I truly struggle with why there are so few who take action against all of the unnecessary waste that lazy, unaware, and/or irresponsible people burden our environment with.
It may not seem dire if you don't live in a major city, but there's an astronomical amount where I am. It's everywhere and heartbreaking to see given that there's no end or material solution in sight.
Much of the population around here simply doesn't care. I've seen exactly what people put outside all year round for many years to know. To make things worse, some unhelpful humans choose NOT to recycle because they think it's an ineffective system and a waste of their time. Instead of acting in good faith to support the environment we share, all recyclables inexplicably go into the trash bins adjacent to the ones they should be put in. The worst part of this naive selfishness is that they'll likely teach this to the next generation to compound the ignorance. It sounds frustrating, but when you see it in bulk all of the time, it becomes infuriating.
Perhaps this is a function of where I live. I generally hold broader hope that most people would care more than this, mindful of the impact of their footprint. Here I am debating buying a van and more space to operate while people at the bars all around me piss money away like the city is a college campus, lost on social media. For those who've outgrown that phase, I hope that the wealthy in other cities aren't as wasteful by not tossing perfectly good valuables in the trash just because they got a new one.
Anyway, I can only worry about what I can control. The negligence surrounding me drives me forward, but I'm unfortunately aware that I barely make a dent overall.
On the bright side, thanks to everyone who caught my last post after about a month away.
Money Saved & Resold:
This vintage typewriter was in superb condition. I sold it for $40 cash to a new friend who bought the glimmering trophy ice bucket in my last post. It just needed some oil and a new ribbon to tune it up.
Its recycled weight was 8 pounds and 2 ounces.
This vintage children's intelligence test set circa 1949 was sold online for $80. I found it with a more recent set that I sold for about $100 to a psychiatrist in Portugal. I like this set above since it felt like I was preserving a bit of the old fashioned ways.
Its recycled weight with recycled packaging was 2 pounds and 14 ounces.
This Babybjorn high chair was found on top of a garbage pile immediately after forcing myself to go back outside as the sun was coming up. I'd previously had a good night of finds to be at capacity and needing to bring everything home. Instead of treating myself to sleep like a normal person, my drive kicked in to go save more, and I got dressed to press on. This was uncannily on top of the very first pile from where I'd left off to instantly reward me for the commitment.
I'd sold one before for $130 cash, but moved this one for $100 cash. They'd sell for $250 online, but shipping would be expensive.
The woman haggled me on price, and I caved solely to make space in my apartment. I wound up sighing as I hand-delivered it to her luxury building's foyer a few blocks away where I saw that she had some money to spare. I offered to walk it to her at a higher price point, but ultimately did it anyway to save her and her young child a trip in the cold and windy weather. I'm too nice.
Its recycled weight was 10 pounds and 10 ounces.
This is yet another batch of the hundreds of pounds of LEGO Duplo I saved last Fall. I sold this set for $118 to a new grandfather who was thrilled at the opportunity to cherry-pick exactly what he wanted from the bins I showed him. He didn't intend to buy so much, but admitted that it was worth it and that he was glad that he scaled up.
Its recycled weight was 14 pounds and 7 ounces.
This Electrolux vacuum was sold for $100 cash to a lawyer who's now considering paying me for beginner lessons on cryptocurrency. Despite being from 2003 and recovered from the curbs, the vacuum was in superb condition as if it'd barely been used at all.
This one was interesting to me because I'd initially decided not to take it on my overnight walk because it'd be a slow seller. I then had guilt about it the next AM and went back out to see if it was possibly still there. Luckily, a crane was blocking the street for construction, so the pile hadn't been picked up yet. I walked around the crew and took it to correct my mistake.
The result was a recycled weight of 14 pounds and 7 ounces, and potential new income from giving crypto lessons.
This LG bluetooth headphone set was sold online for $53. It was in perfect condition and its battery retention was like new. There's no magical story behind this, but it was simply a high quality item to find within the haystack of recyclables outside.
Its recycled weight with recycled package was 12 ounces.
Summary:
- 6 items sold for $491 revenue = $81.83 revenue each.
- 73% received as cash.
- No repair or parts costs. All free money.
- Total weight of recycled items = 51.25 pounds.
- 100% recycled boxes/package materials used on all shipments above (minus tape).
Bonus/Recent Finds:
I found music stage monitor speaker on Sunday (as shown) on my walk back to the subway after a batting cage/bullpen session. I carried it 0.8 miles, then on two subways... with all of my baseball gear. It looks to be in fine shape, so I have a good feeling it'll work. If so, I may keep it to use with my electronic drum set. It's been way too long since I played.
and...
I found this Epson R2000 wide format photo printer yesterday as the sun was coming up. It had the printhead and ink cartridges in it. I'd found a $800 retail German medical-grade bendable surgery light just before (worth about $175 used), so this printer topped off the walk nicely. If it works, it's worth $400+. If not, I can sell the printhead for parts/repair at $80. It seemed to be thrown out with other household stuff, so I'm leaning towards it testing out just fine.
Closing:
If you're seeing my recycling post for the first time, the value in it isn't in the entertainment from the handful of items I show as saved/sold. It's from the passion and hustle I consistently exhibit off-chain to produce the items for posts, and my goal of motivating others to address our global waste problem.
Thanks as always for your interest and support.
Please reuse, repurpose and recycle. If you aren't able, then donate them to shelters, churches, or thrift stores.
Have you saved anything in the last month? If not, change that now. My goal is to motivate, not entertain.
You are doing such an amazing work, this is the most interesting post I've read in a long while on here.
I'm not the type of person that encourage wastes but your post was inspiring to me.
If only people can get out of ignorance and stop throwing things away when they can recycle, reuse and bring them back to life again or still, ideal enough to give out as charity. You are really working hard and I can say, it's worth your energy given on them. Thank you for sharing and making us know that things can be revived again and be useful.
I have been doing this also. I'm actually amazed at some of the stuff people throw away.
This was my most recent find that a neighbor put outside. I didnt want to store it to long so I ended up selling for some quick cash.
WOAH that's a great find!
Great to hear? Any examples?
I'm always in awe of the things you find. I'm real big on the Buy Nothing/Free Community/Freecycle groups near me, but I've never gone strolling in the wee hours (it's more of a safety thing for me here) to go see what ridiculous things I'm sure some of the rich people throw away. I would hazard a guess as to a few neighborhoods where I might find some things - but also those same people would probably call the cops if they saw someone poking through their trash because those are the kinds of reports I see on Nextdoor. Sigh.
That being said, in my old college town it was proper cultural practice for everyone to go dumpster diving at the end of the school year, to see what things kids with more money than sense threw out when they moved out of the dorms. Some real finds there!
Edit!!
OHHHH I almost forgot to mention. I have acquired some of my furniture from other's throwaways here, but the one I saw a month or so ago blew me away. I didn't have any space to hold it for people but I posted it in some free groups and I hope somebody nabbed it.
Somebody threw out
A POOL TABLE.
I was like ...you've got to be kidding me!!!
Thanks for the intriguing stories. I could do my hunting from 4 PM onward in the daylight, but there's a tradeoff on privacy, plus that not all of the buildings have their stuff out until the early evening. Some buildings even put there stuff out after midnight, so I prefer to go when it's ALL out (even if I'm not the early bird to find the easy pickings).
I must say that a pool table is something I've never found and would faint if I ever did. The closest I can say is a full folding German ping pong table a few months ago.