Ha ha, more than one way to skin a cat, eh?  

Very shortsighted of councils not to allow this as it would cut down burying goodness knows what into landfill.
Totally agree.

The local tip also had a display of gnomes that had been left there, and the chaps that work  there had made a nice display by their shed of them, and it used to make folk smile to see these cheeful stone gnomes waving. The some 'grinch ' sent a complaint to the council and they were told to discard them  
It used to make children sitting waiting for parents in their cars giggle to see these little animals and creatures that had been collected there.
Boo to the "grinch".  Some people just don't have a sense of humour these days.

JackieO xx

Grocery order done and sent, much higher than normal    but at least I'll be stocked up again so the rest of the month I'll just need fresh stuff.

The steamer I wanted isn't available from the outlet my order comes from but they have a much nicer one that I've ordered instead.  The one I originally wanted was one that sits on top of an existing pan but this one is a pan + 2-tier steamer with a lid.  Even better, it's on offer at half price so I hope they have one in stock.  Fingers crossed.

Floss

YorksLass said:

The steamer I wanted isn't available from the outlet my order comes from but they have a much nicer one that I've ordered instead.  The one I originally wanted was one that sits on top of an existing pan but this one is a pan + 2-tier steamer with a lid.  Even better, it's on offer at half price so I hope they have one in stock.  Fingers crossed.

I have one of those that was my mums, snaffled when we cleared her house in 2005.  My brother has one of the family heirloom Swan steamers my mum used when we were kids (we're in our 50s & 60s now!)

London_1

Steamers : I have one I bought in Wilkos for about £12 when the bottom of my other one eventually bit the dust.
But I kept the two tiers and I now have a four tier steamer as they were the same size so I can cook spuds in the bottom one then three differrent veg in the ones above Sometmes if I'm cooking a salmon filliet I can do spuds, then carrots ,then green veg with salmon loosely wrapped on foil on the top tier so I can the whole meal cooked on one ring The salmon I put on last when the other veg are three quarters cooked as it doesn't take very long to cook

JackieO xx

JIL

Our local recycling centre has a shed to leave things that are too good to throw.
I think it's a fantastic idea. 

Jellytotts

Wish our tip did something it’s seems so wasteful. A couple of years ago someone was taking  a small wrought iron table frame out of their car and I said “oh that’s lovely” he asked if I wanted it and I said yes please so he helped me unload my car and snuck it in the boot whilst no one saw (probably quite visible on the cctv camera but I didn’t take it from him, he just put it in my car.

TheBanker

Where I used to live, the tips had a re-use shop operated by volunteers from a local charity. They would save any useful items and sell them to raise funds. Was very handy, I got some extra dining room chairs from there that just needed a coat of paint to be as good as new. My friend still has them.

Where I live now, there is no such system, although they do have a special section for unwanted bikes, which go to a local charity for refurbishment. They're then passed on to people on low incomes as a means of transport. Quite a good scheme.

It's quite common round here to put usable stuff in the front garden, with a post on the local Facebook page. The only problem is dozens of messages, 'Is xxx still available?', 'Can you save me yyy until Friday?' etc.

My neighbour got caught out - she gave away a chest of drawers, then we found it dumped on some grass at the top of the road. Obviously the person who collected it decided it was too heavy to carry the rest of the way home. I wonder if she'd have got into trouble if it had been reported to the council and traced back to her?

My other neighbour, who's having a clear out because she's moving soon, has got rid of a lot of stuff this way. She puts a bucket out and asks that people who are able to leave a donation for the food bank in exchange for the items. She's collected several carrier bags of tinned food this way. I got some kids beach toys from her which were ideal because I was taking my nephew to the sea-side. I saved a few pounds, she saved a trip to the dump, some plastic was kept out of landfill, and the foodbank got a couple of tins. Everyone's a winner.

QueenJess

Our local tip isn’t a tip, it’s a “recycling centre”. You can leave things out for other people to take and they also have clothes recycling banks that they give to charity.

I avoid binning anything by offering everything on my local buy nothing group which is quite active. In the last week I’ve picked up from there too - two really good quality kids books, a bag of cooking apples, a Lego set and a book bag with DS’s school logo on. I’d encourage anyone to have a look and see if their local group is any good as it’s just on Facebook and you find your local area.

ladyholly

Ours is a recycling centre but the only people recycling are the council. Nothing can be removed once its there. As I said its heartbreaking to see unwanted but perfectly good items in the skips ready to go to landfill.

Katiehound

ladyholly said:

Ours is a recycling centre but the only people recycling are the council. Nothing can be removed once its there. As I said its heartbreaking to see unwanted but perfectly good items in the skips ready to go to landfill.

Ditto : exactly this

sammy_kaye18

Our local tip has a recycling centre where things that are too good to go can be sold on 
Think I might have to take a trip up there one day and have a look