I totally agree Hoss...leave it to theIrrationalist to lay it on the line with his exceptional knowledge of scrapping, the law, and life in general. And we can also always count on him to share his uh....."rational" opinions openly and unreservedly.
Experienced Scrapper
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I totally agree Hoss...leave it to theIrrationalist to lay it on the line with his exceptional knowledge of scrapping, the law, and life in general. And we can also always count on him to share his uh....."rational" opinions openly and unreservedly.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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Wow! Unanimous contempt for the law abider. Irrational? Maybe, maybe not. While your post is eloquent and appears to ooze lucidity, it is so wrong on so many levels. This is most likely my fault, as you have so clearly pointed out the many blank portions of my claims. Although a bit condescending, it was written like a true gentleman, and obviously required a bit of thought. Therefore, I believe it commands the dignity of an intelligent response. I may be the wrong man for that job, but I will certainly give it a shot, line by line.
Here goes:
They most certainly are. Their exclusivity lies in and out of the acts of trespassing and theft.Originally Posted by TheIrrationalist
Trash at the curb....every junkman's wet dream, including mine.. This public domain stretch between the sidewalk and the curb, which I so lovingly refer to as "The Devil's Strip," is shared between the municipality and the property owner. I don't know how things work in your neck of the woods, but around here, that's called littering....the property owner can an WILL be cited for it, with 2 annual exceptions, when the areas towns have Spring and Fall town wide cleanups. During these brief periods, and ONLY then may large trash, tree limbs, and junk be placed at the curb. At this point, yes, it is a free-for-all, and you can bet your bottom dollar, I am right there. Your 3rd sentence there is absolutely ludicrous, and I have no response.
Respectfully, you have no idea..........or perhaps you do. As mentioned above, I would!
First paragraph is answered above....absolutely theft...and trespassing. As I mentioned, with the exception of advertised special occassions, trash is not allowed to be kept in public domain. Never has been. Not anywhere within a hundred miles of me, anyway. From a handful of movies, I figure this idea was the afore mentioned wet dream of some junk man gone Hollywood.
Paragraph 2....we are on the same page, and though possibly misunderstood, I think on the same side.
Paragraph 3....like I've been saying, you MUST trespass to aquire access to any trash or dumpster.
Again, with any due respect, if you had a clue as to how secluded my property is, you would not have posted such nonsense. Who is unscrupulous here? That "perfectly decent human being" should have thought of said parents or children prior to trespassing and stealing 15 miles into no-man's land in the middle of the night. Anyone sneaking around out here at night, could not possibly have good intentions of ANY kind.
I probably wouldn't. However, getting shot does carry many common side effects, including death.
You clearly don't grasp my logic. Feeling like a broken record here. Yes the police need a warrant to search trash, as it does not and CANNOT sit on public domain.
.
Having read many of your posts, I did not think you would be so easily confused, and I hope I have offered at least SOME clarity up to this point. I would not refuse to touch trash. In fact, if such activity were allowed, it could be like Christmas every day. Yes, I DO collect trash from the curb...twice a year when it is permitted, and believe you, me, those days are a madhouse. I once had a part time job as a trash collector in a nearby small town. After gaining the approval of the city council. I raided the town's garbage for all the scrap I could get....legally. It was a pretty sweet gig. Wish I still had it. By the way, every dumpster in that town...every single one sat on private property, in the back yard...NOT in the Devil's Strip. Just like any other town around.
Paragraph 2, for reasons explained multiple times now, is completely bogus.
I ask before rifling through trash, 10 times out of 10....precisely to avoid the "shoot first" thing. If I did not, I could not blame the property owner for feeding me my well deserved lead salad.
Haha, although quite misguided, it was well written, indeed. Kudos.
I hope this clears up any questions as to why I have said the things I've said. I offer no apology, except for possible lack of clarity.
Thank you for your time.
Last edited by c4f5; 05-20-2011 at 10:12 PM. Reason: 37 and still have trouble with English :)
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This is not the way that it works in most places and for sure not here. We can put out anything and everything whenever we want to. We have 2 garbage pick ups per week, one recycle pick up per week and one yard waste pick up per week.This public domain stretch between the sidewalk and the curb, which I so lovingly refer to as "The Devil's Strip," is shared between the municipality and the property owner. I don't know how things work in your neck of the woods, but around here, that's called littering....the property owner can an WILL be cited for it, with 2 annual exceptions, when the areas towns have Spring and Fall town wide cleanups. During these brief periods, and ONLY then may large trash, tree limbs, and junk be placed at the curb. At this point, yes, it is a free-for-all, and you can bet your bottom dollar, I am right there. Your 3rd sentence there is absolutely ludicrous, and I have no response.
I can set a TV, washer, you name it out by my mail box whenever I care to and will never ever get a ticket for littering because it is garbage and that is the place that we place garbage to be picked up. I get most of my good stuff from people setting out their garbage. Usually "the good stuff" is on top of or next to the "garbage" garbage, and is by no means considered stealing.
It is too bad if people get cited for placing their garbage on the curb where you are at, but most of the country is not that way. I have lived in numerous states and towns and have never ran into that problem. There were a couple of places that I lived that required a sticker purchased from the garbage company in order to place an item such as a fridge, but if you did not have the sticker, then the garbage company just left it there and some lucky scrapper would grab it anyway.
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Up here, it's common for stuff to be put by the road with a sign on it saying "free". I've picked up air conditioners and a pile of aluminum roofing. I've put out couches, bar stools and tables. I've been walking back up my driveway when I heard a car stop and take off again. As a courtesy, they took the sign, too. Nothing ever lasted more than a few hours. Nobody thinks anything about someone stopped and loading stuff. If you don't want it anymore, give it to someone who does.
