You've seen it in every neighbourhood: a crate of books at the roadside, a chair with a handwritten "free to take" note, and after moving day, sometimes a whole sofa on the pavement. The gesture behind it is a kind one – better to give away than to throw away. The problem: legally speaking, this is prohibited in Switzerland.
That comes as a surprise to many people. So let's look at what the rules actually are, what can happen – and how to give your things away without falling foul of the law.
What the law says
Leaving items on public ground – the pavement, the roadside, a grass verge – counts as illegal waste disposal. Whether there's a free sign attached makes no difference: as soon as you leave something behind on public ground, in the authorities' eyes you've disposed of it, just in the wrong place. Switzerland follows the polluter-pays principle: whoever produces waste pays for its disposal – through official bin bags, bulky-waste stickers or the recycling centre. The pavement is not a free shortcut around that system.
And this is no dead letter: in the city of Zürich, fines of up to CHF 900 have already been issued for "free to take" items put out on the street. The cantonal waste law would in theory even allow fines of up to CHF 50,000 – that mainly applies to commercial cases, but it shows how seriously the issue is taken.
Not every city reacts the same way
Enforcement varies from city to city:
- Lucerne and St. Gallen take a zero-tolerance approach: items left on public ground are consistently penalised.
- Zürich, Bern and Basel tend to be somewhat more lenient in everyday practice – but it's illegal there too. Experience shows that leniency ends where the box of books turns into a sofa or half a flat's worth of furniture.
Rule of thumb: the bigger the item and the longer it stands outside, the more likely you are to get into trouble. Around the official Swiss moving dates at the end of March and the end of September, when the pavements fill up with discarded furniture, the waste disposal services pay particularly close attention.
Why the ban actually makes sense
As charming as the roadside free culture is, it works poorly. One rain shower and that perfectly usable armchair has become genuine waste – which the public ends up paying to dispose of. Whatever nobody takes sits there for days or weeks, slowly rotting. And for people with prams, wheelchairs or visual impairments, cluttered pavements are simply an obstacle.
Then there's the practical side: on the pavement, your offer is only seen by whoever happens to walk past. The person two streets away who is looking for exactly your desk never finds out about it.
How to give things away legally – and more successfully too
The good news: giving things away is, of course, completely legal and a wonderful thing. It just has to happen on private ground or through a direct handover. In practice:
List your things on Pikitup. A photo, a short description, an approximate location – your item appears on the map, and interested people from the neighbourhood get in touch. The furniture stays dry and safe in your flat until pickup, and it's seen by exactly the people who are actively looking for it. For how to word your listing, see our tips for successful free listings.
More is allowed on private ground. A free box in your own front garden, in the building entrance (with the property management's consent) or at a courtyard party is a different story legally from the pavement. Official public bookcases and swap shelves are also approved, worthwhile options.
For anything big: plan ahead instead of panicking. List the sofa and the wardrobe two or three weeks in advance – then the pavement temptation never arises in the first place. And anything genuinely nobody wants should be disposed of properly as bulky waste.
The bottom line
The "free to take" culture comes from the heart, but the roadside is the wrong place for it – legally risky, unfair to the public, and on top of that the least effective way to get rid of something. Give your things away where people are looking for them: on the map, not on the pavement. Your things will find a new home faster, and you'll save yourself the CHF 900 fine too.