I have a bit of a crazy stoop story! My very soon-to-be husband invited me to his place for dinner on our third date, and while touring his apartment, I noticed a canvas I painted years prior above his bookshelf :) I'm not an artist, so I don't have artwork of mine just out in the world. I was painting for fun, didn't like how it turned out, and tossed it whilst moving out of an apartment. Days later (I was long gone), he saw it as he was moving into the building (he actually moved into the exact same apartment I had moved out of!), loved it, and kept it. It stayed with him during his next move (to the apartment he had when I met him), and we've had it in our possession ever since :)
One key thing to pay attention to for stooping is DATES. If you're in a renter-heavy area the last/first weekend of the month is gold because people are moving. If you're in a student heavy area, pay attention to when classes/semesters start and end as you'll often find the best stuff when kids are packing up in a hurry to leave after finals and can't fit everything and have no time to do anything except stoop/curb it, or are trying to cram multiple peoples stuff in to a tiny apartment and run out of space. If you're not located near either of these things, knowing what day trash pick up is or if your city does specific dates for large item trash pick up will help you know when to look to score the best stuff.
Yes. When I lived in Montreal, July first was the best day to look for treasures. Unfortunately you also had to have a guard on your furniture when you move. I came out of my apartment to have two grannies trying to take two of my favourite chairs.
My husband’s been “stooping” for years…and he just turned 60. I used to call it “trash picking” and he would counter with “treasure hunting.” Some of the most beautiful items in our home were other people’s cast-offs. I love the idea that there are now IG groups alerting people to these treasures, so they can go to new homes instead of becoming landfill.
My Aunt called it her "alley furniture" it was stuff that was literally in the NYC alleyways and she refurbished it so well that she was able to sell the pieces with her apartment. Some other folks I know that lived in NYC would constantly update with new finds and put the old stuff out and observe out the window how long it would take for stuff to get taken....they had a horrible sofa that got taken in 5 minutes. They said it was great fun!
Love this, love the remarketing of this concept cause literally it gets you shameful looks when it should be praised, lets give our shit a second, third, fourth life
@@muxajetaptocom honestly yeah... ive seen healthy plants that just needed a little care and love left on the ground next to trash cans many times and i wanted to get them so bad but everyone looks so judgmental and there were so many people around i just couldnt do it.. it's a shame
This is one of the best videos I've seen in months. So thoughtful and thought-provoking. Love the documentary format, and the fact you actually went out and showed the reality of it, of finding treasure, but also being too late to save things from landfill. Huge props to you Kelsey! And the TSG team as always. Love how you never fail to teach new ways of being a conscious, eco-friendly, sustainable person. It's also cool that it's all completely free. A lot of sustainable products are so expensive, so it's good to see free and cheap methods too
Part of the reason it is often too late to pick up things is that, in many cities, people can only put their big items out the day before large trash pick up (for us the first monday of the month) and so the window of opportunity is quite small.
"Stoop" refers to hunting in relation to falcons - that's sort of a cool connection to hunting for treasure. It also refers to the front entrance/stairs of a house, where a lot of stoopable items might be placed. It's a great word and I think it really fits!
That’s interesting! English is my second language and I just recently learned that New Yorkers say stoop to the stairs leading up to their entrance. And that this is likely derived from the German word Stufe.
@@stephanieiv1163reagrding the sound, I think it derives from the Dutch word "stoep" which is pronounced stoop in Englisch. It means sidewalk. Knowing that NY once was called New Amsterdam and Amsterdam had and still has a lot of "stoops" that makes sense.
In Toronto or where you live ? Honestly the best is just to find out when garbage day or large item collection day is for any area and go out for a walk. There are also many free cycle FB group
I live in SoCal and i find way more luck on offer up for free stuff. I've gotten a wingback chair and a vintage desk from it. I never had luck on FB marketplace
i was just talking about this with my mum today! It is so annoying like when you click on "free" and talk to the seller, the "free" item is suddenly $30 or something. Like, why!!!!! I hate this so much.
Someone needs to do a video on the dos and don't of safe thrifting. Recently, inspired by The Sorry Girls thrifting, I bought a bed off fb Marketplace. It was only 3 months old and in perfect condition. Fast forward a couple of weeks later and I wake up with red bites all over me. Yes, bed bugs. When I started to look for information on the little bastards (excuse me French), all the information kept talking about second hand furniture and why it's dangerous to buy. I think it's rubbish and believe in upcycling and trying to repurpose furniture, but I wish someone in the hundreds of DIY videos I have watched, mentioned how to examine a thrifted piece for bed bugs or dust mites because I have literally just had to pay thousands of euros to get my apartment sprayed. I could have bought 5-6 brand new beds for the price.
Yea one thing is that buying fabric or upholstered items off marketplace, kijiji, Craigslist etc is a biiiiig Nono!! They also say wood is risky because bedbugs can chill in there too, but I have not experienced that.
@@vanessap7393 I wish I had have known before I bought it. I loved thrifting and I really believe in The Sorry Girls' ethos, but it would be nice if someone talked about the way to do it responsibly.
I came here for this comment! I like to “stoop” but I’m extremely selective and careful bc of bedbugs. Put thrifted clothes and pillows and linens into the washer with hot water, then in the dryer for AT LEAST an hour. If you can’t do it right away, then tie them up into a trash bag. For books, I put them in a reused ziplock into the freezer for at least a week. If you want to thrift a chair, it’s crucial to take a flashlight and look at the seams for little black dots. If you see 1… it’s a risk. If you see 2, it’s a definite no. The black dots are stains from them after they feed. Rugs are rare for them to live in, but I like to give rugs a thorough steam anyways. TLDR: throw everything in the dryer that you can RIGHT AWAY, take the time to really inspect furniture for black dots
Yep, have been doing this with my fam my entire live! My mom always wanted to drive around to see what was available on 'large garbage pickup' days and my first apartment in Toronto was furnished almost exclusively this way!
Yep, the area I grew up in would have "trash amnesty" weekends when people can put out large items without having to pay the extra fee for the trash pickup. Best time of year to go for a walk, you always come home with something new to refurbish!
I’m not sure if this helps but I’ve heard people wrapping and tying soft furniture in large bags/trash bags and keeping it like that for some days. Maybe others have solutions for soft furniture
@@rollercoaster24 Bed bugs can live without feeding for 6 months. This will do nothing - you are much better off learning the signs of bed bugs and inspecting anything you want to take home.
@@Lynsey17 They can live without feeding for 6 months but they can't live without oxygen. In a well-sealed bag they will not survive for longer than 1 week at most. A well-sealed bag placed in the sun is even better, as it heats up to a temperature high enough to kill the bugs and their eggs.
In fact there's a wealthy part of our town where there is one lady who redecorates a room every year. And so around big trash pickup you will find a complete room at her curb. All the other women in town take turns on who gets it.
My favorite item was the “Happy Birthday” balloons. Definitely a normally single use item that would’ve ended up in the garbage got reused several times! Love it!
I really enjoyed seeing the photos from the people who claimed the items that Kelsey left out, because it was really nice to see those items getting a second life. Also! Those people did such a good job decorating their spaces.
