At some point, everybody needs to throw away a couch, a coffee table that seemed like a good idea when you were young and hip, a fridge that has been sitting in the garage longer than you have… You get the idea. So, when people want to throw out these chunky things they don’t want or need anymore, but can’t fit them into the container, there are two main options they consider: giving them to somebody that needs them (there is always somebody who needs a full discography of Jonas Brothers CDs, however odd that might sound), and throwing them out on the kerb. Both choices are equally good, but we are here to discuss the latter, as it does pose some legal and technical questions to ponder on.
So, before we get deeper into the matter, let’s have a look at what is considered “hard waste”:
- Furniture
- Household appliances (such as toasters, blenders, irons, etc.)
- Whitegoods (washing machines, fridges, ovens, etc.)
- Other electronics (computer parts, laptops, TVs, gaming consoles…)
- Bath tubs
- Hard textiles made of synthetic fiber, such as carpets and rugs
- Sports gear, even bigger ones including skis, bicycles, roller-skates etc.
- Timber products shorter than 1.5m by the longest dimension, and/or up to 10 pieces of timber
As you can see, the list is very long and encompasses a variety of things acceptable to throw away. However, there are some things that you can’t throw away according to reinforced laws in Adelaide. They include the following:
- Concrete, bricks and similar building materials
- Garden waste, such as plants, grass and other organic waste
- Car parts
- Liquids
- Gas bottles
- Hazardous chemicals, like paint, oils etc.
- Glass products
- Regular household waste (small plastic containers, food, paper, hygiene products and the like)
So, given these facts you can calculate what you should and shouldn’t pick to throw away. You wouldn’t want to be fined for ditching you ex’s gift cactus, would you?
Now that you know some basic guidelines for your to-ditch list, it might be helpful to get to know some tips and tricks to make things more convenient for you and the environment. Here is something to pay attention to:
- Kerbside crawlers. While they can be nasty, they need things too. So, if you are comfortable with them taking your stuff, make sure you don’t throw away things that could contain lice, bed bugs or fungi, and stack them in a way that they can’t make too much of a mess before the hard waste is disposed. If, however, you want to avoid their meddling, take your things out briefly before they are to be collected by the service of your choosing.
- Furniture made from hardboard or MDF is very hard to recycle or reuse because it doesn’t bend well and therefore can be damaged upon transportation. Try to avoid disposing such things if possible.
- Local councils generally allow one to three free collections per year, and they should be up to 2m3 in size, each.
- Keep in mind that you might have to schedule your disposal more than a month in advance, so to avoid the hard waste getting spoiled and the front of your house looking like, well, a garbage dump, take your stuff out as late as possible.
Apart from this, it is important to note that while it isn’t illegal in Adelaide area to put any amount of garbage out, it shouldn’t take up any space on the footpath, or, god forbid, the road.
Here comes the fun part: most of the things you discard will be recycled! Australia has great services for this, so sit back and enjoy your giving back to the world while cleaning up your life space.
Who do you hire to do the “dirty work” then? Burnside Trash, of course! Why, you ask? Well, if you hire our experts you can expect the following:
- They will get all the grunt-work done for you neatly, quickly and effortlessly
- there will be no work on your part (you can even sit on the porch, grab popcorn and watch the sunset)
- even if you realize you forgot to throw something out, you can just tell us to grab it for you
If you’re still in doubt, call us and we will tell you all the other perks you can have by using our services!
TIME FOR ACTION
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