Turning Tech Trash Into Hard Cash
A Mission recycling pro’s ultimate guide to mining treasure from San Francisco’s most unusual mother lode: its garbage bags.
On any given day in San Francisco, there are at least 100–200 apartments in little black bags. Tonight, the treasure hunt starts, and I wanna live stream it.
Alphelus X is a trashcan connoisseur, silky raconteur, pro recycler, homeless detective and amateur Egyptologist. In short, he is a legend, wrapped within an enigma, hidden within a garbage bag.
If that sounds like a random laundry list of awesome, spend a few nights mining trash bins with this man and witness the insane inventory of shit we apparently don’t need, but that Alpheus X will scrape off, soap down and turn into a buck.
“People say San Francisco is a goldmine for ground scores. I don’t even look on the ground. I have studied the neighborhoods and the trashcans. I have found Apple, I’ve found laptops, I’ve found everything under the sun. I know what sells. Everything under the sun will sell.
A few jackpot bins we raided one summer night on Capp Street yielded the following: A pharmaceutical party bag including half-filled bottles of Adderall, Percocet and Temazepam (all top selling goodies); several elderly collections of porno DVDs (including some actual geriatric casts) discreetly concealed within pillowcases; three pairs of brand new Chinese knock-off Nike sneakers; and a Dungeons & Dragons inspired sterling silver neck pendant with a purple crystal — Alphelus’s favorite color.
DUMPSTER DIVING 101
WEAR GLOVES GODDAMIT: Get yourself a good pair of riggers gloves. Soft enough to caress the belly of a promising bag, but thick enough to protect you from syringe pricks and infestations of skin eating lice.
GO FOR BLACK OVER BLUE: Everybody goes for the blue recycling cans, but the big paying scores are often buried deep in black cans. Be brave, dig smart, stick your hand where conventional recycling wisdom dares not reach.
SUNDAYS AND MONDAYS: Know your trash calendar. Sunday night and Monday mornings before the garbage truck runs are 24-carat time zones.
KNOW WHAT SELLS: Keep records, remember what people ask for and experiment with your inventory.
HAVE HISTORY: Don’t just walk up to a can, have a history with that can.
But of course knowing how to separate the actual trash from the treasure is not something your average Joe can learn overnight; it’s an art form that takes years to master. According to Alphelus, “You gotta have a nose like a beagle and fingers like Stevie Wonder.”
