Recyclables

[JRScott]

I dont pass that off as an impossibility & is not that far out of reach. I think the change is happening so deceitfully people are not getting it or there is no real way to stop it due to globalization & the...you know... It is like the entire infrastructure is fracturing, almost like on purpose.

We could stop it but only if Americans wake up and realize the path the Republicans and Democrats are leading us down. If you prize the United States s as a strong independent country I'd vote Libertarian or Constitution party.

[Bandit]

I saw a huge weight machine & bench with weights sitting on the curb last night as I was coming home. If I did not already have weights & a gym membership I may have gone back & asked the people for it.

I did pick up a large plastic dog house that some people down the street tossed to the curb. However I went up to the door & asked them if it was ok before I went onto the property & I am glad that I did because I priced them at $300.00, brand new. They were very happy to see it go somewhere that it would be used again.

Taking stuff like that is not illegal here even if you dont ask but I feel it is respectful to ask & that way if they say no, then you dont cause any problems.

If someone goes into a business dumpster without permission, that is illegal.

We put things next to the dumpster here all the time & people take them. They take everything including the wooden skids, & we are actually happy that they do. The businees next to us does the same thing. By putting it to the side, it keeps them out of your dumpster & from getting hurt climbing in it, that is a big issue why they dont want people in them.

I know one man personally who makes a living picking up junk. He has an old beat up pick up truck & I have his phone number for when I or I know someone who needs to dump something. He has come to the place I work & taken a couple of huge loads of metals for scrap. I know he only gets about 50.00 a truck load & he works the entire day trying to fill up his truck.
He is a good man & not a thief, just trying to do his own business the best way he can. KInd of like a Sanford & Son.

It is mandatory to recycle here at the curb & if you get caught putting the wrong stuff in the cans, then you get fined. Some cities only have it if you volunteer to recycle.

The law does vary greatly on this (like any other law) from city to city, there is no doubt.
There is an old saying that is true, one mans junk is another mans gold.

I keep all my metal cans & take them to the animal shelter & let them recycle them. I know they use the money to care for the animals & I am fond of this one particular shelter.

[Bandit]

We could stop it but only if Americans wake up and realize the path the Republicans and Democrats are leading us down. If you prize the United States s as a strong independent country I'd vote Libertarian or Constitution party.

I agree. At this point there is no one I like, but I will still probably vote for one of those parties because the Rep/Dems are never getting my vote. They have been jerking their own chains long enough.

I am looking at Baldwin & Barr, so I have not given up on the USA.

[Minnymouth]

Copper pipe is the main "theft thing" here right now. Then going thru garbage cans,etc.

If its sitting on the side of the road it's considered public property, anybody can help themselves.

[Cali]

I don't mind people asking me for the stuff I have out. When we were moving some random guy came up to my door and said he saw I was moving and if I wanted to give him any used clothes/shoes/furniture. I looked at him like he was crazy, I said no because I have promised everything to the DAV.

It isn't illegal to take trash on the curb, but it is illegal to take recycle stuff out of the bins. When people still the recycle that means less money for the city.

[PaKettle]

I dont pass that off as an impossibility & is not that far out of reach. I think the change is happening so deceitfully people are not getting it or there is no real way to stop it due to globalization & the...you know... It is like the entire infrastructure is fracturing, almost like on purpose.

As to this country becoming a 3rd World Country, that is exactly what is happening.

I read a somewhat "wacko" paper about 20 years ago which said that very thing. It flat out said "The U.S. will be turned into a 3rd World country". Of course it didn't happen for so many years, I began to think "well, that was just some crazy theory!" Now I see that it was very ahead of its time because it is coming true.

The Trilateralists, Bilderbergers, World Bank and so on - all the global corporate and banking organizations that want to control the world market - have talked about "bringing the 3rd world up to our level" but really it's the other way around, bringing us down to their level. They don't care because as long as they can get cheap labor, and exploit the labor and environment in 3rd world countries that have more lax regulations, they - the corporate fat cats - will get richer and richer, and they could care less about the people there, OR the people here. It's all about their "God": the Almighty Dollar. Or maybe the Almighty Euro.

[PaKettle]

I don't think stealing stuff from trash cans not being a crime. Or if it is, it shouldn't be, I don't think. Where I live there are lots of homeless people and they go from street to street and dig through the trash for recyclables. I see no problem with it, it keeps the trash cans and bins from getting overflowing which is a health hazard, and it helps them eat and live.

My wife's friend gathers recyclables (from other friends and more "legitimate sources") and claims it is well worth the trouble. I can't see how it is worth my time. Last time I took some stuff to recycle I had a whole box full and it was worth like $1.24. I said, "this isn't even worth carrying around in my car and driving over here for". I think maybe if you have a truck and want to fill the whole bed with junk it MIGHT Be worth it...? or not?

How many plastic bottles or glass jars do you have to have to make $5?
Seems pretty useless to me, and I'm going to be unemployed in a month! I think my time can be put to use better than collecting recyclables.

As for stealing recyclables on the street being like "stealing money from the city", I say the homeless people need it more than the city does. Especially when the City isn't doing enough to help solve the homeless problem!

