Scrapping makes you smarter!!!

Just wana say everything I have read on here has contributed to making me a better person..yeh ive made some decent cash...but by takin things apart, I am able to fix things as well...it has greatly attributed to my knowledge of how items, parts, etc work..

I have recently received a very generous raise at my ft job, partly due to my new ability of fixing broken items around the shop...before I started scrapping, I had no clue on how to fix anything..now I am the #1 goto guy..knowledge is power my friends..thx again to this forum..gl guys n gals

Yep! I too can now fix a lot of things I never could before scrapping. It's amazing what tearing down hundreds of one particular item will teach you! Great thread!

I think we can say we are all a little less ignorant too. Tearing down to basic fundamentals also opens your eyes to how things work in the world; a lot if things are connected in ways you couldn't imagine. This price affects that price, this costs this because of that. Most people go through the motions, they are wasteful and it affects things around them negatively. Scrapping has given me the sense of how everything does come around full circle.

What amazes me are the people who think they are saving the earth by putting their wine bottles in a bin by the curb...they are clueless to what recycling is in the grand scheme of things.

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Originally Posted by KZBell

What amazes me are the people who think they are saving the earth by putting their wine bottles in a bin by the curb...they are clueless to what recycling is in the grand scheme of things.

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Our town has been trying to get a subscription-based curbside recycling service going all summer long now. People don't want to pay for it. After all, the recycling I do for them for free is much more helpful to the local economy....;)

i guess we have it nice 1 can throw all your recyclables in one can ,we pay in our high taxes

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Originally Posted by KZBell

What amazes me are the people who think they are saving the earth by putting their wine bottles in a bin by the curb...they are clueless to what recycling is in the grand scheme of things.

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then they look at you like you're some kind of jerk for picking up a fridge or aluminum lawn chair sitting next to their recycling bin.

One of the concepts I find interesting is - The saying they don't build em like they used to. But really they still do - some times basically new versions of the original consumer item are often jammed with great product and finally in time they skimp. the first TV's for sure many tv's till 2000 but now skimp with classic typ TV's . some of the first Flat screens very heavy juicy boards - now skimp.
Next week i have a job to fix a vent fan at a pizza shop . since I had a chance to tear down 2 in the last 3 years I know what i have to deal with .

CH they build stuff nowadays to break so you will buy a new one..big biz blows...still plenty of scrap between old crap n newer broken crap..money in the bank if ya ask me

i find as a scrapper i probably know faster ways to fix things than most hvac techs and mechanics adn can do it with fewwer tools

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Originally Posted by scrappy888

CH they build stuff nowadays to break so you will buy a new one..big biz blows...still plenty of scrap between old crap n newer broken crap..money in the bank if ya ask me

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When a new product is engineered it is designed with a "wear out date" in mind. It is built with parts just big enough to last a certain amount of time so you have to go buy a new one in a few years. In the older days things were built to last forever.

I agree with Mechanic, If you buy a car with a 10 year warranty, that car will run great for 10 years but the 11th and 12th year it will break down every 100 miles. I have also noticed that most people think they are recycling when they put thiere plastic bottles and aluminum cans in a recyle bin and but thiere electronics in with the regular trash.

As a scrapper, pulling things apart give a greater appreciation for your money. I will never buy new when wasteful folks always through things out and not to mention, there is always salvation army.

There ignorance and lack of knowledge means cash for you. I like it that way. I made good money last year on people's trash. They can look at me anyway they want while I'm smiling all the way to the bank.

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Originally Posted by ggariepy

Our town has been trying to get a subscription-based curbside recycling service going all summer long now. People don't want to pay for it. After all, the recycling I do for them for free is much more helpful to the local economy....;)

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It should not have a cost. The recycling should pay for itself and help lower the regular pickup bill. In my town we pay around $250 per year for refuse. It is a contract with the entire town. For that $250 we get 2 garbage pickups per week, 1 recycle pickup per week and one yard waste pick up per week.

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Originally Posted by Copper Head

One of the concepts I find interesting is - The saying they don't build em like they used to. But really they still do

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I picked up a dryer the other day that was 34 years old. Don't remember the brand right now. I'll get it for you later. The owner, who is 82, bought a new one at Home Depot. They told him he'll be lucky to get 15 years service out of it. Big difference from then and now.

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Originally Posted by skylinejack

I picked up a dryer the other day that was 34 years old. Don't remember the brand right now. I'll get it for you later. The owner, who is 82, bought a new one at Home Depot. They told him he'll be lucky to get 15 years service out of it. Big difference from then and now.

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My washer and dryer (both made by Whirlpool, branded as Amana) are right at the 15 year old mark. The washer's timer kept burning contacts which I would then clean up with emery board and get another 5-6 months of service out of it. I finally swapped the timer a year or so ago and it's running fine.

The dryer's motor quit about six months ago. I shopped around town (metro Detroit) and couldn't find one for less than $150, which apparently was a price designed to make a new dryer start looking good. I bought a new replacement motor on eBay for ~$75. Get this: it was drop-shipped to my house from one of the stores in town that wanted to sell it to me for $150! I put a new belt, rollers, and glide strips into it while I was at it. Here's hoping I get another 15 years out of it with only minor repairs.

Being a scrapper is a lifestyle of recycling and reusing, buying things used, and getting by as cheaply as possible. It just fits who I am I guess (a cheap bastard!) I am still offended when I find perfectly good stuff on the curb; I just can't believe how money has so little value to the average person.

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Originally Posted by ggariepy

Being a scrapper is a lifestyle of recycling and reusing, buying things used, and getting by as cheaply as possible. It just fits who I am I guess (a cheap bastard!).

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I couldn't have said it better myself.
Saving money is just as good as making money. This lifestyle has so many opportunities to save your money, just as easily as making it.
vast amounts of knowledge and skill learned, sometimes not even realizing it, until someone asks the right question or your put in the right situation.
agreed NA Great thread!

When my city first started a recycling program, we went from one can to three. All the cans are same size, just different lids. Green lid for yard waste, grey lid all types of recyclable plastics, metals and glass. The black lid was for regular trash, there was no rate increase for trash service, but water and sewage went up 10%. The city owns the water and sewage system, even charges neighboring cities to connect to ours. The waste disposals is contracted out to the largest trash company in the nation, but the city does all of the billing. So one bill for water, sewage and trash. That first year a typical monthly bill was around $55 to $60 (water about $15, sewage $20 and trash $25). The second year the city added $10 for every home for additional street maintenance, citing state revenue sharing cutbacks and additional road maintenance needed due to more trash truck traffic (three cans/three trash trucks every week). Water/sewage rates no change, but trash doubled. So now monthly bill is $120. We have had modest rate increases over the next ten years. That bill that was once $60 a month is now $140 to $145. Guess who lobbied the state for mandatory trash recycling of all cities in the state of California. The nations largest trash company (one of largest political contributors in the state), wanted the most populous state to pay them more every month. That is how it went for homes, you should see the rates for commercial trash. That company has had the contract (monopoly) going on thirty five years now!

Want to know how to make billions of dollars? Hire a business consultant (lobbing firm) to entice the politicians to propose and support a needed by all "Environmental Law". Don't get me wrong, curbside recycling was needed and long over due in this state. But did so few, need to make so much money, all paid for by the rest of us? Always follow the money, who wants you to do what? and why?