‘Gee, hon, that coffee table without its glass top really looks like it could add some pizzazz to our living room.’
‘Wait, check out this old chair, it looks like it’s only been out for a couple of weeks so the rain hasn’t done that much damage. As well, the colour reminds me so much of a blazer my Dad wore in the 70s. We’d better grab it before someone else picks it up.’
Such are the fictional conversations one can only imagine some local residents envision happening when they place worn-out furniture or other long past their best-before-date items at the end of their driveway, front lawn or boulevard.
As someone who bikes regularly, I often notice these decrepit items lulling about and seriously wonder why the person thinks someone else would want their junk.
On one of Midland's longest streets, for example, I have seen a fabric couch and chair left out in the elements for three weeks, an assortment of natty furniture and kitchenware, a chair that might be generously considered ‘vintage’ because of its very dated colour scheme, a window with broken glass and an old door with broken glass. And this is all in the past six months and all on the same street.
Either these people really do see some sort of intrinsic value in these items that become water-soaked, insect-infested magnets or they are just too cheap to do the right thing and bring them to the reasonably-priced, land-transfer station.
There’s one particular location in the area that regularly features a cavalcade of old clothes, a few household items and, let’s just be honest here, quite a bit of stuff no one wants or needs.
Some of the items might still have some usefulness, but those could be donated to the ReStore, Salvation Army or St. Vincent de Paul rather than creating an unsightly mess.
And for those without a vehicle, there are options. Local service companies will come to haul away your junk or you can even book the county to do it.
Leaving it on the front yard, boulevard or end of the driveway is not a solution.
As Midland Mayor Bill Gordon recently noted: “We have property standards in Midland you will get a ticket or, if we have to haul it away, you will get a hefty bill from the town.
“Let's keep Midland beautiful and clean!”
The town could also likely help if it expanded 'treasure day' to a four- or five-day event and worked hard to better advertise it.
While the county takes care of compost, recycling and regular garbage collection on weekly basis, it also offers bulky item collection year round.
Prices starts at $50 for five items. This service is subject to availability and additional fees may apply. Material must be placed curbside by 7 a.m. on the scheduled collection day.
For more details, call (800) 263-3199 or visit the county website.
As for the people generously giving away the window with the broken pane or storm door with the broken window, do they even consider the danger for potential injuries these items pose to children and pets who are just walking, running or skipping along the sidewalk?
One imagines if they did, they’d do the right thing and dispose of their junk properly because it is definitely not someone else's treasure.
As for local municipal and tourism officials, they can continue waxing poetically about how great their towns are, but actively getting rid of these blights on the landscape by levying fines and/or educating offenders on a daily basis would go a long way towards keeping them beautiful.
It is often true that real action speaks louder than words.
And don't get me started on the dregs of society who illegally dump their garbage along our trail system and or on the side of certain roads.
That, my friend, is a column for another day.
