Toowong residents, mark your calendars for another kerbside collection, which will happen on Monday, the 20th of May 2019, beginning 6:00 a.m.
This annual practice of disposing of old stuff like carpets, rugs, furniture, small household appliances, and electronic items, is part of a green waste management initiative. However, if you happen to see stuff that may still be of use to you from your neighbour’s kerbside, will it be alright to take it home?
In Toowong and other suburbs in Brisbane, it is actually encouraged to salvage and recycle items meant for kerbside disposal. Other councils strictly prohibit this practice but kerbside collection is generally fair game in Brisbane as there is no law prohibiting neighbours to pilfer through someone else’s kerbside collections stuff.
What should you do if you like the neighbour’s kerbside stuff?
Ideally, neighbours must seek permission from each other before they take out items from the kerbside collection pile. Asking your neighbour if it’s okay to look into their stuff is a matter of courtesy and proper etiquette.
If your neighbour is fine with this, then it is advisable to properly pick up the stuff you want to take home. When you rummage through their items, make sure to put things back the way they were because your neighbour may have likely separated and categorised these stuff carefully.
Also, be careful when handling your neighbour’s breakables. Though these are for disposal, this doesn’t mean that it’s okay to break things. Besides, the collectors may not pick up broken items and leave this by the kerb. Your neighbour could be liable for illegal dumping because of your carelessness.
What should you do about negligent kerbside crawlers?
It is common to find kerbside crawlers in Brisbane and you do hear stories about people finding treasures from someone else’s trash pile. But there are kerbside crawlers who don’t observe the proper etiquette of foraging through another person’s things. Because there is no law against this practice, the system can actually be abused.
Some homeowners in Toowong bring their stuff for disposal out too early only to find these scattered all over the street due to negligent kerbside crawlers. To prevent this incident, it’s best to put your things out close to the pick-up time.
The Council also encourages donating useable things to charities or recycling organisations first before considering kerbside collection. This way, you don’t have to put out more items by your kerb that will be too attractive to irresponsible scavengers.
