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I don't know if that a French thing or not, but in France, in many cities there is a day designated as "encombrants" (~ bulky). Basically for when you want to throw out large objects.

There are people roaming out the streets on that day and hoping to find something worth reselling before it gets picked up by the city.

As far as I know, we haven't encountered the issue of too much stuff being thrown out that day, but maybe this is because this happens regularly.

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I don't know if that a French thing or not, but in France, in many cities there is a day designated as "encombrants" (~ bulky). Basically for when you want to throw out large objects.

I had this when I lived in Nevada. It was every other Tuesday and called "bulk trash day." You could put out pretty much anything that wasn't commercial construction waste or hazardous waste.

There were also scavengers who knew when bulk trash day was for each neighborhood, and would drive around the neighborhoods in trucks taking things off the curb to sell at flea markets.

Yes, I'm French and, on "jour des encombrants", when I put out something which is usable, I always make sure it is obvious, clean and visible... It is usually picked up within the hour by either some student or a junk trader. Conversely, I've found surprisingly useful things to use in my home. I like the spirit of ultralocal reuse !

I've been leaving notes on my interesting stuff when I set it at the curb. Figure I can save someone some time and help them decide if it's a problem they want to tackle, _before_ they get it home and diagnose it.

On a washing machine, I put a note like "Transmission bad, motor and controls probably fine, no leaks."

When I lived in Germany it was the same. But rather than people looking to sell item it was people looking to furnish their homes. A great system really.

Good thing there are not many bed bugs in Germany and thrown away furniture

> not many bed bugs in Germany

As a German, it took me until adulthood to figure out that when Americans talk of "bed bugs", it's not a metaphor.

In California you get only one day a year of free pickup for bulky items. Its restricted to appliances, furniture, and mattress. Furthermore, you have to schedule in advance with the company handling your garbage pickup.

Recology SF and San Mateo allots two bulky item pickups per (single family) household per year. Up in Novato/Sonoma it's 4x annually.

This depends entirely on your city government and who they contract with.

I've seen on-call pickup of large items (2 or 3x per year), bulk trash day once per year for everything on the curb, free appointments at a central location, and "haul it to the dump yourself then pay a fee".

I’m pretty sure the San Jose green team offers unlimited free curbside pickup of bulky items. You do need to call to schedule it, but that’s fairly reasonable in my opinion.

I live in Los Angeles, and I can schedule as many free bulky item pickups as I want, at any time.

Interesting, that sounds like "encumbrance" which is a good word to describe the burden of owning too much "stuff"! :)

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