In my neighborhood we can only put things out 1 day before garbage days or we can be fined. But "stooping" has been a way of survival (for people with limited funds) for forever. Glad it's mainstream now and not shameful/embarrassing anymore. There used to be s stigma behind it
My first apartment back in the early 1980s had a lot of "stooped" furniture: a hide-a-bed sofa for the living room, a real wood coffee table, a metal record stand used as a side table, two chrome frame kitchen chairs, etc... It was just called salvaging or less kindly, scavenging. These days when I see upholstered items I wonder if there is an unsanitary reason for it being tossed to the curb, unless there is a sign on it stating it is okay.
I thought this was normal, how it always was growing up, people leave stuff on the curb for others for free, and there’s apps and sites you can use to post and locate items, never heard of that word to refer to it though!
@@charoraimondogarcia jep exactly my thought where I live in europe its just part of our city life. I find it very funny when such things suddenly get picked up from influencers and get called this new trendy shiny thing.
It's not just Europe. In Chicago we put things neatly in the alley intending for someone to find it, and grab things we like. I've had several trash finds that lived in my apartments over the years. It's just the equivalent of "gentrified" now.
I stooped a solid teak shelving unit a few months ago and DIYed it into two side tables! It's definitely my go to. My city also has one day a month where garbage collection takes big items - so that's the best stooping day around!! (or the night before ... because the cover of darkness makes me less anxious)
My city does "curb side give-away" weekends a few times a year, designated weekends to put by the curb things that you don't want anymore but are too good to throw in the trash.
When I was young & lived in a suburb of LA... every spring: 1 trash pickup large items were free!!! My girlfriends & I cruised around in our pickups (under cover of darkness) for the major scorage. Flotation boat cushions, a fridge that worked, dressers, an antique rocking chair, etc. We did accept requests from non-truck owning friends. 40 yrs ago now, I wonder if it's still a thing 🤔 I'm retired to the country. There's a free shelf near the PO where neighbors leave give-aways.
@@brandyjean7015 you had to pay fees for garbage collection? Extra for larger pieces? Wow! Is it still that way today? I like it better when that is something taxes do, it provides benefits for everyone And the environment as well. When there are no extra fees, no financial barriers to participating in legal refuse disposal, there is no need for cash strapped folk to illegally dump things and no financial incentive for tight-wads neither. (When garbage collection is owned and run by tax payers collectively, the people can have open knowledge of the books and have a say in how the business is run, through their elected representative, ensuring it is run efficiently at cost and not making some political crony rich. Less need/opportunity for all sorts of shenanigans, like less chance of politicians peddling influence and taking kick-backs, less opportunity for code violations, corner cutting, or for profit skimming as is often done by businesses that have government contracts, etc..) I lived and saw first hand it results in less littering, and far less garbage laying, blowing, and rolling around. Less illegal dumping helps keep water cleaner too. Our cottage neighbourhood PO has a cupboard for non-perishable food items and there is one for books near the brook, but for old furniture, cottagers often go "antiquing " at yard sales and the thrift stores and antiques shoppes that are popping up everywhere.
@@bevmacdonald9008 basic weekly garbage pickup & later recycling was, I believe, included in the water & power bill. Large/bulky items you would call to schedule a pickup & yes there was a charge. You could transport your unwanted fridge to the city managed dump & pay there too. Either way, it was going to cost you. Our free table collects knuckle knacks, small appliances, children's toys, extra produce, cleaning supplies. You just never know...
Be careful when picking up upholstery items! Once we picked up a couch that looked in really good condition but it had a cockroach nest in it, we found out in the least fun way 😅
In Australia it’s called hard rubbish and the council gives a week per suburb to put everything out before picking it up. Have been doing it since I was little and we didn’t have money for furniture. Mum always made it like a game to see who could spot something good the fastest and get it in the car. A lot of councils are stopping it now and have tip shops where they pick through and sell items but it’s not the same
I love this so much! All of the furniture in my house is secondhand, and since wood is so expensive, if I want to DIY something with wood, I drive around looking for people who've put out large wood items that I can use to create what I want. I'm in the process of building a work bench for myself and everything it's made of (except the wheels) are cast offs.
haha life long "stooper" here! You're right, Kelsey. It's nice having an easy and cute word to describe picking items out of other people's trash. Makes it easier to start the conversation!
This video is awesome. It's such a natural progression from your usual content to be even more meaningful, inspiring, and impactful. I'm continually impressed by you and proud that you represent the positive changes in your generation.
Amazing! I watched you video and went for a walk in our city's ravine doing some garbage picking and found an aerobic stepper. I was like "I stooped!!" and my partner looked at me funny haha. Brought it home, cleaned it up and now it's in my gym. Funny enough I was thinking of getting one and the universe answered.
Over a decade ago my sister was telling me "When you are looking to get your own place and need furniture, hit up the houses near the college near end of the year." Because they leave furniture out on the curb so they don't have to pay movers, she would tell me it's a gold mine for household items. Straight from Wiki: "Curb Mining" is the act of salvaging appliances, electronics, furniture and art discarded on the street ("curbside"). In cities around the world, people often dispose of furniture and other unwanted items by leaving them on the sidewalk for others to take. Terms similar to curb mining include "dumpster diving" and "freeganism"
Everytime I watch these sustainable videos my heartbreaks because these practices to be mindful of how we consume things is the crux of Asian and Indian cultures for over a million years... Forgotten because of our colonised education and globalisation... Feels like we're back to step 1 but i welcome it wholeheartedly ❤️
This comment is just strange! First of all humankind exists for just about a million years. Secondly, in western countries buying everything new all the time is a relatively new thing to do and started in the last fifty years. It’s more of a Symptome of capitalism than of colonialism. China is producing soooo many products and is the leading capitalistic country of this world.
Damn the garbage collecting part hit me. Even more because I'm French, in France the garbage collectors don't take the furniture people left on the street and/or with the trash. If you want to get rid of something you have to bring it to the recycling center. But a lot of people don't go because there's not a lot of them (like one center per groups of towns) so it can be really far from your location, and if your car can't fit the pieces you want to get rid of it also becomes a problem! We also have the bulky waste, a local service which come take the furnitures like once a month or if you fix an appointment beforehand. ALL THAT TO SAY, that I think we're pretty lucky in stooping because you can go and take some furnitures by the streets because we know it's not gonna disappear and go in a landfill anytime soon. But I must admit I don't see a lot of it in my area, maybe because thrifting is not that big of a thing YET as well. Like, we don't have big thrift shops like you have in America, which makes me really jealous!!
We've always just called it trash picking. I love it-- I've gotten furniture, accessories, you name it. I always crane my neck at a big pile on the curb!
Thank you! I was like, "did we really just rename garbage picking/ dumpster diving?!" 🤣 I've done this with my grandpa since I was a little girl in the 90s.
My daughter lived in Japan 20 years ago and stooping was a way of life among the expats. A group of us who lived in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia were into stooping discarded furniture in the early 1990’s. We refinished, reupholstered, and repurposed furniture and donated it to charities that were assisting others who needed some previously loved items. Share the love!
In New Zealand we used to have these coumnal anual events called inorganic where one week of the year you would put everything thing you didn't want out on the curb. Things that weren't objective trash like old tvs, trays for ovens, mini fridges, sofas, kids toys, broken chairs ect and it was free to take and at the end of the week the council would come buy with rubish trucks and take away what was left. You used to go for a walk and look at eveything people put out on the road and take what you wanted and I'm so upset that our gov decided to save money on not hiring dump trucks and put an end to this tradition. You can still orgnise it but it never happens anymore.