People may laugh at me, but that's ok. I laugh all the way to the bank.
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People here don't put out ACs and cooling appliances. They charge you to take those cuz of the freon and they only take them if you bring them to the dump.
There's nothing more fun and more effective than hitting something repeatedly with a sledgehammer
Experienced Scrapper
wow, i cant believe garbage picking is even an issue in other states... 90% of my scrap comes from the garbage. really glad to live in an area of the country where pretty much every day people put out whatever they feel like on the curb...
and about dumpsters, i've talked to the police more then once - can go into any dumpster on the sides of buildings & in parking lots legally... as long as the dumpster isnt locked, behind a fence, or have some type of "property of" notice on it they are fair game. common sense should tell you if you are doing something wrong or not anyway..
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
I don't live within the City of Pittsburgh, but because I knew where to find it online, Pittsburgh's regulation about removing anything from regular trash collection:
http://library4.municode.com/default.../48#0-0-0-2445
(Bold and underline added)(f) Municipal waste placed at the curb for collection shall continue to remain the responsibility of the generator of the waste until the municipal waste is collected by the collector or by the City. No other person or agent shall tamper with or remove such waste from the curb unless authorized by the generator or the collector or the City.
So, in Pittsburgh, you're not allowed to garbage pick, unless you've knocked on the door and gotten permission. Your jurisdiction may differ...
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I guess it just goes to show, know the laws in your area, and ignorance of the law is no excuse to break it. Just glad I live in an area that I can pick the scrap from the garbage.
Actual enforcement may be another issue. Anywhere that a law is in place is meant to protect against certain things such as identity theft, etc.. I could see an officer in that town looking the other way when a guy that earns his living scrapping is grabbing a smashed TV from the side of the road to get rid of it.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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And here I could have summed it up in a couple of sentences. Every town around here has something like that...give or take. Same with other towns I have lived in for brief stints, around the country. I should naturally assume it were the same story anywhere else. A couple of area towns have gone so far as to BECOME the competition, as in the city itself sells scrap from trash for profit.
If everyone posting in this thread is offering the defense that this is not the way it is where you are, then so be it, more power to you, and I wish I could say the same.
Y'all can surely see why I would only use the term "dumpster diver" in a derogatory fashion, and only in refernce to criminals who would not hesitate to steal whatever else they saw fit to.
My dad's dead water heater, which is initially what set me off here, was ON HIS PROPERTY, by the gate at the alley, next to his dumpster, INSIDE his fence. These "dumpster divers" are jumping fences, skulking up to back doors, trespassing and stealing, mostly late at night. And folks here saying there is nothing wrong or illegal about that just blew my fragile little mind.
Mick...that is also allowed most anywhere around here, to some degree anyway, and is sometimes a nice score. Generally has to be on the property owner's side of devil's strip. The sign negates the trespassing aspect, as it is an open invitation.
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No one here is saying that is alright to do. If they are saying that, I missed it.
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Making the rounds this weekend during spring clean-up here's few examples of who the bounty hunters should be looking for...countless overloaded trucks with half flat tires and nothing tied down, some idiot trying to load a grill and dumped it over and didn't bother to clean up after himself and then to top if off some carpenter posts this on Craigslist Monday morning.
http://denver.craigslist.org/zip/2399055801.html
Recyclable Material Merchant Wholesaler
Certified Zip-Tie Mechanic
"Give them enough so they can do something with it, but not too much that they won't do nothing."
Experienced Scrapper
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a very good video. this guy mostly garbage picks. he puts up a new scrapping video about once a week
Experienced Scrapper
Here in texas any grass area is considered your property. the public domain is the actual alley, side walk or street. If the item is in the grass meian between the sidewalk and curb that is still your property. in the alley if you have a grass strip between the fence and concrete alley then that strip is your property as well as anything on that strip. so far as dumpsters go if you take something out of them then yes you are stealing. the contents of those dumpsters is the property of the waste disposal companies. that is how they make their money and so you are stealing from them. i have actually seen people get prosecuted for this. (still doesnt stop me though lol)
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How'd I miss this?
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
Obviously what this comes down to is that the laws are different in each state. The only way to guarantee that its okay to take something from a location is to ask first, that way the issue about a piece of scrap being on someone's property or not is now no longer an issue because permission was given. That being said, if a person for whatever reason doesn't feel comfortable about asking permission then I guess they also can't take the item. What concerns me even more is that here in Chicago, there was a news report recently about people going into foreclosed, empty houses to pull out the copper pipe and wiring. Some of these houses had even been under contract and the new owner upon entering the house became responsible for $1,000's of repairs for what a person may have scored a few hundred dollars of scrap. Definately gives a bad reputation to all of us who try to do this business in a responsible, educated, professional manner. Don't have the right answer, just see the problem.
Around here the waste company makes the same either way. If it's in the dumpster, they won't pull it to recycle, yet they charge the same for pickup.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
Making more laws and regulations won't stop theft. Getting a license to sell or buy might keep honest folks honest, but thieves will find a way around it.
Experienced Scrapper
im sure that once the truck gets back to the yard the have some sort of sort facility to remove recyclables. most waste companies do these days. if the company is wm then they most certaintly do
Trucks go straight to the dump. I've watched them unload, they don't sort through it. Which is a shame because you know there's a whole lot of money in there.
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They always do!but thieves will find a way around it.
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