Most suburbs all over Perth have what’s known as the bulk kerbside rubbish collection which is run by the local council. Basically any junk you don’t want is put out on the street verge for the local council to pick up and take away. This happens two or three times a year.
End of the road for these chairs
As a consequence, all manner of junk gets put out… TV’s. refrigerators, furniture, bbqs, microwave ovens, computers, beds, mattresses, cardboard anything and everything. I’m surprised quite often to see household appliances thrown out which are only a few years old..obviously not built to last.
To some people, this is nothing but junk and good riddance to it… take it away please. But to others, it’s like a drive thru/kerbside supermarket where the price is always right, complete with no hassle return if your not satisfied. Well.. like the saying goes ’satisfaction, or double your rubbish back!’ lol
Video killed the radio star.. now video is thrown out!
Microwave – thrown out – BING!
The show is truly over for this large television
No no! not the comfy chair!
Briefcase full of money perhaps?
Now what appears to be worthless junk on the side of the road to some people… is, for others something of value and well worth stopping to do ‘pickup‘. In fact, come Sunday afternoon there is a procession of vehicles including small trucks driving around picking up unwanted and discarded goods. It amazes me what people throw out sometimes, no wonder people pick this stuff up I’ve seen furniture thrown out better than what I’ve got! aiyo!
Sometimes I see people picking up items that would be of little value(or so I think), such as old washing machines and dryers, but for these people they know something I don’t… for there must be some value in these items. Perhaps they plan to do a lot of washing… or maybe they are one of those tinkerer/mad scientist type robot builders working on the next Terminator prototype. “I’ll be back!!….for your Fisher & Paykel washing machine“. 
But more likely, they are stripping the parts out of the machines and selling them on Ebay for easy money. Hmm clever.
With increasing amounts on computers being thrown out, these are recently being targeted by ‘Hi-Tech’ collectors mainly for components inside such as CPU’s, hard drives and RAM. Oh… I hope people who throw these computers out remember to erase any sensitive information on the hard drive. Ummm and those naked pics of yourself haha 
Well good on people for picking up this stuff and making use of it. This is grassroots recycling, and goes to show that recycling doesn’t need to involve government departments with recycling strategies, steering committees and multinational companies with huge sorting machines. What is more interesting, that this type of recycling just occurs without anyone organising it, people do it because they can directly benefit from doing it and will continue to do so. In addition people throwing the stuff out are more than likely glad to see their former possessions being used in some productive way instead of becoming landfill.
Aiyo! No money in briefcase 
Recycling is good! E-Waste is bad…
I have been bulk rubbishing for almost 5 years now.
Many times I am amazed at the wastefulness of our modern society.
It seems that if it’s not new, or has no immediate use, then throw it out.
What a waste.
I am writing this comment on a Pentium 4, AMD 2400+ computer that I built from spare parts that I found in bulk rubbish.
I also found (from 1 house) 8 peices of dark woodgrain furntiure that was being disowned by it’s previous owner because it didn’t match thier decore!
To anyone starting out in thier first home, or anyone that says they can’t afford almost ANY household item, think strongly about getting a trailer and visiting a few bulk rubbish areas at least once every 6 months. I can guarantee that after a few trips you will have a whole houseful of all the items you need.
And concider this if you think that going around and picking up other peoples discarded goods if beneath you. Something new, is only new the split second you buy it. After that it becomes second hand.
I have a house full of ’second hand’ goods. All courtesy of Bulk Refuse collections, and, the wasteful nature of modern people.
“It’s not scabbing, it’s Urban Recycling”
What a breath of fresh air your article was to read! I can honestly say that the best part of my holiday period this year was going ‘junk’ collecting with my dad and whoever else would go with me. I saw that they recommended doing this on the show ‘money for jam’ but was wondering exactly what the legal implications of collecting these goods are, are we stealing off the council and do all the goods go to landfill or to dump recycle shops? This I would really like to know as I will feel more comfortable collecting if I know for sure I am also helping the environment.
Hi Kate,
Officially you should ask the homeowner first before taking it, but this often impractical. From my experience, nearly all home owners are super happy to know that someone can make use of something they don’t need rather than it being crushed up when goes in the back of the truck.
Many times I have seen a sign placed on an item such as a TV or washing machine “works, please take”. The very monitor I am using now had a similiar sign, so i grabbed it and is being put to use…had I not taken it, it would have been part of landfill polluting up the environment.
Always being polite and show some courtesy, also don’t make a mess allowing rubbish to blow away onto the road… that’s the part that really upsets councils. Take a professional approach to this.
I personally look for antique n retro furniture as a lot of larger stuff doesn’t get scavegened and most of it needs only one basic repair or repolishing or marrying two pieces together too make a new item
ie. a good top off a table with broken legs too mach a good set of legs from a table with no good or broken top.
I have also noticed a great lack of younger people rummaging as if they’re pride or ego’s stop them. Ashame as they are the ones buying all the laminaty chipboard rubbish which cannot be reused and only lasts a few years, where as stuff 50years old is still good made of REAL TIMBER and is worth fixing.
Brad: Yep I agree. Most prospectors tend to be middle aged. Perhaps it’s a combination of wisdom, motivation and spare time.
Furniture is great stuff to pick up, although I’ve had to leave many furniture items because of the shear size and weight. Certainly, the mix and match method works well for office chairs I’ve found. Working gas strut bases can be easily put onto clean seats, resulting in a very nice unit.
Your right about cheap crappy chipboard furniture, I see that all to often as well. Some things just weren’t made to last more than few years.
Jeff.