[Bandit]

I say the homeless people need it more than the city does. Especially when the City isn't doing enough to help solve the homeless problem!

LOL! THE last time that was brought up at a city meeting it was so funny. I have laughed ever since. One of the citizens brought up the homeless problem around a certain location & one of the silly aldermen says, "We tried to help them, they dont want our help, end of subject."
This is what politicians say now days. LOL!

I was thinking like, ok, um, that still does not help resolve the homeless problem.

[Cali]

The people that take the stuff where I live at are not homeless, they take the stuff and sell it in TJ.

And not all homeless need help or are truly homeless. I've seen a so call homeless person walk into a store with a bankroll.

[Flamingo]

I don't think stealing stuff from trash cans not being a crime. Or if it is, it shouldn't be, I don't think. Where I live there are lots of homeless people and they go from street to street and dig through the trash for recyclables. I see no problem with it, it keeps the trash cans and bins from getting overflowing which is a health hazard, and it helps them eat and live.

My wife's friend gathers recyclables (from other friends and more "legitimate sources") and claims it is well worth the trouble. I can't see how it is worth my time. Last time I took some stuff to recycle I had a whole box full and it was worth like $1.24. I said, "this isn't even worth carrying around in my car and driving over here for". I think maybe if you have a truck and want to fill the whole bed with junk it MIGHT Be worth it...? or not?

How many plastic bottles or glass jars do you have to have to make $5?
Seems pretty useless to me, and I'm going to be unemployed in a month! I think my time can be put to use better than collecting recyclables.

As for stealing recyclables on the street being like "stealing money from the city", I say the homeless people need it more than the city does. Especially when the City isn't doing enough to help solve the homeless problem!

One of my daughters lives in downtown Philadelphia. Many people, instead of tossing out items that may still be reusuable, put them on the street curbs outside their house with a note that says "Free - U haul" or anything similar. I've seen everything from furniture to stacks of books sitting on curbs/corners.

The homeless in that city go through the recyclables outside homes like a business. They line up with shopping carts and hit the streets in the wee morning hours before the trucks are out and actually have a plan worked out for the area. They work together. Many people put aluminum cans in separate bins or bags for the homeless to help them out. My daughter does that. I've stayed at her house a few times overnight in the past and you can hear the homeless out there early in the morning once a week working hard to get those cans together for some money.

[epiphany]

When I lived in Santa Barbara, people constantly used to steal stuff out of our recycling bins. I didn't care that much. My current area has no recycling bins and that bugs me big time.

I purposely put stuff like old tvs out on the curb by the trash so that I do not have to haul it off..I am begging them to steal it and it always works.

There are lots of stories about metal, copper mostly, thefts from freeway projects etc due to what recycling prices are bringing.

And the cost of metal has gone up so dramatically that our current administration signed into law a few months ago that it is illegal to melt down pennies, since their metal value is worth (or was worth at the time, could be more now) 2 X their buying power.

Ladies, if you want to make some quick cash for old, broken, gold jewelry...tangled, unmatched earrings because you lost one, etc..you can sell them for their weight on eBay. Do your homework before you sell but a lot of people are buying and hoarding gold right now.

ep

[AngelinaCat]

We pick up things as well. I have posted elsewhere about picking up microwave ovens, and repairing them when possible. We have picked up other items as well. But all have been put out on the side of the road, or curbside, when there is a curb, where it is understood here that anything put out like that is meant to be taken by someone who can use it. Whenever possible, we ask permission to take the item—and sometimes are thanked—and are told the specific problem so we can fix it.

In no way would we step from the curb or off the ‘right-of-way’ into someone’s yard to take anything out of their recycle bins or garbage cans.

While we are at it, it is illegal to go through someone’s garbage cans because many people throw away their important documents, such as check stubs, bank statements, insurance papers, etc., more examples I can think of. If you do not have a shredder, BUY ONE, and shred EVERYTHING—even the credit card come-ons that come in the mail. After everything is shredded, if possible, then safely BURN the shredded remains. I had a police chief’s wife tell me once that forensics can reassemble the shredded remains.

[Cali]

I so agree about using a shredder. I shred everything.

[epiphany]

I so agree about using a shredder. I shred everything.

By everything, I hope you don't mean everything. My 2005 and 2006 returns are now beng audited by the IRS..while I am pretty good about keeping records, I am not so good at finding them

However, I never tossed them or shredded them so everything is here somewhere.. You can't believe the stuff they want, and you just never know.

ep

[AngelinaCatHub]

As the wife said (AngelinaCat) and seems to be a consensus here, I put out old car batteries, and old TVs and anything that looks like it would help someone. That is, if I feel it more trouble to take to the scrappers than the worth. The next morning it is 99% it will be gone.

What I don't understand is; since I am burning old French fry oil in my tractor, and the City/County use diesel garbage trucks, and McDonalds pays a service to take away their spent peanut oil, why doe the City/County not take it off their hands filter it and use that free fuel? Road Tax that is why. When enough of us learn to make bio diesel, the government will stop us as to get their 'cut'.