The big compactor massacre
 

CAUTION: graphic images, not for the weak of stomach...

This really sucks... dozens of vintage TVs and electronics thrown out for trash day meet their fate in a compactor truck...

We better find and preserve what's left before it's too late... 2009 will be a busy year for compactor trucks...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOdRFOtmcms&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgJ6XrIlD_c

I love the slumped shoulders on that guy when he first sees that pile. My question is about the environmental impact of all that lead in the screens. I lost track of VCRs after eight or so.
Sheesh.

Tom

Looked like a load of junk to me. I have to admit that my trash looked like that a few times.

I shed a slight tear when I saw that RCA or Victrola horn... :tears:

I missed that part, let's hope it was a "Crapophone" horn.

Most of the stuff looked like modern junk but this goes on all over the place and some good vintage stuff no doubt gets tossed.

Did you see all the dust from the breaking CRTs? that can't be good to breath!

Maybe it would be a good idea to get friendly with the sanitation workers, educate them on what to look for and offer them rewards for vintage gear?

I'm sure at least some of them already know and would save the good stuff for eBay.

It was right in the beginning of the second video.. it was a black horn...

If nothing else, it would have made a cool decoration...

I have known a few trash guys.. not only did they make good money, but they had some bad ass gear that was all tossed.. I know one guy in this area that must have about 15 vintage Pioneer recievers, all salvaged, and some quite nice..

You can relax, it was a BBQ, you can see the wheels if you look very carefully. :banana:

The arrows in the pic point to the handle and wheel.

The thing next to it however did look like a 60's console TV.

WHEW!!!! Thanks for making my night, and allowing me to sleep tonight :D

I guess when you see that much gear in one place, you start seeing things.....

Looks like some AK'er cleaned out his basement or garage.

It scared the pants off of me watching those guys crunch up all those CRTs with NO SAFETY GOGGLES! That's the definition of an accident waiting to happen.

Around here, some people still complain about having to recycle but I suspect most would think it's criminal crunching up all that lead and plastic and who knows what else. We'd never be allowed to do that any more, and that's got to be a good thing!

Depends on where that truck is going. I didn't see any garbage, just trash (some was probably some good trash for us AKers here, but...). Anyway, maybe the truck takes it to a recycling place that melts it all down and recovers the raw materials. Better it directed to reuse than to get loose in a swampy landfill.

i closed it halfway through... i couldn't watch

I am jealous of a place where you can still just pile a bunch of stuff at the curb, and the trash truck will take it all away, no limits on what it is or how much. Wow, those were "the good old days", compared to here in California. Let's see:

-We have specific can sizes that we pay to use; a TV set would not even fit in our cans.
-We cannot "throw away" TV sets at all, they must be taken to a recycler and we pay them to take them.
-Once a year, we can schedule a "super" pickup day when they will take one TV, one appliance, one piece of furniture, four tires, and two cubic yards of lawn/yard trimmings.
-Everything else besides the above, we have to bring to the dump ourselves, and pay to get rid of it.
-Oh, yes, we cannot even throw away fluorescent bulbs or batteries anymore, either-they must be recycled, too.

Anyone notice the wooden case sitting in front of the pile in the first video? Any ideas, perhaps a old tube checker? It gets tossed in at 3:40 into the video...

Cheers,

We have free dropoff points here in the Los Angeles area. Usually once or twice a year at random places, like schools or the train station. I've never gone to one, being afraid of what I'd see. Kind of like visiting the dog pound. I know I'd see some old TV that I'd really want, and it's illegal for the workers to allow anything to be removed once it's been dropped off as "hazmat waste".

Someone here who may have more time than I have, might want to attend one of those events, then find out where it all goes. Then go to the source and find out who to write to. Maybe there would be a chance, especially if money changes hands.

Charles