The Monster Strikes Again

If you can maybe nudge him and get him doin a little more work on sorting, maybe when he sees how much more he could make he'll start doin a little more!

I was like that though when i was young. It'll come with time.

You could always tell him if he doesn't want to separate it like it is supposed to be he can load it himself. If I am helping it gets done right or it doesn't get done (at least by me). Its hard to give away a good work ethic.. JMHO

I saw a sink yesterday at my local yard.
Stainless Sink
Brass Faucet
Even had Copper Lines still on it.

I talked to the guy at the yard and said "Gosh man.. whoever turned that in missed out- BIG TIME" he said "Yeah I know.. but most people don't care" I said "You paid them SS price for it correct (Bulk of the metal and lowest priced at .30 lb") He said "I had too" The person who scrapped it could have easily netted around an extra $5 in brass and copper for about 3 minutes of work. Now the yard got the sink, will separate the brass and copper and they paid .30 cents a lb for it instead of the $1.20/lb in brass and $2.00/lb for the copper.

I've said it once and I will again. We all profit off of others ignorance. In my story- it was the yard that profited nicely.. and the people gave it up willingly! Nothing underhanded on their part!

Yup, one of the facts of life, many people are inherently lazy, normally we profit because of this.. I consider it somewhat of an honor to be in the company of the minority, my hats off to you fine people.

Thanks for all the replies guys (or gals?) The problem is his parents really don't seem to care about it at all. Its just something they indulge him on and as soon as the grandpas garage is cleaned out I'm afraid his scrapping days will be all but over. His dad is a painter and does some minor remodeling so I'm sure now that aluminum windows (which up until these last few months have gone in the garbage dumpster) and some other items will get stacked in the back of the shop until he has a load and that's about it. They may take the time to cut cords off appliances and stuff now ( I know they will never take a motor out of a vacuum cleaner) and they may save their aluminum cans but I'm not even sure on that. It's almost like a little joke to them, as if scrapping is beneath them. Besides, his dad can't have anything laying around. If he doesn't need it right now it goes in the trash. He has a big shop in a secluded are and he could easily build some inexpensive bins and racks in back to make separating easy but right now the smaller pieces go into a large garbage can all mixed up and the bigger pieces just go on the ground, the leaf covered frozen ground as it was today. We just threw everything on to get out of the cold and then I pulled inside to sort it a bit better because I didn't want to have to spend as much time outside at the yard.

For example, he had 6 aluminum screen door frames, they had the screen mostly cut out but there were still remnants of it hanging around as well as the rubber spline and the wheels and the plastic handles and all. I would have taken all this stuff off but he didn't care. Who knows maybe I would have still only gotten unprepared price for it, that is what I am still learning as well. Part of it for me though is turning in good stuff. I know some people have the idea that leaving the extra crap on it just increases the weight and puts more money in their pocket but even if I still gut the unprepared price I'd rather be known by the scrap yard guys as the guy who brings in clean stuff.

I did tell him that he may have been able to make even more if he had taken the time to clean it a bit better and I explained the idea of is it worth your time but I just don't think, at this point, it is worth his time. He is 10 (soon to be 11) and any time spent away from the TV or game console is wasted time even if it could result in more money.

Like I said, its more of a lark for his parents and he wants some sort of computer tablet and they said if he could raise his own money he could get one. AFAIK they don't make the kids save any of their money but I know they have savings accounts.

He is not going to grow up[ to be a scrapper, of that I am sure. Right now it is appealing to him because he sees it as an easy way to make a buck by letting everyone else do the work. I could say I won't help him haul it and make his dad but if I don't help I know it would end. The sad part is his dad knows a lot of people who are fairly well off and he could gets a lot of stuff that some of the wealthier people don't want to mess with stuff like this. They just want the stuff gone. I think his dad would rather give him the money than let people know he is "picking through garbage"

The thing is, it's not even about the money. Sure if it were my stuff I'd clean it up and get more for it but if he is happy with what he gets why should I worry about it. It saves me time actually but it is the loss of a teaching moment like some of you said that bothers me the most. I guess I'll just deal with it and hope that he starts to come around.

Sorry for the long post and I do appreciate your comments. A lot of good ideas were suggested and the encouragement helps.

Oh, on a side note, when we unloaded the ferrous metal someone had dropped off two huge refrigerator or freezer type units (like those in a convenience store or something) and all the cords and wires and everything were still attached. Another guy was unloading a stove with the cord and everything still on. yeah, some people just don't care. Or maybe they don't know.

Originally Posted by SnowBeast

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

... even if you help the horse by slamming its head in the water.. over.. and over.. and over again!

teaching a child to recycle is one of the most important things you can do for our planets future Thank You.
two trips for $200 he will remember that lesson for sure.

it's hard to get tv kids to do anything but keep trying. If there is no tv, games, computers cellphones at your house how long will they sit inside doing nothing???? for sure less than a minute