Skip etiquette

[meriad]

A friend of mine sadly lost her mom a few weeks back. Mom was living in a council house and as is the norm they had to clear the house asap otherwise be charged rent. So once the siblings sorted through everything they wanted to keep etc, they ended with 2 big skips full of stuff to chuck.

This morning my friend received a phone call from the mom's neighbour saying people were going through the skip. Now I know it's her mom's belongings and it's hard to part with things, but at the end of the day everything in that skip was / is being thrown away so why get annoyed when people find stuff that is of use to them and help themselves? It's not as though anyone is in the property to ask permission and I think having something reused is much better than ending in landfill?

Am I wrong?

[Kaz]

I don't think you are wrong Ria, but people often seem to get upset about stuff like this As you say, it's being thrown out so why worry

Is your friend upset? Sorry for her loss, by the way (((x)))

[meriad]

she is..... because she feels like someone is rifling through her mom's belongings. I get that, I really do - but still

[TheOstrich]

I'm sorry your friend has had to face that, Meriad, and if I were her, I'd feel the same way.

Conversely, round here, if someone hires a skip, it seems it's fair game for all and sundry to dump their own waste in it without asking permission from the person who's rented it!

[saundra]

I to would feel like ossie I would hope to give as much to charity shop as possible British heart charity collect big stuff here furniture as well and also house clearance fella mind my neighbours would be a big help they all seem to have contact s

[JanB]

Difficult one, but skips are fair game for everyone to have a rummage through.

I completely understand how your friend feels but maybe the best thing to do would be to call the skip company and get them to remove it asap.

[jenniren]

I do understand how your friend feels, but as has been said, skips are pretty much fair game these days. Furniture and household goods wouldn't bother me, I'm assuming she didn't put anything personal in it.

[cromwell]

It would give me a pang, but I suppose there is no harm done.

I'll never forget that One Foot in the Grave episode, where somebody dumped a Citroen 2CV in Victor's skip!

[Kaz]

Ah, so sorry for her Ria just assumed it would be furniture etc, not personal stuff I can see how that might be upsetting My sister and I removed anything personal, including clothes, from our parents' place before the house clearance company came in......

[Workingman]

As I understand it, from a legal perspective, taking things from a skip placed on a public road is technically theft if it is done without the permission of the owner of the goods. Having said that, I don't think the police will be rushing round to take any action any time soon.

However, there is a movement called "Freeganism" whose followers go through skips looking for things to upcycle, repair or reuse. I see no problem in that at all.