In Portland, Oregon we have "free piles" that people put out for others to stoop from. They're all over the different neighborhoods and people post them in the local buy nothing group. It's a pretty cool to see so many people trying to give things a second home. A lot of our house has come from picking things up this way and it gives everything more of a story to share with friends.
I'm showing my age here, but before Craigslist, Marketplace, and Kadji there was the OG thrift stooping site - ebay! 😂 I inherited my Mom's home in a senior community. I've gotten some gems "stooping" at my neighbors homes! Most recently, there was an outdoor plant stand with cute bones, UGLY/rusted exterior. With VERY little TLC, I sold it a few months later for $25! I was channeling my inner TSG for sure! 🥰
I look forward to my Tuesdays because of TSG, great video! I stooped my kitchen and bathroom cabinets, countertops, shower glass, vinyl flooring, dressers, office drawers, patio furniture, kitchen chairs. Being my first place, I saved so much money DIYing. I believed I could do it thanks to TSG & Mr. Kate’s channels, and I’m so grateful for the female representation.
My father in law has done it for decades and had found some amazing things. He had the advantage of driving a truck, so had room for nice surprises along the way.
I really hope this will be a thing in Norway as well! I was moving once, and had to leave behind some really nice things. I placed them on the curb with a sign, but got an angry call from my neighbor - telling me I had to throw "the junk" away.
What amazing items to be found there! In my city you can get fined if you put furniture at the side of the road without an appointment for pickup, so there's not much to stoop.
Here too, but it's the HOA people you have to worry about. So we walk around the block the day before bulk trash pickup. Sometimes you can get a really cool thing or two.
Most of our furniture is free off the streets from trash days! I have found $10,000 Tibetan rugs, an early 19th century dresser, countless rag rugs that were easily washed, ikea plates, terracotta flower pots.. so many great things. They all add so much character to our already eclectic home. I can’t remember the last time we bought anything new, furniture wise because of stooping/thrift stores.
Kelsey, this is one of your best videos. I loved every minute of it and am excited that more people are able to access re-salvageable items for free. As someone who personally is a little frustrated with how places like depop are being used by chronic overconsumers (especially influencers) in a way that facilitates the continued spending, I like that this is taking something in the community that already exists, helps those of lesser means, and doesn't directly reward over spenders.
I’ve been stooping with my family since a kiddo (we call it curb goodie hunting) It’s our fav form of thrifting!! Best stooped item: a MCM solid teak desk and matching teak mirror 🤌🏼💋
@@JessRodriguez1111 The evening right before garbage day! My community also has two "big garbage pickup" days so the entire week is curb goodie central 😁
I didn’t know the name of it. But I still use a stooped Art Deco dresser I found in 1993 for example. 😄 At the time, my boyfriend was constantly ashamed by me. But thanks to me his empty flat was finally well furnished.
This is so cool! Here in Germany stooping is illegal (considered theft) so there aren’t any communities around it. However, everyone still does it. Whenever someone puts furniture out on the curb you can watch people sneakily grabbing it and oftentimes replacing it with their own furniture as soon a the sun goes down. Oftentimes the amount and the exact items vary greatly throughout the night before everything is picked up.
But usually individual items of furniture aren’t just put out on the curb like that in Germany. There are furniture collections a couple of times a year for a few of blocks of flats at a time or you have to pay for a collection. People definitely take things on those occasions and I have never heard anyone complain or say this is illegal. Recently I have also seen more people put boxes with smaller things to give away in front of their houses.
Been doing this forever so has my grandmother whenever she saw something on the side of the road she carried it home she was a strong German woman Half economic necessity and half duty to keep usable items out of landfills haha glad everyone else is finding value in others trash I’m sure there’s more than enough to go around
In my uni city in Germany it's very normal for people to just put things they don't need anymore in front of their house. Sometimes it's boxes with dishes, books or clothes but also furniture or planks of wood. Anything goes. The younger population really is not just throwing their stuff away.
That's true! i live in Germany (am Canadian) and people leave things in small boxes with the mention "zu verschenken" (to give away) on the sidewalk all the time. I even did this more than once!
We stooped a replica eames lounge chair in 2020, and then we found out it was my mother-in-law's coworker that had put it out! It worked out nicely, because she gave us the matching ottoman when she found out 😊
I like this video format style. Not too forced. Natural. Creative but not pretentious and also acknowledging the attempt at creativity (the home camera style footage). It’s refreshing :) some DIY based channels can be tacky and buzzfeedy and the opposite side feels too forced and stiff. This is nice and chill
It's interesting to finally (on my part) see a term for this activity. I've seen people stooping my whole life! I think stooping and other activities similar to stooping have existed for a long time (check out the history of gleaning). Besides being the beginning of garage sale season, May-June is a great time to go stooping in college towns!
This was so interesting! The quality of the channels videos have been so great lately - I've learned so much the last few weeks! I didn't know there was such a big stooping community and loved learning about it in this mino-doc style
Hey! The discord link is expired! When you go to get a link you have to select the option for it not to expire! Not sure if you guys have mods/admins for the server but I'm sure they could help out if you run into any troubles. I would love to join so hope I get the chance in the future! 💕
@@lera9reen It's illegal to put furniture items on your stoop to get rid of them. Trash pickup only picks up trash cans, no loose items. So we have no choice but to either donate or bring it to the landfill ourselves.
It’s funny because I already knew what you were talking about from the vid title but I had no clue about the depth of stooping and the community. I love it!
You can ONLY put your things out the evening before the garbage truck comes early the next morning here. Nobody wants junk to litter the street all week.
My dad used to do that when he moved to Germany like 40 years ago, I did it more than 10 years ago in France as a broken Erasmus student. It's nothing new but I'm glad more and more people are seeing the good part of it.
My sister & I have been doing this since the 80's. We called it dumpster diving because we saw items on the curb (at homes) or near dumpsters (at apt buildings). We have painted/stained, repaired, reupholstered or repurposed items & furnished our own apts on a budget. We branched out & started going to nicer neighborhoods the night before trash pickups & you would not believe the fantastic finds! Nothing more satisfying than scoring a treasure for free & giving it a new life & home. Keep this trend going!!
Okay, Kelsey the journalist! 👏 Love this for you, girl!! Like the new term for this! Such a neat thing to do! When I lived in Portland years ago I was all over this “stooping” but there’s much less of it in the town I’m at. That shouldn’t stop me though! I need to get back out there!!
HELLO, I am 65 and have been "Stooping" for 40 of them!! Ask my boys, they were late to school cause they had to help me pick up a entertainment cabinet from the curb. 12 years later my niece painted it from blue to green and used it for 4 years!
I've gotten most of my furniture for free over the years through free posts on places like Craigslist and use it often to get rid of items we don't need because we don't have a car and much prefer having things have a second life. This is a great doc style video! Love it!
I've been doing this for 40 yrs! Had no idea that this had evolved into a "thing". Now I'm in the mood to get rid of a bunch of stuff & put it out for others.
