proper behavior for trash hunting

Thank you for taking the time to remind us of these things copperhead. I live in a rural area, so I rarely encounter anyone...but when I do I try to observe all the things you mentioned. A smile goes a long way. Thanks again.

I picked up a BBQ the other day. Didn't realize till I got home, that the regulator had been cut off. lol, who does that? The entire grill is worth money. It had hornets in it though. Maybe that's why they took what they could and moved along.

More for me!

Idaho
Some times i feel that's the beauty of it all , some people only want brass or cords they realize the other value .
It's called sharing the wealth. As i collect some times i'll leave a piece or two for the next guy . I have shared my finds as others have with me . I'll never take bots or cans , It's a true community of cooperation

It comes down to respect. I try to show my respect for everyone by leaving things a bit better than before.

Old thread, but on the subject of "sharing the wealth"... it's something that I've been trying to do lately. There's a guy that comes to the dumpster at my apartment every week to pick the metal out. When I tear apart a computer, I usually leave the steel cases next to the dumpster for him (I don't have a truck to haul it all off). I've never met him, but I'm sure he's grateful for not having to dive in the dumpster.

I always respect people , using a sir or mame goes a long way

I actually got in a full on fist fight with a homeless dude pushing a cart over cans. Now I rarely go canning. I live in a large college town so on Holiday weekends I'll give it a go, but otherwise no. I let them be for a few guys I know on my trash route who push carts on foot. Fine by me. I'm sitting there on that day, taking apart one of those stupid octopus lamps and the minute I turn my back he's taking cans out of the back of my truck. They weren't even dumpster finds, they were my own beverage cans I toss in the back when driving down the road after a refreshing drink. I tell him to stop or at the very least try asking and then here come the punches. The cops were called and everything. People are strange.

I think the introductory post on this thread is awesome though. So many times people forget themselves out and about on their routes. No one stops to make connections or network and people are in a rush just because of the social stigma of scrapping and they think metal is going to magically dry up. People just don't take the time to realize we're all out there trying to earn. It's kinda sad and a bad caste system judgement. Good post.

I always do my best and whenever talking to someone selling me scrap or giving it to me I always refer to them as sir or mam.

Thing that kills me is the darn tweeker scrappers that go around at night looking for television sets that are sit out on junk night. I see the aftermath of where they take a hammer and bust open the back to quickly get that copper around the yoke. I guess they don't know about the thick cable and all the extra little goodies on the inside.

I always smile and wave at folks when driving and most on my regular route know my truck now and wave first lol. If I come across something at the street I always look to see if someone is out or knock and then ask. If they say yes I say thank you and I've shaken quite a few hands too. I've had ppl help me load or even tell me to stay in the truck and they toss something in for me!! I also carry singles and have offered many times if I pick up a large load, only once has someone taken a couple bucks. Tonight a guy said no problem take the chair and toss the bag that was sitting on it on the ground but I put it on the can that was out. I absolutely HATE when I drive past a garbage load that you can tell was gone through by ppl but looked like it was done by animals it was such a mess, there is no need for that at all. If I'm out driving streets I try to keep the back of my truck as neat as possible so as not to look unprofessional and pull over once in a while to straighten up.

TheFatMan- wowza!

I've never dismantled something at the street but I've seen parst left where I know its been done. I dunno, it just feels weird to me to break something down where I find it.

i don't pick up tv's or crt's... too much time / effort / garbage for me to dismantle...
but one time i was going through a pile on garbage night, and moved a tv to right next to the pile so i could dig through the boxes - it was a good pile for diggin, believe me - but as i pulled away i noticed a car was following me... i went down a road and made a u-turn and the car tries blocking me in and i see some woman on a cell phone. "can i help you?" i say "you'd better not going any where cause i have the police looking for you, you dumped that sh*t tv on my lawn"... my reply "uh i was taking stuff out of the pile, not dumping it there, and i left the tv on the side of the road right against the pile, not on your lawn"....she is irrational and insane so i speed off (cause my licence is currently suspended unless i am working...which is part of the reason i'm out collecting garbage anyway, to pay for it) so i loop around the blocks a few more times then head home. right when i pull into the complex i live in a cop sees me. f*ck. nailed. he obviously could see i was collecting junk, not dumping it, so i didn't get an illegal dump ticket, but did get one for "driving out of restriction"....long story short, i guess i should've took the tv, cause instead of making 2$ on however long it would take to break down i lost over 300$ on the ticket.

maybe she had seen scrappers bust up tv's in front of her house before, i dunno, but i know i never used to see tv guts around, but since i start work at 5am i've been seeing more and more from late night mess makers....good thing they come out late at night or else theyd be getting the good sh*t i got at 4pm!