Curb Day: Give Your Stuff Away

ARDELL on 05 12, 2009

Curb DayThis Saturday, May 16th is Curb Day.  Apparently this is a new concept that is picking up some steam across the Country.

Saturday, May 16, 2009, people all over will participate in “Curb Day” by bringing unwanted (but still valuable) items to their curbs for others to cart away for free.

The above link takes you to the Curb Day website that offers some simple tips on what to put out and what not to put out.

This article from Moneyblog tells  a bit more about how Mike Morone, a former computer teacher, spearheaded this upcoming event.  I can’t say I’ve heard anything about it yet here in the Seattle Area, but Mike sent me an email asking that we help spread the word. Kiplinger reported on it back in February.

I think in our area (possibly due to unfavorable weather conditions at times) we tend to give our stuff away via the “free” place on Craigslist . Perhaps a combination would work.  Participate in Curb Day AND post the “free” stuff on Craigslist, noting that the stuff will be out on the curb on Saturday May 16th.

Feel free to post your address in the comments on this post, if you want to use it to draw attention to your participation in Curb Day.  It would appear that this is the first time Curb Day is being tried, so if you have any suggestions for Mike for future reference, post them here and I will send a link to Mike, or you can email him direct at mike@curbday.com

About the Author: Ardell DellaLoggia

An Associate Broker with Sound Realty. ARDELL was named one of the 25 most Influential Real Estate Bloggers in the U.S. for 2007 by Inman News, and has over 19 years exeperience in Real Estate up and down both Coasts. She represents buyers and sellers of real estate on both sides of the 520 Bridge from Kirkland, Bellevue and Redmond on the Eastside to Green Lake and surrounds on the Seattle side. You can reach her at 206-910-1000 or by hitting the email the author link above.

7 Responses to “Curb Day: Give Your Stuff Away”

  1. ARDELL
    May 12, 2009 at 9:00 am

    Did a search on Twitter to see if anyone in Seattle had anything to say online about Curb Day.

    Found this post from Monica Guzman over at the PI:

    http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/archives/168450.asp

    And these comments in that post from Seattle’s Timothy Croll:

    “Based on previous experience, general curbside ’set-out days’ are not a good idea for Seattle,” said Timothy Croll, Seattle director of solid waste. “We have found it is too difficult to enforce the rules on what goes out on the curb and what does not, and that we wind up with indiscriminate dumping from folks outside the neighborhood.”

    There are other, better ways to donate unwanted items, Croll said, like through Goodwill, Craigslist, freecycle.org, neighborhood garage sales or SPU’s North Recycling and Disposal Station Reusables Annex at 1550 34th St.

    Participating in Curb Day won’t get you in trouble, though, unless you leave your stuff out long enough for the neighbors to complain. The city prohibits outdoor storage of junk and can issue warnings and citations if neighbors tip them off.”

    Reply
    #339650
  2. Rhonda Porter
    May 12, 2009 at 3:56 pm

    West Seattle Blog just organized the 5th annual garage sale last weekend…following that up with a free “curb day” the next weekend would make sense.

    I don’t see why there would be an issue w/this–especially if you use Craig’s List to promote your free stuff (I’m always amazed at how quick stuff goes).

    Reply
    #339670
  3. Lisa Lewis
    May 13, 2009 at 4:18 pm

    It’s a shame that Curb Day is not being well received in our community. With our region’s green outlook, you’d think an event like Curb Day would be a good success.

    Both Freecycle and Craigslist work well for giving useful items away for free, so they don’t end up in the landfill, but they take management. Curb Day wouldn’t have as many details to manage.

    Reply
    #339691
  4. ARDELL
    May 13, 2009 at 4:26 pm

    Lisa,

    I think we’d have better luck with Curb Day if it were after July 5th when we have fewer weather issues. Hard to have a curb day in the rain :)

    Reply
    #339692
  5. Lisa Lewis
    May 13, 2009 at 5:01 pm

    Ardell,
    You speak the truth. Who wants to pick up soggy goods in the cold wet? According to this chart http://www.komonews.com/weather/faq/4308877.html , August 9th or 30th would be safer days to consider for a curb side event in Seattle. That doesn’t help much with the current national promotion of Curb Day, though. In theory, the idea sounds terrific.

    Reply
    #339694
  6. ARDELL
    May 13, 2009 at 5:06 pm

    Lisa,

    I saw a picture on Craislist of a free couch out in someone’s yard…I’ll bet it’s wet right now :)

    I’ll email Mike (the guy who started Curb Day) after May 16th if it’s raining on Saturday. Maybe he’ll give an alternate August rain date :)

    Reply
    #339695
  7. Courtney Cooper
    May 14, 2009 at 12:10 pm

    Once a year the city of Mountlake Terrace does a big clean up – they have one weekend with a huge city wide garage sale and then the next week residents can put out unlimited trash. It ultimately turns into a big Curb Day anyway which makes me feel better about the horrendous giant piles of “rubbish”.

    As the piles start to go out to the curb the night before, you can just feel the excitement as trucks start circling looking for goodies – LOL The unlimited trash day was yesterday in MLT and I drove by a few times over just 44th (Cedar Way) on my daily duties – even with the rain, there seemed to be plenty of partakers in picking up free stuff. Pretty amazing to see.

    Reply
    #339703

Leave a Reply

Live Comment Preview