Moving into a house 2.5 months ago w no furniture. A TINY amount of shopping, a lot of thrifting and a ton of stooping later, I have a fully furnished house. its insane the amount of stuff you're able to find as long as you keep an eye out and dedicate a bit of time for TLC
I love this so much! Thank you for caring for the world and for spreading and sharing things that only bring positivity to our planet and to us people!
Putting something out on the curb for someone to take isn't anything new, but it's nice it has a dedicated term now. I don't think of stooping as a negative result of overconsumption, but actually a positive solution. It provides yourself and your neighbors the opportunity to give new life to an item without burdening the stooper or passerby with paying for it or buying something new from a corporation, and even better that one can do it anonymously with wider outreach too. This is particularly important in a time where budgets are tighter than ever and things continue to become more and more expensive. I've always considered thrift/consignment stores the last option before trash; if I'm going to give something away anyway, wouldn't I want it to go directly to someone who'll use it?
My husband used to work for a trash company and you wouldn't believe some of the things he said he found. Some of it brand new because they were remodeling, large items, he just threw out a set of golf clubs he picked up forever ago (he doesn't golf). Any town that has a college or university would be great for this. Thanks for sharing this info.
We have this in the UK, especially in shared garbage areas in big blocks of flats, but it’s a little different. People tend to put signs on items that say “free to a good home”, and it’s good practise to knock on the house’s door to ask if you can have the item if it’s not labelled. You can also do skip diving, if someone has a large skip they are filling with rubbish but you really should ask permission before you take anything. I’ve picked up some great things from skips over the years!
This isn't new, in every town I've ever lived people put stuff out by the road and someone comes along and picks it up. I've been thrifted and upcycling my whole life, and I'm old. And it wasn't so much because it needed to be saved from the landfill, it was necessary because I didn't always have the money to buy new things. Looking back, it was the smartest thing I ever did. I saved so much money not buying new, when I got to the point that I had the money to buy new- I still thrifted. :)
I live in Jamaica and I have been following Stooping NYC since they started. You are right though Kelsey it goes to show the over consumerism that exist in first world countries. I watch in awe at things been thrown out. In Jamaica we don't change our furniture unless its no longer usable. So stooping wouldn't work. I live vicariously through Stooping NYC's insta!
In a similar vein... Ames, Iowa does a "Rummage Ramp-age". Donations of items are accepted. A HUGE parking ramp is used for space, items are price marked. Volunteers are present to accept funds. This keeps many items in circulation, rather than in a dump.
my city has a free 'big trash pickup' the first week of each month. I've found several antique dressers, whole sets of dining chairs, a brand new wood French door, etc. I love the idea of stooping! great video! much love from Oklahoma!
We have a local Buy Nothing group and we love it. It is so much nicer to give things to people who want them than to give them to Goodwill and have them resold at an astronomical price. Plus we can ask for things and get things we need.
We definitely do this in rural areas too!! I think every desk and dresser in our house was snagged from the end of someone's driveway or yard. And our beautiful solid wood kitchen table too! I looove that it's becoming more normalized, with a cool new word to add to the green vernacular!!! We need lots more of that!!!! 🌳 🌍 🌳 ♥️😊👍👍👍
I love this concept! but in germany,where I live, is stooping illagel. You call the city to get rid of your old furniture and only than you are allowed to put the furniture outside. Everything will be picked up the next day.
Was thinking the same thing. Though people still sometimes do it with smaller items and put a note on it saying 'for free'. But you could still be fined for it, as it is deemed illegal littering.
I'm glad this is becoming a thing- I used to feel so much shame and get judgement from others when I told them that all my furniture were people's leftovers i.e. taken to the curb. It started out of a need essentially, I needed furniture but had no money. Plus I thought it was resourceful and good way to reduce waste. It's kind of when thrifting became trendy and lower-income consumers no longer felt the shame of buying second-hand items.
Here in Australia this happens mainly during hard rubbish days. People put out their larger furniture to be disposed of by the city council - before the city council does pickups, a lot of people wander around the neighbourhood for good finds.
This is great! I didn't know this was called stooping. It is the epitome of anticapitalism (noone is making a profit, we are using what we already have and it's based on community collaboration) love love love it
I love that this is a thing! I grew up doing this my whole life. Growing up on military bases in Canada in the 1980s (I was born in the late 70s) - this was super common! My mom got us doll houses and things we could have never afforded otherwise. She and friends would walk around the base the night before garbage day and then whoever was closest would go back and get the car. This is just the new and higher tech version of that (my grandfather used to do it while travelling the farm country back in the 1950s and 1960s) - so this is a super old tradition which I am glad is making a comeback
I have a bit of a crazy stoop story! My very soon-to-be husband invited me to his place for dinner on our third date, and while touring his apartment, I noticed a canvas I painted years prior above his bookshelf :) I'm not an artist, so I don't have artwork of mine just out in the world. I was painting for fun, didn't like how it turned out, and tossed it whilst moving out of an apartment. Days later (I was long gone), he saw it as he was moving into the building (he actually moved into the exact same apartment I had moved out of!), loved it, and kept it. It stayed with him during his next move (to the apartment he had when I met him), and we've had it in our possession ever since :)
Wow that's an awesome story. A bit like the yellow umbrella from How I met your mother. Love it. 😍
Fate ! It was meant to be what a lovely love story 🥰
Wow!
I want to see it!
That’s so cool!
One key thing to pay attention to for stooping is DATES. If you're in a renter-heavy area the last/first weekend of the month is gold because people are moving. If you're in a student heavy area, pay attention to when classes/semesters start and end as you'll often find the best stuff when kids are packing up in a hurry to leave after finals and can't fit everything and have no time to do anything except stoop/curb it, or are trying to cram multiple peoples stuff in to a tiny apartment and run out of space. If you're not located near either of these things, knowing what day trash pick up is or if your city does specific dates for large item trash pick up will help you know when to look to score the best stuff.
Yes!! Stooping got so big around campus dorms a few years ago, the campus made a spot open for 1 week to send items for the community to pick up! 💜
Yes, or college/university end of academic year when loads of people are moving out
Yes. When I lived in Montreal, July first was the best day to look for treasures. Unfortunately you also had to have a guard on your furniture when you move. I came out of my apartment to have two grannies trying to take two of my favourite chairs.
I thought you meant dates as in people going stooping for a romantic date.
As someone in a college area, i have seen many couches in May/June
My husband’s been “stooping” for years…and he just turned 60. I used to call it “trash picking” and he would counter with “treasure hunting.” Some of the most beautiful items in our home were other people’s cast-offs. I love the idea that there are now IG groups alerting people to these treasures, so they can go to new homes instead of becoming landfill.
Exactly, my family has done this my whole life.
My Aunt called it her "alley furniture" it was stuff that was literally in the NYC alleyways and she refurbished it so well that she was able to sell the pieces with her apartment.
Some other folks I know that lived in NYC would constantly update with new finds and put the old stuff out and observe out the window how long it would take for stuff to get taken....they had a horrible sofa that got taken in 5 minutes. They said it was great fun!
I remember driving around with my parents the night before trash day, can find such gems! And it’s fun!
