This section, Dumpster Diving and Reusing, has a title similar to the next section, Salvage and Recycling. My webmaster asked if these should be combined, but in my thinking they are not the same.
Dumpster Divers hunt for stuff to sell, and to use. I primarily look for stuff to use, though I certainly also look for stuff I can sell to the recyclers (steel, copper, aluminum, antiques and collectibles and other cash items).
Reusing material goods is better a energy use (lower entropic waste) than recycling them. Finding a use for the old lawn chair is better than scrapping it out for aluminum, though one should certainly do that if no other use comes to mind.
The energy involved in reusing, or reinventing a new use for something old, is much less than that needed to recycle it.
When we recycle steel, it goes to a smelter, and is melted and blended to make new material. The energy of transportation, smelting, reforming, painting, shaping, and adding to the manufacturing process for a new washing machine is far greater than if we just use that old washing machine for a planter, or figure out how to wash clothes in it by hand when the motor dies.
The whole process of smelting, et al, is delayed or eliminated when we reuse something, or find a new use for it that doesn't require all that energy. Leaving the iron ore in the ground for the future, is better than digging it up for today, and the same thing applies to salvage and recycling.
If no other use can be found, salvage and resmelting is certainly better than mining new ore, but only slightly so. I have a huge pile of bedframe steel stacked up for use in building shelf frames, roof racks for cars, table frames, etc. The steel is free, and it's far better to use it (and less expensive than buying new steel!), than to recycle it. Eventually, all these will be recycled anyway, but getting a much use out of it as possible, first, is the high point of a saving consciousness.
Don't know how to weld? Learn. It's not hard. I have a small MIG welder and an acetylene gas rig. I also have a large AC "stick" welder, which I rarely use. I have a metal-cutting chopsaw (just like one for wood, but with a composite blade), and some shaping hammers, a drill press, files, sanding equipment, and more. These tools are not terribly expensive, and are necessary to make use of scrap steel. Yes, they do require energy, but much less than the salvage/recycling process, and the result is applied locally, eliminating the huge transportation costs associated with recycling.
I love to save floor lamps and recently found two really nice bases made from cast iron (see the Recent Finds page). I don't know yet what I'll do with them, but I couldn't let them go (they were in a dumpster). They might make nice bases for outside lamps, or new floor lamps, or post bases for a porch railing. They might become art.
So, when we get a chance to reuse something, let's do it! Even, and especially, if it's used for something different from its original purpose. Reusing is very inventive work, and requires a large pile of stuff from which to choose, so again, bring everything home if it's even slightly interesting. At the worst, it can always go to the scrap yard, or (heaven forbid) back to the dumpster!
Good diving to you!
Take care. Do good work. Be well.
Edmund Fitzgerald
1. A Trip to the Salvage Yard --- to Buy! [March 30, 2006]
2. Zen & The Art of Dumpster Diving [June 20, 2006]
