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Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Recyling, Chicago Style

PDRM2651Does this happen where you live? In Chicago, you can recycle your old furniture, appliances, clothes, etc., by putting it out in the alley behind your house or apartment, and within hours the stuff will be gone. It doesn't seem to matter what time of day it is, early in the morning or late at night, the stuff disappears. Nope, it's not our super efficient Department of Streets and Sanitation guys hard at work. Those guys are good, but they only come around once a week. It's the "junkeros" that cruise the alleys, looking for good stuff to resell or take to the scrap metal yard.

Big or little, it doesn't seem to matter, the junkeros find a way to load up just about anything that has value. Here's my guys headed off to the scrap yard, with about two truckloads of scrap packed onto the back of their pick-up truck, plus a full-sized stove perched on top of the ginormous pile.
PDRM2652Look closely and you'll see that the stove is held up there by two skimpy straps and that the bumper is just a few inches from the ground.

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3 Comments:

Blogger Angela said...

I think you and I bought EXACTLY the same things at the fair! Corinne's booth did look wonderful. Love your entry on the junkeros. I'm happy that they exist, but hate driving near them out of fear for my life and my car. When I lived in a condo, one of the neighbors would call Sanitation anytime our building put something out that wasn't in a receptacle. So, because we got fined, we could not partake of this fine Chicago tradition. Now that we live in our house (exactly one block north and across the street) with neighbors who are a little less uptight, we are free to participate in the city's alternate recycling plan!

9:41 AM  
Blogger Corinne said...

Another unsightly and dangerous Chicago tradition. I'll just bet that vehicle isn't insured, either! Imagine the horror of something like that parked in front of your house! This ranks right up there with the chairs and other household debris used in winter to reserve a parking spot after the street's been shoveled.

8:37 PM  
Blogger sarah said...

You gotta love chicago :) My favorite is when people in the burbs leave their furniture out on their front lawn to get picked up by whoever would like it and then it rains. Soggy couches are nast.

9:26 AM  

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