Love this, love the remarketing of this concept cause literally it gets you shameful looks when it should be praised, lets give our shit a second, third, fourth life
@@muxajetaptocom honestly yeah... ive seen healthy plants that just needed a little care and love left on the ground next to trash cans many times and i wanted to get them so bad but everyone looks so judgmental and there were so many people around i just couldnt do it.. it's a shame
This is one of the best videos I've seen in months. So thoughtful and thought-provoking. Love the documentary format, and the fact you actually went out and showed the reality of it, of finding treasure, but also being too late to save things from landfill. Huge props to you Kelsey! And the TSG team as always. Love how you never fail to teach new ways of being a conscious, eco-friendly, sustainable person. It's also cool that it's all completely free. A lot of sustainable products are so expensive, so it's good to see free and cheap methods too
Part of the reason it is often too late to pick up things is that, in many cities, people can only put their big items out the day before large trash pick up (for us the first monday of the month) and so the window of opportunity is quite small.
When you guys filmed the garbage man picking up the chairs, I about died! I was yelling, 'Kelsey, go save it!' 😂
I cried.
RIP cool chair. 😭
I cannot believe that she didn’t grab the chair and put it in her car!!!
It’s like nature documentaries filming animals kill and eat each other 😕
This was so sad to watch
"Stoop" refers to hunting in relation to falcons - that's sort of a cool connection to hunting for treasure. It also refers to the front entrance/stairs of a house, where a lot of stoopable items might be placed. It's a great word and I think it really fits!
That’s interesting! English is my second language and I just recently learned that New Yorkers say stoop to the stairs leading up to their entrance. And that this is likely derived from the German word Stufe.
@@stephanieiv1163reagrding the sound, I think it derives from the Dutch word "stoep" which is pronounced stoop in Englisch. It means sidewalk. Knowing that NY once was called New Amsterdam and Amsterdam had and still has a lot of "stoops" that makes sense.
That's awesome!
@@judy-angedv7590 I was going to say that!! Your explanation is spot on.
@judy-ange: how cool is that! Thanks for explaining!
It's so annoying that the free section on FB marketplace is filled with no free items !
In Toronto or where you live ? Honestly the best is just to find out when garbage day or large item collection day is for any area and go out for a walk. There are also many free cycle FB group
I live in SoCal and i find way more luck on offer up for free stuff. I've gotten a wingback chair and a vintage desk from it. I never had luck on FB marketplace
Last time I checked it was full!
I know !!! In México a lot of people post stuff "free" so people click on it :(
i was just talking about this with my mum today! It is so annoying like when you click on "free" and talk to the seller, the "free" item is suddenly $30 or something. Like, why!!!!! I hate this so much.
This documentary style video is really fun and refreshing! Great editing too Nick + Justin! :)
Yesss i loved it tooo
Someone needs to do a video on the dos and don't of safe thrifting. Recently, inspired by The Sorry Girls thrifting, I bought a bed off fb Marketplace. It was only 3 months old and in perfect condition. Fast forward a couple of weeks later and I wake up with red bites all over me. Yes, bed bugs. When I started to look for information on the little bastards (excuse me French), all the information kept talking about second hand furniture and why it's dangerous to buy. I think it's rubbish and believe in upcycling and trying to repurpose furniture, but I wish someone in the hundreds of DIY videos I have watched, mentioned how to examine a thrifted piece for bed bugs or dust mites because I have literally just had to pay thousands of euros to get my apartment sprayed. I could have bought 5-6 brand new beds for the price.
Yea one thing is that buying fabric or upholstered items off marketplace, kijiji, Craigslist etc is a biiiiig Nono!! They also say wood is risky because bedbugs can chill in there too, but I have not experienced that.
The only thing that kills them is heat
@@heidiavera5071 Yep. Complete nightmare. I couldn't find one video telling people a safe way about going to buy second hand furniture.
@@vanessap7393 I wish I had have known before I bought it. I loved thrifting and I really believe in The Sorry Girls' ethos, but it would be nice if someone talked about the way to do it responsibly.
I came here for this comment! I like to “stoop” but I’m extremely selective and careful bc of bedbugs. Put thrifted clothes and pillows and linens into the washer with hot water, then in the dryer for AT LEAST an hour. If you can’t do it right away, then tie them up into a trash bag. For books, I put them in a reused ziplock into the freezer for at least a week. If you want to thrift a chair, it’s crucial to take a flashlight and look at the seams for little black dots. If you see 1… it’s a risk. If you see 2, it’s a definite no. The black dots are stains from them after they feed. Rugs are rare for them to live in, but I like to give rugs a thorough steam anyways.
TLDR: throw everything in the dryer that you can RIGHT AWAY, take the time to really inspect furniture for black dots
I almost cried when the garbage man picked up the swivel chair and smashed it!! I wish we had that around here.
Glad to hear I’m not the only one 🥲
me too
Sameeee
same
me too made me so emotional
My fam has done this for years - I’m sure others do, too. It started with “city cleanup days”, but we always hit the streets on trash day!!
Yep, have been doing this with my fam my entire live! My mom always wanted to drive around to see what was available on 'large garbage pickup' days and my first apartment in Toronto was furnished almost exclusively this way!
People in Latin America countries have been doing it since for ever , it’s nice other countries are doing it too
Same! Been doing this since I was a child.
Yep, the area I grew up in would have "trash amnesty" weekends when people can put out large items without having to pay the extra fee for the trash pickup. Best time of year to go for a walk, you always come home with something new to refurbish!
Same! Everybody I know understands that if it's on the street in front of someone's house, it's up for grabs.
Not to be a massive buzzkilll but from someone who’s building keeps getting bed bug infestations, please be careful what you pick up from the curb!
I’m not sure if this helps but I’ve heard people wrapping and tying soft furniture in large bags/trash bags and keeping it like that for some days. Maybe others have solutions for soft furniture
facts. roaches too
@@rollercoaster24 Bed bugs can live without feeding for 6 months. This will do nothing - you are much better off learning the signs of bed bugs and inspecting anything you want to take home.
@@Lynsey17 They can live without feeding for 6 months but they can't live without oxygen. In a well-sealed bag they will not survive for longer than 1 week at most. A well-sealed bag placed in the sun is even better, as it heats up to a temperature high enough to kill the bugs and their eggs.
I just said the same thing
Stooping is a new word describing an old concept!! I've been curb side shopping for years!! I love it!
my biggest concerns when I see something that is cute and functional , I immediately think “ omg , what if they had bedbugs 😅.”
In fact there's a wealthy part of our town where there is one lady who redecorates a room every year. And so around big trash pickup you will find a complete room at her curb. All the other women in town take turns on who gets it.
That's pretty cool!
The filming and editing of this video felt like some kind of mini documentary. Really well done, team TSG!
My favorite item was the “Happy Birthday” balloons. Definitely a normally single use item that would’ve ended up in the garbage got reused several times! Love it!
I really enjoyed seeing the photos from the people who claimed the items that Kelsey left out, because it was really nice to see those items getting a second life. Also! Those people did such a good job decorating their spaces.
In my neighborhood we can only put things out 1 day before garbage days or we can be fined. But "stooping" has been a way of survival (for people with limited funds) for forever. Glad it's mainstream now and not shameful/embarrassing anymore. There used to be s stigma behind it
My first apartment back in the early 1980s had a lot of "stooped" furniture: a hide-a-bed sofa for the living room, a real wood coffee table, a metal record stand used as a side table, two chrome frame kitchen chairs, etc... It was just called salvaging or less kindly, scavenging. These days when I see upholstered items I wonder if there is an unsanitary reason for it being tossed to the curb, unless there is a sign on it stating it is okay.
