I never would have figured myself for a garbage picker but it’s become quite the habit. So much so that I look forward to our visits to the transfer site, and I know the pick up schedule so I can time my trips. We hardly generate any real waste to dispose of so we almost always leave with more than we drop off.
What we’ve really lucked out on is wood- lots and lots of wood- which amazes me on the prairie but works for me. We’ve got quite the stockpile going already and still haven’t finished retrieving the last pile of fence posts. Other recent finds include a working Bosch saw of some kind, a butcher’s table that just needs a little cleaning up, a little sled (that I needed for hauling compost!), a funny little fridge that I like the look of but am not sure what I’ll do with yet, a nice new firewood holder (still had the sticker on it), and some stainless steel pots.
I don’t always have a plan for the things that we collect. Sometimes I just like the look of something and I put it aside in case I figure out a use for it. Other things, like motors, we’ll no doubt use for any of the multitude of projects we have on the go. Still other things are simply oddities that I wouldn’t come across in a regular store, like the brown jug I plan on polishing up to use as a vase. And I’ll have to clean up and repaint some things, like the outdoor fireplace.
If you have enough time and patience, a lot of building materials can be had for free from scavenging. We’ve collected windows, screens, doors, good 2 x 4s, plywood, glass bricks, insulation… I’ve also been collecting a good amount of paper and cardboard for sheet mulching, papercrete, and some projects I would like to eventually get to when the building is complete.
It may have been outside of my comfort zone just a few years back but I’m not afraid to admit it today- I’m a scrounger. A dedicated one at that. 
It is amazing what people throw away in a world where everyone is over consuming.
Happy collecting!
Laura
tinyhouseontario.wordpress.com
It is amazing. We’re pretty fortunate, and mindful of it. P.S. I checked out your blog and it is wonderful! What a fabulous little place you have!
Reduce, reuse, recycled – you are proof of that
Nothing nicer than getting something really useful for nothing… 
It is quite nice! I think the only thing nicer would be if there was nothing to be scavenged because people were no longer wasteful but I suspect that’s a long way off. In the meantime, lucky for us raccoons!
Alas, one has to get up reeeeeeeeeelly early to scrounge anything good around here. Corpus Christi ain’t called “North Mexico” for nothing…
Really, hey? We haven’t had to compete much around here. A couple of times we pulled up right after someone had loaded up a truckload of ‘good stuff’ but we’ve got the schedule down pat now.
The Bosch saw looks like a metal cut-off saw.
Don’t go cheap on the cutting disk.
You get what you pay for. (more $=more cuts)
I go by the thirty-second rule for scrounging.
If I can think of at least one use for something in thirty-seconds then I’ll keep it. That means that given some time, I’ll easily find a purpose later on.
If I struggle to think of anything then I leave it.
Too much stuff makes it more difficult to keep scavenged goods organized.
We’re pretty lucky with the place we have. The shop holds a lot and the acreage is big enough that we can stockpile some stuff until a use is found for it. I just went through the shop on Monday and the only junk that we will not use is stuff that came with the property, so we’re doing not too badly. Thank you for the tip on the saw.
We are scroungers!
Scroungers help de-clutter the needless waste that a careless society leaves behind. We love your thoughts, writings and blog.
Good for you! We could use more scavengers, in North America anyway where waste is so plentiful. And thank you for the kind words.
As said above, the saw is a metal chop saw. (similar to this one http://www.amazon.com/Bosch-3814-14-Inch-Abrasive-Cut-Off/dp/B00002246H) It get’s an abrasive disc installed which basically “grinds” through the metal (lots of sparks thrown) to cut in two. Works great for round and square tubing and bar stock. You can find cheap discs for it at Princess Auto or somewhere similar for $5-$7 but like the other poster said, a good quality name brand disc will usually perform much better – cut faster and last longer. Those are $15-20 usually if I remember the last time I picked one up. Ask a friendly local metal worker/welder/etc what they use for some good recommendations. I’ve tried the cheap ones and they work for a few cuts but for any sort of project, a good blade is so much nicer!
You do need to figure out the size of the disc you need for the saw – 14″ is the most common which I think you have by looking at the proportions but there are some 12″ chop saws as well. Smaller will still work but will limit the size of metal that can be cut. Of course you can’t go bigger because the guard gets in the way… and this is one tool that removing the guard is a really bad idea. Ear and eye protection is a good idea when you use this.
Some good finds though!
Thank you for the information about the saw! I’m not entirely big on power tools, they make me nervous, but I will use them to get a job done if needed. And you never know what project is coming up next so it may prove to be useful…
So I try to scrounge here in Utah, but the dumps are dissapointing….Im moving up to northern Washington and hoping it’ll be better. Where do you scavange? We are also going to start building this summer our self-sustained, recycled, earth friendly home completly off the grid and could use all the scavaging we can get!
We get all of our stuff from the local transfer site. I’d never seen a transfer site before moving (being a city girl) but it’s just a temporary dump used by all of the local people, and then it’s emptied twice a week with the contents transferred to the ‘permanent’ dump site. I’d love to hit the permanent dump site but it’s a bit of a drive, an hour and a half away.
If you’re nearby, or in, a city a good place to check are the alleys where people often dispose of objects that won’t fit in regular dumpsters. Construction sites can also be another great place. Just ask the site manager what you can and can’t have and they’re often happy to let you remove a whole ton of useful stuff because it saves them paying to dispose of it.
Some scrounging is just a matter of being creative, and not being afraid to ask. We get all of our food storage containers (the big 11 kg buckets) from local grocery stores. They go through an amazing amount in the bakery, are food grade, and they don’t mind giving them away.
Happy hunting and best of luck with the build! Let us know how it’s going, we’d love to hear about your progress.