Scavenging

    My parents were Great Depression era children, and they had more kids than they could afford; three more. Thus, my four sisters and I grew up, let’s just say, in a VERY frugal household. We wore hand-me-down clothes from neighbors and the church. Meals were simple and limited; no seconds.

 

As a result, we all learned how to get what we needed without criminal activity, for the most part, but also without jobs. I collected soda and beer bottles and cashed them in at two cents a bottle. A wagonload would get me 40-60 cents in a good week. I also cut grass, raked leaves, and shoveled snow, lots of snow, for a dollar per house. Cash, and all mine.

 

Once I could drive, stuff set out by the road or curb became my preferred source but dumpsters behind businesses and roll-off dumpsters at construction sites also served me well. The law says that anything thrown out is no longer the property of the former owner, but businesses could, and did, place safety restrictions on going into the dumpster. So, I used a long tool handle I found and attached a metal hook to the end, and I could get most things out that I had an interest in obtaining.

 

Military bases are gold mines with units stashing excess supplies out in the woods far from the cantonment areas. Then the Supply Sergeant forgot about them. I found many supply dumps over the years full of parts, equipment, tools, etc. I went out into training areas and picked up brass from exercises; blanks that couldn’t be turned in as dross. As I walked around, I found dropped equipment such as sleeping bags, poncho liners, helmets, knives, munitions, magazines, etc. With Soldiers moving every couple of years there was always a steady supply of stuff at the curb in the housing areas. I have a storage shed at my house filled with lawnmowers, shopvacs, shovels, rakes, spare tires, car batteries, tools, etc. I have given all my brothers-in-law lawnmowers and shopvacs. All my boys have a complete set of yard tools; shovels, rakes, axes, sledgehammers, picks, prybars, hedge clippers, etc.

 

In my garage is a parts bin rack filled with bolts, nuts, washers, nails, screws of all types, wire connectors, bushings; all sorted and labeled. I have a tandem kayak that I found in the woodline behind a house, stacks of bricks and pavers, tubs of construction sand and salt; all left behind by construction and maintenance crews. On my kayak fishing trips on rivers I scan the shoreline and have recovered gas cans, a complete tent in its carry bag, a brand new rain suit (this past weekend), paddles, PFDs, two fishing rods, boat bumpers, an anchor, etc.

 

Everything was free. Everything was prevented from going into a landfill. Everything out of the rivers helped clean them up.