Several years ago ours was open to everyone and not monitored. Now it is fenced with people at the gate.You pull into a large barn to dispose of household trash and other stuff is disposed of in different places depending on what it is.Can't take anything out anymore,but I'm sure the people who work there haul out some pretty good stuff from time to time. Ours is only open Mon-Fri from 8AM to 5PM,and just recently started to open until noon on Sat. They are also closed on holidays. What do people do that only have weekends to haul stuff off,or spend their day off on a holiday to clean up and haul off? I have voiced those concerns to "Letters to the Editor" in our local paper and after the last one they started staying open half a day Sat. Don't know if it was my letter that made a difference or not. They could keep it open 24/7 with very little manpower. The city council just passed a thing where we now have to pay $5. to dump anything there which is ridiculous. Our city residents have to pay fees that are tacked onto their water bill every month for garbage pickup so why should they have to pay extra if "THEY" haul their own trash off?? A lot of people are upset about the fee to the extent that they take their trash and dump it at the gate of the city landfill on weekends and after hours. Wonder if someone will get the hint? LOL Sorry,I didn't mean to go into so much detail here but this is a sore spot with me!..............Lillie

Ours is BORING.. and HIGH securtity like those mentioned.. its such a bummer. I don't even go with my husband anymore since it often makes me cry.. last time I went there was this OH SO COOL old metal fencing.. I begged to take it.. offered money.. but no good. Heart breaking.

Maddiemom

Toomuchglass, our town dump is set up almost the same way! And it's also no fun! Plus, the guy who manages the compost/brush area takes his job WAY too seriously! He goes absolutely crazy should you back your car in the wrong way!! We also have to pay to dump everything, except for compost/brush type stuff.

I remember when I was little, and we'd visit my grandmother up in VT, we used to love to go to the dump! We'd always find the neatest things! People always used to go to the dump, there's lots to be found there. I guess one man's trash is certainly another's treasure!

Here you pay. They ask what type of garbage you are dumping and weight the vehicle....on the way out you are weighed again....so you can't even get anything "good" in the pickings...*sigh*. One of the little islands off this place has a "free store" where you are welcome to browse and bring in anything and leave with anything. I'm envious

ours is set up in a much different way. We have the official dump that you drive up to get your vehicle weighed then drive up. It has separate bins for different waste.
Then you drive out and get weighed again and pay five bucks.
This is standard no matter how little you leave behind.
We also have a recycle center there that you can bring in and leave whatever you can't use but is still usable.
There are several volunteers that help organize and keep as tidy as possible. We ask for a fair donation to help keep the power and the heat on in winter.
On Tuesday I was there for about four hours and the stuff that came in and went out was incredible. Sometimes we just can't keep up with the amounts. But we had a lady who lost everything in a fire and we gave her almost a whole houseful of stuff! Kitchen table chairs dishes pots couch everything to get set up.
Today I was there for three hours and helped set up a young couple with two little girls that just emigrated to Canada and were just getting moved into thier own apt. and needed everything. I found the cutest little green bunny rabbit and although her english was limited she squeeled and yelled like you wouldn't believe. SHe was the cutest little girl. Then I showed her the play kitchen set and wow that went over really well.
I kept her busy for a bit while her dad moved a couch and chair and then just before they left I showed the mom two little girl's bikes that had been dropped off only a couple of hours earlier.
It's such a great feeling to be able to help people out like this.
We do have the abusers of the center. There are those that come in and take everything and then take it to thier store or place of business and sell it. We do try to curb this if we can. Unfortunately these are the same people that will put pennies in the donation box.
But I would say for the most part people are pretty fair about it and the center has made money ove the past couple of years.
I will say that even though I work there and put in upto ten hours a week I still pay my donation for whatever I get even if it's only a little.
When I wasn't working and had no money they gave me an exercise bike and a good chair for my back to help me out. SO now three years later I am there a lot.
It's a lot of work for a few people but after helping people out like I have been able to twice in the past couple of days it's a great thing. junkette

Ours is in a warehouse. You drive up to the pay window and they charge you by how much stuff you have (cubic ft). The minimum is $13.70 even if you only have one trash bag. A normal size pickup load that isn't cab high full is usually the min. So you want to make the best of it when you go. They do charge extra for appliances. Then you drive into a huge warehouse that has spaces marked off to back into. They have people to wave you in. Definitely not a fun place. You dump your stuff on the cement floor and then every once in a while a big loader comes along and scoops it up into a truck and then they haul it off to some mysterious landfill. Not quite sure where it is. No going through the stuff at our dump !!!!

our landfill is on the river.there are large metal bins. there is a large building with garage doors racks for usable clothes shoe racks and a set of shelves. you weight to go in and weigh to go out so they can decide if recycling is worth the trouble.patrons can leave working appliances etc.volunteers and county citizens that are find for litter.are used to straighten.trash thaT IS RECYCLABLE is not charge only disposible items are charge extra.
we also are charged 125 per household on our taxes.

In mD I loved it b/c we had a little usuable section where people could put things still in good shape after about a week if items were left they'd put them in trash but here in S Fl NO fun. just one of my mnay complaints. I joined freecycle since I could go search myself now I do it via web.
lol-heather

Our recycle dump used to be a great place to shop for junk. (mostly glass or metal) Then a big outfit came in to run it and now it's no fun. I still peruse the glass bin, but the metal discard is put in a huge dumpster and you have to pay to leave anything big (or small) in the dumpster. We recycle cans, aluminum, glass, mags, paper, plastic and anything metal that can be put in the large dumpster (usually just a few $$), and compost the rest. I've certainly found some great items at the recycle dump when it was run by a federal grant for county recyling. The man who ran it didn't care what you took. And at Christmas to encourage tree recycling, he'd give away dogwood trees. My house is full of the stuff I hauled home. Around here, there must be dozens of garbage collection agencies. Yesterday, I curb shopped 6 large boxes of Pergo-type floor laminate. We're going to rip out the carpet in our camper and put the flooring in it.

I think these places should let folks shop their goods. It continues to keep the waste out of the landfills. They should be paying us!

Alice