Street Cleanup

[Riekie]

In Aus het hulle elke 6 maande 'n "cleanup" in jou straat en dan sit almal alles wat hulle wil weggooi op die sypaadjie, en die stadsraad ry dit gratis weg. Dit is nou weer ons buurt se beurt en ek het gister oppad skool toe vinnig 'n paar foto's geneem van wat die Aussies alles weggooi : beddens, sitkamerstelle, stootwaentjies, selfs TV's & Rekenaars - wat nog werk!! Elke paar huise het 'n hoop matrasse wat hulle uitgooi en dan dink ek net aan die miljoene mense in die wêreld wat op 'n yskoue vloer moet slaap in die winter!! Hier kan mens nie jou matrasse "skenk" nie, want die welsynsorganisasies mag dit nie aanvaar nie, vir higiëniese redes, so dit land almal op die straat en word vernietig!

[Guest Noeks]

When I first witnessed this depositing of "pavement specials" here in Perth, I was intrigued , to say the least! And then, the best was, the people that drive around from pile to pile, and house to house, picking out bits and pieces and loading it up !!!!! Then, when I look again, my lovely neighbours put out perfectly good garden furniture (sun loungers), because they're moving to the UK soon and were just having a general clean-out - and I came outside the next morning and saw this lot! I stood (surreptitiously) eyeing these chairs, called my husband (very quietly), and told him to go hook 'em for us! So, needless to say, there the both of us stand, eyeing the loungers.... Neither of us had the bottle to go the few steps to take the loungers - by this time, I was giggling uncontrolably , my husband is telling me to behave myself, and how much more garden furniture do I need, etc, etc.... Well, the long and short is, we got our loungers - or should I say, our neighbours' loungers. We gave them a good scrub with bleach wash, and they are absolutely stunning - sitting next to the pool looking ever so glam, dahlings! Never again will I pooh pooh / look down on people who pick up odds and ends from off the pavement - coz' I did, couzins!!! (well, not me, my 22 year old daughter did )

[Olly]

I am also guilty of this bergie behavour . Our neighbours threw out a couple of cane bar stools that I grabbed when I thought no-one was looking, cleaned them up and recovered the seats, now they look fab at our outside bar area. I just cant ever invite the neighbour over for a braai incase they recognise them, oh the shame!

[Lindy-Lee]

You don't wanna know what we've picked up on the streets....

A 512L fridge (hubbys bar fridge ) Kelvinator, just replaced theromstat!

treadmill

steppers x2

orbit rider

bench thingy for weights

and the best of all...the cot my new little baby is sleeping in!!!. Day care centre just got rid of all their cots and I needed one . And there ain't nothing wrong with the cot they were just buying new ones.

And I tell you, the garage sales aren't bad either.

Let the bergie come out in you

Lindy-Lee

[Barnone]

gotta add my $1 worth here ...

one of the experiences we had on our LSD ...staying with some well off friends in Rose Bay - in the eastern suburbs of Sydney

Anyway as we come into the suburb after cruising past the multi million $ waterfront pads we notice the side walks look like an upmarket dumpsite TV's lounge suites etc etc all in pretty good nick (pity there is a 20 kg baggage limit )but in our friends street it is clean ...friend explains that it is the twice yearly clear out & that it takes a few days for everything to be collected (once the scavengers have done their bit) but that her husband had called the local council the previous day to say they were having international guests & what type of impression would the guests get if they saw all the junk in the streets...guess what ?

well 1st the council actually answered the call !

then they sent a team to tidy up the 2 streets we would have to travel down in the suburb to get to our friends place ...it really happened !

_0 aka barnone

[Guest Sunshine Sister]

Hey there,

Oh wow Barnone, I really enjoyed your story, how fabulous is that !!

I have to admit, I am not as liberated of spirit yet to let the bergie out... But I did actually nearly cry when I saw the council pick up perfectly fine pieces of furniture including mattresses only to crush them in the pick-up machine/truck. *sigh* I just saw little Indian kids with sad faces who sleep on cold, hard floors. Even tho' I understand the logic, it seems like a crying shame. (no pun intended )

Love

SS

[DesertDaisy]

My Aussie friend here has just told me about the "tip shops" - where you can go and buy the decent 2nd hand stuff the council collects. She says that strictly speaking, its illegal to filch your neighbours junk, but no one really bothers.

[Dreamcatcher]

Lindy-Lee,

You hit the nail right on the head there! I have found my inner 'bergie' and am having fun getting to know my "dark side". I let myself out every Saturday and Sunday morning to go bargain hunting at the garage sales. Oh what fun!

Unfortunately we do not have the sidewalk dumps like other places, but the council put out these big bins over weekends. Last weekend I found a complete computer! Don't know if it works yet, but I needed one to take apart and play with for my computer class... I also got two PC's from the school when they upgraded. They told me they were broken, but it was only software problems, and now my kids each have their own to potter around on. We are amazed at the things people throw away!

Greetings

Dreamy

[Guest B H]

I have a sneaky suspicion that we are going to pay R38k to take all our furniture to Aus and then dump it on the pavement within the first year. The stuff out there looks better than some of mine!! Hmmmm.