I thought this was normal, how it always was growing up, people leave stuff on the curb for others for free, and there’s apps and sites you can use to post and locate items, never heard of that word to refer to it though!
It is very normal (at least in my country), now it's just "intagreamable"
@@charoraimondogarcia jep exactly my thought where I live in europe its just part of our city life. I find it very funny when such things suddenly get picked up from influencers and get called this new trendy shiny thing.
@@cruelaz yes! especially when they are like "no one is tallking about this!!"
Ha yeah... there would be times when my mom and I would go to the richer areas on Bulk Trash Night just to go treasure hunting.
It's not just Europe. In Chicago we put things neatly in the alley intending for someone to find it, and grab things we like. I've had several trash finds that lived in my apartments over the years. It's just the equivalent of "gentrified" now.
I stooped a solid teak shelving unit a few months ago and DIYed it into two side tables! It's definitely my go to. My city also has one day a month where garbage collection takes big items - so that's the best stooping day around!! (or the night before ... because the cover of darkness makes me less anxious)
literally iconic!!
My city does "curb side give-away" weekends a few times a year, designated weekends to put by the curb things that you don't want anymore but are too good to throw in the trash.
When I was young & lived in a suburb of LA... every spring: 1 trash pickup large items were free!!! My girlfriends & I cruised around in our pickups (under cover of darkness) for the major scorage. Flotation boat cushions, a fridge that worked, dressers, an antique rocking chair, etc. We did accept requests from non-truck owning friends. 40 yrs ago now, I wonder if it's still a thing 🤔
I'm retired to the country. There's a free shelf near the PO where neighbors leave give-aways.
@@brandyjean7015 you had to pay fees for garbage collection? Extra for larger pieces? Wow! Is it still that way today? I like it better when that is something taxes do, it provides benefits for everyone And the environment as well. When there are no extra fees, no financial barriers to participating in legal refuse disposal, there is no need for cash strapped folk to illegally dump things and no financial incentive for tight-wads neither. (When garbage collection is owned and run by tax payers collectively, the people can have open knowledge of the books and have a say in how the business is run, through their elected representative, ensuring it is run efficiently at cost and not making some political crony rich. Less need/opportunity for all sorts of shenanigans, like less chance of politicians peddling influence and taking kick-backs, less opportunity for code violations, corner cutting, or for profit skimming as is often done by businesses that have government contracts, etc..) I lived and saw first hand it results in less littering, and far less garbage laying, blowing, and rolling around. Less illegal dumping helps keep water cleaner too. Our cottage neighbourhood PO has a cupboard for non-perishable food items and there is one for books near the brook, but for old furniture, cottagers often go "antiquing " at yard sales and the thrift stores and antiques shoppes that are popping up everywhere.
@@bevmacdonald9008 basic weekly garbage pickup & later recycling was, I believe, included in the water & power bill. Large/bulky items you would call to schedule a pickup & yes there was a charge. You could transport your unwanted fridge to the city managed dump & pay there too. Either way, it was going to cost you.
Our free table collects knuckle knacks, small appliances, children's toys, extra produce, cleaning supplies. You just never know...
Be careful when picking up upholstery items! Once we picked up a couch that looked in really good condition but it had a cockroach nest in it, we found out in the least fun way 😅
Lol I always ask if the person wanting it gone for free and look before touching 😄
In Australia it’s called hard rubbish and the council gives a week per suburb to put everything out before picking it up. Have been doing it since I was little and we didn’t have money for furniture. Mum always made it like a game to see who could spot something good the fastest and get it in the car. A lot of councils are stopping it now and have tip shops where they pick through and sell items but it’s not the same
When I lived in SF we called it the giving river. I'm glad to hear about this and it makes it easier to find really locally.
We call ourselves trash fairies in my house 🥰
love this omg
I love this so much! All of the furniture in my house is secondhand, and since wood is so expensive, if I want to DIY something with wood, I drive around looking for people who've put out large wood items that I can use to create what I want. I'm in the process of building a work bench for myself and everything it's made of (except the wheels) are cast offs.
haha life long "stooper" here! You're right, Kelsey. It's nice having an easy and cute word to describe picking items out of other people's trash. Makes it easier to start the conversation!
This video is awesome. It's such a natural progression from your usual content to be even more meaningful, inspiring, and impactful. I'm continually impressed by you and proud that you represent the positive changes in your generation.
I am a big fan of picking stuff up off the street - My roommate has even started stopping at random "trash" to send me pics
Slogan suggestion: “don’t be stoopid,
Stoop it!”
Except stupid is a slur against disabled people 🙈🙈
@@galli0 stupid is not stoopid 😌
Classic! Love it!!
@@galli0 Which ones a slur against disabled people? -Disabled person.
Great!
Amazing! I watched you video and went for a walk in our city's ravine doing some garbage picking and found an aerobic stepper. I was like "I stooped!!" and my partner looked at me funny haha. Brought it home, cleaned it up and now it's in my gym. Funny enough I was thinking of getting one and the universe answered.
Over a decade ago my sister was telling me "When you are looking to get your own place and need furniture, hit up the houses near the college near end of the year." Because they leave furniture out on the curb so they don't have to pay movers, she would tell me it's a gold mine for household items.
Straight from Wiki:
"Curb Mining" is the act of salvaging appliances, electronics, furniture and art discarded on the street ("curbside"). In cities around the world, people often dispose of furniture and other unwanted items by leaving them on the sidewalk for others to take.
Terms similar to curb mining include "dumpster diving" and "freeganism"
In French, we call it "Faire les encombrants" and I think it's beautiful
I really enjoyed seeing this "reporter Kelsey", very professional and well done! 👏 It was also great to hear about stooping!
Who knows Kelsey might be a host or narrator for a documentary in the future, I think this was an open application!
Everytime I watch these sustainable videos my heartbreaks because these practices to be mindful of how we consume things is the crux of Asian and Indian cultures for over a million years... Forgotten because of our colonised education and globalisation... Feels like we're back to step 1 but i welcome it wholeheartedly ❤️
This comment is just strange! First of all humankind exists for just about a million years. Secondly, in western countries buying everything new all the time is a relatively new thing to do and started in the last fifty years. It’s more of a Symptome of capitalism than of colonialism. China is producing soooo many products and is the leading capitalistic country of this world.
same ❤️ as an Indian I wholeheartedly agree 💯
Damn the garbage collecting part hit me. Even more because I'm French, in France the garbage collectors don't take the furniture people left on the street and/or with the trash. If you want to get rid of something you have to bring it to the recycling center. But a lot of people don't go because there's not a lot of them (like one center per groups of towns) so it can be really far from your location, and if your car can't fit the pieces you want to get rid of it also becomes a problem! We also have the bulky waste, a local service which come take the furnitures like once a month or if you fix an appointment beforehand. ALL THAT TO SAY, that I think we're pretty lucky in stooping because you can go and take some furnitures by the streets because we know it's not gonna disappear and go in a landfill anytime soon.
But I must admit I don't see a lot of it in my area, maybe because thrifting is not that big of a thing YET as well. Like, we don't have big thrift shops like you have in America, which makes me really jealous!!
