When I was young and poor and couldn’t afford to buy furniture, I always kept an eye open for curbside upgrades to my existing furniture. I’d drag home a better couch and then wrestle my old couch out to the curb. A few hours later I might see someone else dragging my old couch away because it was better than their old couch. There’s this whole garbage-day scavenger economy going on out there, and without it, a lot of people wouldn’t have any furniture at all.
But I don’t think I’d participate in the scavenger economy anymore – at least not with upholstered furniture. This couch was sitting on the curb on Nepean Street a couple of days ago. I think it was awfully good of the people who discarded it to leave a note for would-be scavengers.
Bedbug Resources:
City of Ottawa Bedbugs Page
As I lay me down to EEK
Bedbugs Spread in Ottawa
Bedbugs Infest Woman’s Apartment (CTV)
Bedbugs coming soon to a single-family home near you (Globe and Mail)
Bed bug resurgence crawls into urban centres (National Review of Medicine)
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ah. bless their little hearts. so nice that they would do such a thing and be looking out for others like that.
I remember Mom and Orley getting bitten by bedbugs at the Royal York in Toronto…and getting a free extra night as compensation, I think.
I furnished my garage that way when I was 15.
Oh.My.God.
After my FIRST bedbug infestation, which was a horrible experience, I made a decision to NEVER buy second hand furniture because the exterminator said it’s the worst thing ever – even Sally Anns have bedbugs (this was in Victoria). Very, very nice of those people to leave that note because bedbugs are absolutely horrific and a real pain in the ass to get rid of.
First off, that is exactly the way furniture like that should be disposed of, with a note clearly indicating that it has bedbugs.
However, that looks like a great piece of furniture and there are some methods you can use to salvage it. I’m not sure what your environment is like there, but perhaps you could bag it and set it in the sun, etc.
Avoid the Sous Bois Hostel in Montreal. They have had a bedbug infestation for about five years.
Now that is one good citizen.
Wait! This is a sofa. Why are bedbugs in it? This is what happens when you fall asleep on the sofa — species get confused
Needless to say we did not accept the free night!
“I’m not sure what your environment is like there, but perhaps you could bag it and set it in the sun, etc.”
Killing bedbugs is really tough. They can live a year without food, and survive quite a bit of heat or cold.
I double-bagged everything I brought with me to that hostel, waited for winter, and then left it all in sub-zero temperatures for five days.
This reminds me of a horrible experience I had when I was 8 or 9. I had a sleep-over a few times during the summer; by the end of the summer I had bedbugs (in my bed). They came from one of my friends; her house was filthily.
It took me a long while to feel comfortable sleeping again.