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Home > Metal, anyone?

Metal, anyone?

July 22nd, 2012 at 04:24 pm

This is shaping up to be another lazy day. I'm going to do some laundry, some ironing, and I really have to vacuum, but other than that, I'm fancy free.

There are a lot of people around the city who collect metal for cash. I see their trucks all the time, usually pick-up trucks with built-up sides, carrying a precarious load of old washers, etc. The other day I pulled up behind one and thought I saw an animal among the old appliances. We came to a stop light and I got a closer look. It was a teddy bear, strapped in just like the appliances were. I wonder if he found it on his route, or if it's his good luck charm? It looked like an older Steiff-type bear, so maybe he thought it would be worth something. Anyway, very funny to see the bear staring back through all that metal. Wish I'd had a camera!

I read an article somewhere -- maybe on the Dollar Stretcher -- about a woman who buys cheap metal things at garage sales and cashes them in at the metal recycling center. The idea intrigues me, though I'm not about to start driving one of those trucks! I used to get a little cash for aluminum cans, but I haven't done that for a long time. I used to have a garage to store them in, but I don't have that any more!

7 Responses to “Metal, anyone?”

  1. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    1342973272

    Those recyclers do a good service, saving all that metal from the dumps. I appreciate it. Metal scrap does not sit out waiting for city pick up around here. Enterprising hard workers will collect it within a day!

  2. ThriftoRama Says:
    1342973291

    I save cans for cash, but since the recession, they price has gone down and it's now only 1 cent a can! When the economy recovers they'll be worth more. But, I used to recycle cans for money when I was a little kid, and it was a good lesson in both the environment and earning money, and I intend to do the same with my kids. My oldest is about 4, so he's just about old enough to take our cans to the recycling center.

  3. rob62521 Says:
    1342976556

    Why am I picturing Sanford's truck? LOL

    My dad used to haul junk for folks to make extra money. We would sort out stuff and when there was enough, we would cash it in. Of course I remember returning pop bottles for a refund too.

  4. Swimgirl Says:
    1342984315

    Oh, my. When our kids were very little, we lived in a "new" neighborhood. We were about the first occupants and there was tons of construction around us. Each night we would go out "can huntin'" in the unfinished houses. We could easily pick up 60 cans a day. The kids thought it was fun, and we got 10 cents a can in those days.

  5. Jerry Says:
    1343037838

    This also leads to a developing problem in some areas, because addicts have taken to breaking into public and private buildings and properties to steal the metal -- with some insurance that they can sell it as scrap and feed their drug habits. In some areas, they have completely destroyed tens of thousands of dollars worth of machinery to sell less than $100 of scrap metal. There was a news item about it a while back. It just shows how anything good can be twisted into something awful in the wrong hands, I guess.
    Jerry

  6. CB in the City Says:
    1343048687

    Yes, there have been news stories here about copper being stolen from train tracks. Not sure where the copper is, must be something in the switching devices?

  7. My English Castle Says:
    1343313627

    In parts of England they've had problems with the traditional wrought iron fences and gates being stolen.
    And I've noticed how quickly old appliances go on freecycle!

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