At one point or another, we’ve all had something we picked up off the street. Be it a couch someone needed to rid themselves of, an old picture frame, even a ratty yet functioning toaster oven — look hard enough, and the District’s sidewalks and the stuff people put on them can serve to furnish or decorate your house. But when does someone’s free giveaway become someone else’s garbage? We can’t just dump trash bags on our curb, so should we be able to throw mattresses out there with a “Free!” sign on them and get away with it?

This question crossed my mind yesterday as I walked around the Lincoln Park area of Capitol Hill. Along North Carolina Avenue, a household had decided to rid themselves of two mattresses. They lay on the curb under a sign that advertised them as a free giveaway. At best the mattresses were just gross. At worst they were teeming with the results of years of human use and abuse. To the homeowners this was charity to a lucky passerby in need of a bed. To me it was trash.

Curious about the line that divides charity and illegal dumping, I called the D.C. Department of Public Works. According to a spokesperson, there is no law dictating how long goods can be left on a curb for someone else to take them. DPW operates on the principle that as soon as the neighbors complain, they act. “After 24 hours, I’m sure the good graces of the neighbors will be strained,” they told me.

So what to do? Well, DPW will arrange to pick up your stuff. All they need is a phone call, an address, and for you to leave the stuff for them to pick up. Alternatively, the stuff can be donated to charity or driven to a waste station in Fort Totten.

As for those mattresses, my guess is that no one claimed them. I’d also guess that if they’re not soon removed, the neighbors might voice their objections to them simply lying on the curb waiting for a new owner. I’ve found some treasures on city sidewalks, but these mattresses didn’t even come close.