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Alleys of Coronado Make Things Disappear

Many streets in Coronado have alleys behind homes. In most cases, they are primarily used to enter into one's garage or store your EDCO trash cans.

One of the many secrets of Coronado is that if you place any type of furniture, clothing, books, toaster or even a kitchen sink, chances are those items will be gone in less than 30 minutes. In fact, we've seen an item vanish in less than 5 before. Why does this happen?

There are people that make it their practice to 'cruise' Coronado alleys looking for 'donated' items that sit near trashcans. They are usually driving vans or trucks and can cover the entire village of Coronado in a matter of hours. This practice is allowed as long as the item is free and being discarded. However, we did want to give you a few tips if you want the 'alley cruisers' to only take the things you are donating:

Clearly mark an item that is being donated as "free".
If you are leaving something out for a buddy to pick up, do not put it in the alley unattended.
Do NOT leave your bike, stroller, wagon or other 'mobile' item in the alley without it being locked up.
If you don't like donating to alleys, you can always contact AMVETS or Coronado thrift stores.

If you have had an "alley scavenger" experience or something disappear from your alley, please share it in the comments.

Tags: community

9 members like this

Comment by Kristie Grimaud on February 22, 2011 at 2:06pm: Our neighbor told us that he has a friend in North County that had an old washer sitting in his alley for 4 months. He didn't want to pay the disposal fee, so he brought it down to my neighbor's house who put it in our alley, and it was gone in 2 hours.

Comment by Jim Fader on February 22, 2011 at 8:08pm: I noticed this 'curious local phenomena' when I briefly lived in the village. Out here in the cays you have to walk it out to the dumpsters to make the magic happen.

I got rid of my old mattress and box spring this way (I'm happy our local gardeners were able to put it to good use). Appliances, broken or not, just seem to just disappear into the ether.

Yeah, I have never seen anything like it anywhere else.

Comment by Tim Brooks on February 23, 2011 at 12:40pm: Another problem with the quick pick-ups is the fast driving they do to get to the recycled treasures first. We have young neighbor children who ride on the sidewalks that cross our alley. I worry about them being hit as I listen to the ever increasing traffic of alley scavengers.

Comment by Jonathan Burns on February 23, 2011 at 11:25pm: I see no problem putting furniture and related out for alley scavengers and pickers.

However, you must consider the risks of putting certain machinery and electronics out for pickup. Some items are illegal to leave out long term and it is best to check with the local law enforcement. Best example are refrigerators (it's not the cfcs so much as the risk of children getting trapped in the old refrigerators.) You can face hefty fines if caught. Same goes with industrial chemicals like paint and oil. It's best to donate paint to the fire department (for free on saturdays in their parking lot) then give it away to a stranger.

And we've all put electronics out to be picked up whether working or not. I find it's better to wait for a ewaste holiday pickup in town (like the one organized by mayor tanaka a while back) or just drive to a local recycle center or authorized pickup site. I find there is usually no additional fee for drop off (since most people pay a recycle tax upfront during purchase in this state.) Besides, semi-conductors in personal computers have become so cheap that there really isn't any need to give away second hand computer parts anymore in the drop off alley fashion. All you're really doing is risking the contribution to ewaste pollution in your local area and water table.

Same goes with Cathode Ray Tube TVs, CRT monitors, LCD screens, etc don't put them out in the alley - give them to the fire department for recycling or a friend. If someone foolishly throws a rock at a crt monitor or takes a hammer to it, they can be severely injured (shards of glass and possible explosion of shards of glass since there is a vacuum tube inside and I've seen morons mess with cathode-based sets without wearing any protection.)

Also, if you get a bed bug infested mattress or something similar, do the world a favor and get it properly disposed of. Don't leave it out for the next victim.

But

Comment by Jonathan Burns on February 23, 2011 at 11:26pm: But fixer-uppers or anything similar, I don't see a problem with that as long as you are not obstructing the few or path of moving vehicles or creating some kind of hazard.

Comment by Jennifer Lund on February 24, 2011 at 7:52am: This can be a great way to get rid of large unwanted items (like a broken clothes dryer).

However, a previous roommate was moving out. We have an upstairs apartment and lowered a grill down from the balcony on a rope. By the time they exited the house and walked around back, the grill was gone. Yikes!

Comment by Pamela on April 26, 2011 at 11:42am: I think you have to be careful to indicate items are not meant for the recyclers--it seems to be the default that anything left in the alley unattended is "free." So if it's not, make it obvious... I love that I can put items out there for donation and know that someone somewhere is getting use from things we no longer need. And it's more convenient than having to call for a pickup from Amvets, etc. Also, another good resource for donating items is Freecycle--do a google search, there is one in most communities. People post what they need or what they are offering and others respond. It's a great resource for donating items you don't really know what to do with (like building materials, etc.) and keep them from the landfills.