Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/09/13/inside-a-new-york-garbage-coll.html
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Fun video. Pretty neat to see a person so passionate about their everyday job who can see something where other people literally just see trash. Also, the music in the video was great!
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I’m not sure what the rules are there, but in many places, it’s illegal for anyone to take things that have been set out for trash or recycling collection. These laws are usually enacted by municipalities to benefit whichever collection service they choose to be the local trash collection monopoly. It also allows cities to harass poor and homeless folks who harvest recyclables for a few pennies.
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Do you want bedbugs? Because that’s how you get bedbugs.
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If such laws exist in Michigan, they are not enforced where I live. If you set an old appliance out, it generally disappears in less than 30 minutes. I’ve had stuff disappear before I could walk back into the house after setting it at the curb. I consider this a feature, not a bug, and would fight against enforcement of any law that would prevent my unwanted stuff from performing a disappearing magic trick.
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My dad and I threw out a very old window air conditioner, and before we could come back with the brackets and outer housing, it was gone. I’d guess that the R-22 inside it was well worth the effort to pick it up.
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Someone chucked two kid sized bikes in our local recycling dumpster. I took them out because they were serviceable, and would be better off going to the ARC. They also took up a fair amount of space in the dumpster, and I’m not certain they count as “recyclable” to the company that empties the dumpster. Some asshat stuffed a couch in there once.
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I thought they just took two of each animal!?!
seriously though, what is the ARC?
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Useful thoughts about the legality of dumpster diving in the US, with notes about local regulations: Dumpster Diving and the Law.
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So who owns all the stuff he’s collected and stored on public property?
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https://www.arcthrift.com/about.html
I wasn’t aware they hadn’t spread beyond Colorado.
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You just KNOW that the minute this guy goes home, the rest of the staff will clear it out in one day to get their building back. (Though they might sell the actual valuables)
If I were an eBay seller, I’d be there with a truck tomorrow!
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I kinda wonder what the warehouse smells like (not really).
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This is a nice story, thanks for sharing.
But who are the monsters throwing books into the garbage??? Honestly, just leave it in a common area or in a box at the curb. I discovered so many great books that way when I lived in the city, books I never would have sought out on my own.
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The legalities of picking through the trash has become a debate topic here in Seattle as city laws are enacted for more stringent separation of trash into compostables and recyclables. When they rolled out mandatory compost separation they made it seem like trash was open for inspection for fines using the same law or lack thereof that anyone is allowed to pick through the trash. I agree people are welcome to my trash; I disagree the city can look for an item I didn’t think/know could recycle/compost and they do so I get a nice little bill in the mail. I think the privacy of trash will be a bigger topic in the future as these types of waste management programs spread.
I worked at a landfill for three years. Yeah, this guy has it right. It is amazing, the perfectly good items people discard as trash. Valuable items! And also sad items, like diplomas, awards, certificates, photo albums, professional ephemera like reference books. Then there are the toys and children’s clothing from evictions. Those are the worst.
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Hi! Monster here. I have a whole shelf of decades-old software manual books I want to recycle, but need a way to cut the spines off so that recycling will accept them.
No shame in recycling old books.
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Fair point. But the books pictured were not old manuals with their spines cutoff, they were hardcover novels and biographies.
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Sweet story. Our binmen restrict themselves to tying soft toys to the radiator grill, but there is a road sweeper who plays found discarded cds on his push trolley on a discarded player.
Our recycling centre is strictly out of bounds for upcyclers/treasure hunters, you have to get them before they get on the premises.
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