Why do people go hunting in skips

[Daven]

This is something that baffles me - if someone has put items in a skip then they're unwanted and, surely, it's better for someone to take said items and make use of them rather than them adding to a landfill somewhere ?

[calsmum]

but when you can clearly see the things in there are covered in mud an just rubbish why do people carry on digging down an looking

[swaroberts]

I am one of those skip-rats. Here's why I do it :

 

1. I have a wood burning stove and skips are a good source of free fuel

 

2. It's a good idea to fix and re-use things, not stick them in landfill.

 

3. It helps the person who owns the skip out by making more room for other stuff.

 

I always ask the owner of the skip before taking anything and people have *always* been glad for me to take stuff out of their skips.

 

Here's some of the things I've had out of skips recently, apart from the wood.

 

Hornby 1920's Tin Train Set - sold on Ebay for £120.00

 

Dining Chairs - Use them in our spare room

 

21 Speed Dawes Mountain Bike - Used daily - Just needed new tyres to make it work. (They retail at around £120-200)

 

Children's annuals from about 1910 - was going to sell on Ebay but they're too nice to sell.

 

Various videos, terminator, alien etc.

 

Brass Door Knobs - replaced some of my 1970's door handles with them.

 

A fellow skip-rat friend of mine recently found and Ebayed a complete playground set

 

People seem to be obsessed with buying new stuff and throwing out perfectly good items. This kind of culture is not sustainable and in 50 years time people will probably be astonished that we didn't "make do and mend"

 

As well as the skip-diving I also buy and repair stuff from Ebay then re-sell it, it's a much more eco-friendly thing to do and everyone wins - the buyer gets a good bargain (e.g. a working laptop for £40), the seller gets rid of something that they consider junk and I make a bit of of money as the middleman. Anyone over the age of about 40 will probably remember repair shops - in those days if something broke you didn't just chuck it out, you took it to a repair shop and got it fixed.

[Grandad.Malky]

Anyone over the age of about 40 will probably remember repair shops - in those days if something broke you didn't just chuck it out, you took it to a repair shop and got it fixed.

 

The problem is we don’t have mechanics ,engineers and electricians that can mend things any more we just have "fitters" .

[DragonofAna]

Is the law there to stop people taking stuff out of skips and then just dumping it elsewhere when they have decided they did not really want whatever they took? Fly tipping - though I would never tip a fly.

 

Don't see a problem with people going through skips and recovering things they can use. If it has been thrown out then the previous owners obviously did not want it so do not see the problem.

[boyfriday]

This is something that baffles me - if someone has put items in a skip then they're unwanted and, surely, it's better for someone to take said items and make use of them rather than them adding to a landfill somewhere ?

 

I agree Daven, not only that but the people taking stuff out of your skip are making room in the skip for you to get more of your rubbish in!

[Treatment]

I used to go hunting in skips, until my trusty steed got four faults in the Waitrose handicap.

 

Hope this helps.

[YouFo666]

I agree Daven, not only that but the people taking stuff out of your skip are making room in the skip for you to get more of your rubbish in!

 

Seconded Boyfriday.. Plus there are some loons out there that throw perfectly useable stuff in skips without advertising it either on here or freecycle first "free to good home" Nearly everything that is thrown in skips has either a use or a secondary use for someone and it amazes me what some people throw away Why only last week I 'dipped' a skip and found the five missing issues of "Private" magasine that I was sorely missing :hihi:

[poppins]

But don't you have to go on other peoples property to get to the skip ?

[Jay69]

A few years ago i was delivering some work to a company in doncaster and the company had a skip in there yard and as i was waiting to be unloaded i went and stood next to it to have a quick fag lol and was just having alook inside as you do as im abit nosey lol and there was a realy old round small table in it and i just really liked the look of it i ask to owner if i could have it and after some funny looks he said ok . Anyway 2 weeks later i sold the table to a friend that did auctions and i got just shy of £1500 for it so just goes to show that another mans junk is another man gold ha ha