We've always just called it trash picking. I love it-- I've gotten furniture, accessories, you name it. I always crane my neck at a big pile on the curb!
Thank you! I was like, "did we really just rename garbage picking/ dumpster diving?!" 🤣 I've done this with my grandpa since I was a little girl in the 90s.
My daughter lived in Japan 20 years ago and stooping was a way of life among the expats.
A group of us who lived in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia were into stooping discarded furniture in the early 1990’s. We refinished, reupholstered, and repurposed furniture and donated it to charities that were assisting others who needed some previously loved items. Share the love!
really changes the phrase '"stooping" to a whole new level' 😅 I love this concept!
In New Zealand we used to have these coumnal anual events called inorganic where one week of the year you would put everything thing you didn't want out on the curb. Things that weren't objective trash like old tvs, trays for ovens, mini fridges, sofas, kids toys, broken chairs ect and it was free to take and at the end of the week the council would come buy with rubish trucks and take away what was left. You used to go for a walk and look at eveything people put out on the road and take what you wanted and I'm so upset that our gov decided to save money on not hiring dump trucks and put an end to this tradition. You can still orgnise it but it never happens anymore.
We've always put our unwanted usable furniture on our curb. It's great that it's becoming more common.
In Portland, Oregon we have "free piles" that people put out for others to stoop from. They're all over the different neighborhoods and people post them in the local buy nothing group. It's a pretty cool to see so many people trying to give things a second home. A lot of our house has come from picking things up this way and it gives everything more of a story to share with friends.
I'm showing my age here, but before Craigslist, Marketplace, and Kadji there was the OG thrift stooping site - ebay! 😂 I inherited my Mom's home in a senior community. I've gotten some gems "stooping" at my neighbors homes! Most recently, there was an outdoor plant stand with cute bones, UGLY/rusted exterior. With VERY little TLC, I sold it a few months later for $25! I was channeling my inner TSG for sure! 🥰
I look forward to my Tuesdays because of TSG, great video!
I stooped my kitchen and bathroom cabinets, countertops, shower glass, vinyl flooring, dressers, office drawers, patio furniture, kitchen chairs. Being my first place, I saved so much money DIYing. I believed I could do it thanks to TSG & Mr. Kate’s channels, and I’m so grateful for the female representation.
Sorry Girls upload notifications are my favourite notifications
🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
yes and yes
My father in law has done it for decades and had found some amazing things. He had the advantage of driving a truck, so had room for nice surprises along the way.
I really hope this will be a thing in Norway as well! I was moving once, and had to leave behind some really nice things. I placed them on the curb with a sign, but got an angry call from my neighbor - telling me I had to throw "the junk" away.
The new level of story telling you guys have been doing lately has been so good!!!
What amazing items to be found there! In my city you can get fined if you put furniture at the side of the road without an appointment for pickup, so there's not much to stoop.
Same in my country
Here too, but it's the HOA people you have to worry about. So we walk around the block the day before bulk trash pickup. Sometimes you can get a really cool thing or two.
Most of our furniture is free off the streets from trash days! I have found $10,000 Tibetan rugs, an early 19th century dresser, countless rag rugs that were easily washed, ikea plates, terracotta flower pots.. so many great things. They all add so much character to our already eclectic home. I can’t remember the last time we bought anything new, furniture wise because of stooping/thrift stores.
I've made so much extra cash flipping 'stooped' finds, they are my favorite!
Kelsey, this is one of your best videos. I loved every minute of it and am excited that more people are able to access re-salvageable items for free. As someone who personally is a little frustrated with how places like depop are being used by chronic overconsumers (especially influencers) in a way that facilitates the continued spending, I like that this is taking something in the community that already exists, helps those of lesser means, and doesn't directly reward over spenders.
I’ve been stooping with my family since a kiddo (we call it curb goodie hunting) It’s our fav form of thrifting!! Best stooped item: a MCM solid teak desk and matching teak mirror 🤌🏼💋
That’s so cool! Do y’all go on a certain day of the month/time of day, or just when y’all feel like it?
@@JessRodriguez1111 The evening right before garbage day! My community also has two "big garbage pickup" days so the entire week is curb goodie central 😁
Finally, a name for the thing I've been doing to furnish my house!!! Over here we have "Buy Nothing" groups.
I didn’t know the name of it. But I still use a stooped Art Deco dresser I found in 1993 for example. 😄
At the time, my boyfriend was constantly ashamed by me. But thanks to me his empty flat was finally well furnished.
This is so cool! Here in Germany stooping is illegal (considered theft) so there aren’t any communities around it. However, everyone still does it. Whenever someone puts furniture out on the curb you can watch people sneakily grabbing it and oftentimes replacing it with their own furniture as soon a the sun goes down. Oftentimes the amount and the exact items vary greatly throughout the night before everything is picked up.
But usually individual items of furniture aren’t just put out on the curb like that in Germany. There are furniture collections a couple of times a year for a few of blocks of flats at a time or you have to pay for a collection. People definitely take things on those occasions and I have never heard anyone complain or say this is illegal. Recently I have also seen more people put boxes with smaller things to give away in front of their houses.
Love the new kind of video! I appreciate y’all pushing what The Sorry Girls do while still keeping it relevant 👍🏽
Been doing this forever so has my grandmother whenever she saw something on the side of the road she carried it home she was a strong German woman
Half economic necessity and half duty to keep usable items out of landfills haha glad everyone else is finding value in others trash I’m sure there’s more than enough to go around
In my uni city in Germany it's very normal for people to just put things they don't need anymore in front of their house. Sometimes it's boxes with dishes, books or clothes but also furniture or planks of wood. Anything goes. The younger population really is not just throwing their stuff away.
That's true! i live in Germany (am Canadian) and people leave things in small boxes with the mention "zu verschenken" (to give away) on the sidewalk all the time. I even did this more than once!
You are an incredible human being. You are constantly improving the community, YOU ARE!!!
We stooped a replica eames lounge chair in 2020, and then we found out it was my mother-in-law's coworker that had put it out! It worked out nicely, because she gave us the matching ottoman when she found out 😊
I like this video format style. Not too forced. Natural. Creative but not pretentious and also acknowledging the attempt at creativity (the home camera style footage). It’s refreshing :) some DIY based channels can be tacky and buzzfeedy and the opposite side feels too forced and stiff. This is nice and chill
It's interesting to finally (on my part) see a term for this activity. I've seen people stooping my whole life! I think stooping and other activities similar to stooping have existed for a long time (check out the history of gleaning).
Besides being the beginning of garage sale season, May-June is a great time to go stooping in college towns!
This was so interesting! The quality of the channels videos have been so great lately - I've learned so much the last few weeks! I didn't know there was such a big stooping community and loved learning about it in this mino-doc style
Hey! The discord link is expired! When you go to get a link you have to select the option for it not to expire! Not sure if you guys have mods/admins for the server but I'm sure they could help out if you run into any troubles. I would love to join so hope I get the chance in the future! 💕
I wish this was possible in the netherlands, people either donate their stuff or directly bring it to the landfill 😭
Well not in Amsterdam 😂
@@lera9reen It's illegal to put furniture items on your stoop to get rid of them. Trash pickup only picks up trash cans, no loose items. So we have no choice but to either donate or bring it to the landfill ourselves.
