fantastic idea! Far too much stuff gets thrown away these days. I hate it when I take rubbish to the tip and see tons of decent stuff that people have dumped there that is in in perfect, or useable condition, but you are not allowed to take it because it is now the property of the council! so frustrating In the past I have put things out by the front gate ready to take to the tip only to find that half an hour later it has disapeared but thats fine by me, if someone can use it then great.
------------- One day your life will flash before your eyes, make it worth watching
We were on the receiving end of the best possible camping freecycle! Last summer at Tregurrian (Cornwall) a family couldn't fit their brand new tent into the car (Outdoor Revolution Scenic 4.2) so we were given it! We only had a small dome tent so moving into this one was pure luxury, it sleeps 6 and has a massive living area
We wrote to thank them as it made our holiday loads better!
So I'm all for freecycling!
Our local tip has a recycling corner Janjen, we don't use it though because rather than simply passing it on to someone who needs it the workers SELL it....often at silly prices too.
I did get a lovely old Fisher Price toy garage from another tip last summer and after giving it a good old wash (it had actually been put on top of the pile of rubbish before the member of staff hoiked it back for me) and it's been played with at least once a day, and often more, since then.
I just wonder what their bosses opinion would be if they found out their staff were cashing in on stuff that technically belongs to the council and doing it in what is effectively council owned time. Someone will report them sooner or later.
For people who may not have come across it (this is separate from the campsite discussion!), there are Freegle networks across the country - once Freecycle - to keep things out of tips and direct them to people who want things other people don't. The main website explains this much better and gives all the local groups - http://www.ilovefreegle.org/
Quote: Originally posted by Janis1 on 05/8/2010
I just wonder what their bosses opinion would be if they found out their staff were cashing in on stuff that technically belongs to the council and doing it in what is effectively council owned time. Someone will report them sooner or later.
I doubt the council would have an auction of items recovered from the tip. These guys on the tip were keeping stuff out of landfill and making a few beer tokens into the bargain. Everyone's a winner?
For some people reporting stuff is a way of life...someone will do it some day and technically it isn't there property to sell. Not that I would do it...I have far better things to do with my time.
*she says sitting there surfing the internet while the kids run riot*
Quote: Originally posted by Janis1 on 05/8/2010
I just wonder what their bosses opinion would be if they found out their staff were cashing in on stuff that technically belongs to the council and doing it in what is effectively council owned time. Someone will report them sooner or later.
Yeah, there's always some jerk who will report them.
Quote: Originally posted by HEJC72 on 05/8/2010
Sadly our local tip now REFUSE to sell you anything becuase some jobsworth decided that for H&S reasons it was no longer safe to do so??!!
I think H&S is just what people invoke when they can't come up with anything better.
I think what's really going on is the council/tip gets money based on tonnage of stuff they recycle. I was telling a local gardener about making raised beds from scrap lumber scavenged from the local tip. She got stroppy and told me that she was the (owner?) of that tip and that they weren't supposed to give things to people. "That's supposed to be recycled!" "Um, it was recycled. Now it's a raised bed." She sheepishly admitted that I had a point, but I'm pretty sure she was primarily concerned with how much tonnage of stuff they sent to recycling.
A more organised approach might be a good idea but I am not adverse to fishing something out of a skip if I can make use of it - usually firewood
Last time we were away friends got themselves some new airbeds and lots and lots of pegs that had been left by a neighbouring tent who were forced into a moonlight flit leaving a rather wrecked tent on their pitch
Backpacking in Spain a few years back we settled on one site for about a week as we couldn't be bothered moving on - a pair of white plastic patio chairs moved down the row of backpacker tents as people left the site. I have no idea who originally bought the chairs but it sure beat sitting of the ground for the few days we had them.
I'm a dedicated skip raker...all of the wooden edging, cold frames, pots etc on my allotment have come out of one skip or another. Though I'm now past the stage of carrying a saw in my car so I can cut down planks in situ so that they'd fit in the car...
On site I usually prop up any potentially useful items to the side of the bin area with a note saying "Free to good home" or similar. Over the years I've left a travel cot, several chairs, two pairs of outgrown rollerblades, three BBQs, many almost new pillows (usually leave these in the laundry), old towels and outgrown kids camping clothes ditto (all washed I hasten to add!) and a pile of miscellaneous bits and bobs. If I know I won't use them again why drag them home? Usually, they've vanished within half an hour. In return I've salvaged vast quantities of tent spares and even the odd tent, a fishing rod, bits and pieces of BBQ, a lounger and kids toys like bats, inflatables etc etc. Quite often I'll use something for the duration of my stay ...extra chairs for guests for example...then leave them on site. It's a total waste to throw good things out if the person three pitches down can use them for a week or two first.
I left a bag full of plates and bowls on a campsite last Tuesday as we had far more than we could ever need. We just left it near the sinks/bins and hoped that someone would find them useful. A couple of months earlier we left behind a small bbq as we could not be bothered to unscrew the thing to pack back down. (it was cheap and flimsy but still working)
In campsites in France (Eurocamp ones) the rep tents usually have a communal box for left over things to use while you are there. Over the years we have made use of various floaty things, body boards, wind breaks and sun shades and bags and bags of left over bbq charcoal. We often leave food in the fridge and cupboards too and expect that the reps will take those. If we have made friends with other families then we will pass on things instead. This makes sense to us and cant see why a simple left over box could not be esablished on most uk sites with receptions.
I did see a book box at this site, but even that tends to be rare here.
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Topic: Freecycling on campsites
In the past I have put things out by the front gate ready to take to the tip only to find that half an hour later it has disapeared 
but thats fine by me, if someone can use it then great. 
