Pavement Freecycle

A few years ago I was explaining the concept of Freecycle to my father, and he said (rather smugly), 'So it's a bit like the pavement outside my gate, is it?'. He'd recently had an enjoyable time sorting through his cellar and had found a few metal buckets and a vintage counting machine, which had disappeared to (presumably) grateful new owners shortly after being left outside his gate.At the time, I didn't know another pavement like it! We have our Ramassage des Encombrants, when the council gives a date for the collection of bulky rubbish, and I knew I wasn't the only one to scout through the 'rubbish' outside of gates to pick up the interesting stuff, but that was only four times a year... Now, and I think it must be to do with the changing economic times, pavement freecycle has come to our own little French town.

I think it all started about eight months ago, the night before the Ramassage. I was out walking the dog with Son 1, and we spotted a most exciting selection of bookcases (modern, slightly battered, but useful) outside one house. While I was wondering to myself if I could dash home for the estate car and fit a bookcase in the boot, the problem was taken out of my hands. A large white van drove up and a couple of men put the biggest bookcase inside it.That night the white vans were active, and we found our own encombrants (a very rusty bike frame and a few things even we didn't have any more use for) had disappeared. We guessed that the van drivers were gipsies, and hoped that they could recycle/reuse the stuff properly, rather than dumping some of it outside of the proper council sorting tips.

The next Ramassage was very different. One house round the corner from us set up a whole table of little knicknacks, as if it was a Vide Grenier stall, and people from all round came and helped themselves. I had a good look but didn't take anything - I've regretted the blue china tankards since! I think I saw some travelling people selling some of the metal plates at a Vide Grenier that weekend. I liked the way that the householders had set everything out so beautifully for us all.

And now, a house out in the other direction has an almost weekly deposit of something interesting, and lots of us stop for a browse. Ben picked up a lovely big piece of tempered glass to make a cold frame the other day, and he brought me three hand-painted saucers from outside the same gate yesterday! The heap of stuff is kept very tidy and there's no sense that it's a public nuisance - it seems a rather neighbourly and entertaining way of keeping stuff in use, instead of binning it.

Are you seeing any increase in this kind of thing? And would you take something from a 'heap of stuff' if you liked it?

A quick PS - I'm off for a week's blogging break now! I won't be visiting your blog or mine until next Tuesday. Have a lovely week, friends!