@@Juulx1 depends on your city though! In bigger cities it is allowed
Agreed!! In London this is called flytipping. And it's illegal to put heavy items in the street. You can have to put it on your own property.
Nee hoor. Hier in gouda gebeurt het best vaak
It’s funny because I already knew what you were talking about from the vid title but I had no clue about the depth of stooping and the community. I love it!
You can ONLY put your things out the evening before the garbage truck comes early the next morning here. Nobody wants junk to litter the street all week.
My dad used to do that when he moved to Germany like 40 years ago, I did it more than 10 years ago in France as a broken Erasmus student. It's nothing new but I'm glad more and more people are seeing the good part of it.
Garbage sailing love it
My sister & I have been doing this since the 80's. We called it dumpster diving because we saw items on the curb (at homes) or near dumpsters (at apt buildings). We have painted/stained, repaired, reupholstered or repurposed items & furnished our own apts on a budget. We branched out & started going to nicer neighborhoods the night before trash pickups & you would not believe the fantastic finds! Nothing more satisfying than scoring a treasure for free & giving it a new life & home. Keep this trend going!!
Okay, Kelsey the journalist! 👏 Love this for you, girl!!
Like the new term for this! Such a neat thing to do! When I lived in Portland years ago I was all over this “stooping” but there’s much less of it in the town I’m at. That shouldn’t stop me though! I need to get back out there!!
These are getting so artsy and well produced, I'm in love!
I love all the content but I would love a good ole decor diy💖💖
I can’t believe u let that wood chair die! It was so cute.
HELLO, I am 65 and have been "Stooping" for 40 of them!! Ask my boys, they were late to school cause they had to help me pick up a entertainment cabinet from the curb. 12 years later my niece painted it from blue to green and used it for 4 years!
To be honest, I subscribed because Kelsey is a pretty redhead
I've gotten most of my furniture for free over the years through free posts on places like Craigslist and use it often to get rid of items we don't need because we don't have a car and much prefer having things have a second life. This is a great doc style video! Love it!
I've been doing this for 40 yrs! Had no idea that this had evolved into a "thing". Now I'm in the mood to get rid of a bunch of stuff & put it out for others.
Moving into a house 2.5 months ago w no furniture. A TINY amount of shopping, a lot of thrifting and a ton of stooping later, I have a fully furnished house. its insane the amount of stuff you're able to find as long as you keep an eye out and dedicate a bit of time for TLC
I love this so much! Thank you for caring for the world and for spreading and sharing things that only bring positivity to our planet and to us people!
Putting something out on the curb for someone to take isn't anything new, but it's nice it has a dedicated term now.
I don't think of stooping as a negative result of overconsumption, but actually a positive solution. It provides yourself and your neighbors the opportunity to give new life to an item without burdening the stooper or passerby with paying for it or buying something new from a corporation, and even better that one can do it anonymously with wider outreach too. This is particularly important in a time where budgets are tighter than ever and things continue to become more and more expensive. I've always considered thrift/consignment stores the last option before trash; if I'm going to give something away anyway, wouldn't I want it to go directly to someone who'll use it?
OmFG TYSM for using my video yes yes yes to everything in this vid! Love y’all & stooping
My husband used to work for a trash company and you wouldn't believe some of the things he said he found. Some of it brand new because they were remodeling, large items, he just threw out a set of golf clubs he picked up forever ago (he doesn't golf). Any town that has a college or university would be great for this. Thanks for sharing this info.
We have this in the UK, especially in shared garbage areas in big blocks of flats, but it’s a little different. People tend to put signs on items that say “free to a good home”, and it’s good practise to knock on the house’s door to ask if you can have the item if it’s not labelled. You can also do skip diving, if someone has a large skip they are filling with rubbish but you really should ask permission before you take anything. I’ve picked up some great things from skips over the years!
This isn't new, in every town I've ever lived people put stuff out by the road and someone comes along and picks it up. I've been thrifted and upcycling my whole life, and I'm old. And it wasn't so much because it needed to be saved from the landfill, it was necessary because I didn't always have the money to buy new things. Looking back, it was the smartest thing I ever did. I saved so much money not buying new, when I got to the point that I had the money to buy new- I still thrifted. :)
I live in Jamaica and I have been following Stooping NYC since they started. You are right though Kelsey it goes to show the over consumerism that exist in first world countries. I watch in awe at things been thrown out. In Jamaica we don't change our furniture unless its no longer usable. So stooping wouldn't work. I live vicariously through Stooping NYC's insta!
In a similar vein...
Ames, Iowa does a "Rummage Ramp-age".
Donations of items are accepted.
A HUGE parking ramp is used for space, items are price marked.
Volunteers are present to accept funds.
This keeps many items in circulation, rather than in a dump.
my city has a free 'big trash pickup' the first week of each month. I've found several antique dressers, whole sets of dining chairs, a brand new wood French door, etc. I love the idea of stooping! great video! much love from Oklahoma!
We have a local Buy Nothing group and we love it. It is so much nicer to give things to people who want them than to give them to Goodwill and have them resold at an astronomical price. Plus we can ask for things and get things we need.
I loved this documentary format!
We definitely do this in rural areas too!! I think every desk and dresser in our house was snagged from the end of someone's driveway or yard. And our beautiful solid wood kitchen table too! I looove that it's becoming more normalized, with a cool new word to add to the green vernacular!!! We need lots more of that!!!! 🌳 🌍 🌳 ♥️😊👍👍👍
I love this concept! but in germany,where I live, is stooping illagel. You call the city to get rid of your old furniture and only than you are allowed to put the furniture outside. Everything will be picked up the next day.
Was thinking the same thing. Though people still sometimes do it with smaller items and put a note on it saying 'for free'. But you could still be fined for it, as it is deemed illegal littering.
Love how you casually made a documentary about stopping. Elevates your channels’ purpose.
Everyone in the comments talking about stooping, but I wanted to say how much I loved this style of video! Would be keen for more like this
I'm glad this is becoming a thing- I used to feel so much shame and get judgement from others when I told them that all my furniture were people's leftovers i.e. taken to the curb. It started out of a need essentially, I needed furniture but had no money. Plus I thought it was resourceful and good way to reduce waste. It's kind of when thrifting became trendy and lower-income consumers no longer felt the shame of buying second-hand items.
You guys, this is THE video format that suits your style and mission. What a great, dynamic, video!
Here in Australia this happens mainly during hard rubbish days. People put out their larger furniture to be disposed of by the city council - before the city council does pickups, a lot of people wander around the neighbourhood for good finds.
This is great! I didn't know this was called stooping. It is the epitome of anticapitalism (noone is making a profit, we are using what we already have and it's based on community collaboration) love love love it
I love that this is a thing! I grew up doing this my whole life.
Growing up on military bases in Canada in the 1980s (I was born in the late 70s) - this was super common! My mom got us doll houses and things we could have never afforded otherwise. She and friends would walk around the base the night before garbage day and then whoever was closest would go back and get the car. This is just the new and higher tech version of that (my grandfather used to do it while travelling the farm country back in the 1950s and 1960s) - so this is a super old tradition which I am glad is making a comeback
6:14 Damn that compactor just crushed my heart along with that gorgeous brown chair