Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Scavengers pick up scrap metal for change
Here's a new take on recycling ... Local News: "Days after Hurricane Frances hit the Space Coast, Larry Cannon drove his old blue pickup up and down the streets of his Indialantic neighborhood looking for aluminum in any shape or form.
With silver hoop earrings, a pierced left nipple and colorful hibiscus tattoos on his right arm, Cannon cut a striking path through this debris-strewn beachside community still recovering from the storm. But he provided a service to those too weary from dealing with other problems like damaged roofs and no electricity.
Cannon isn't alone. Roving bands of rogue recyclers scour neighborhoods for wind-torn aluminum debris to cash in for recycling.
Gutters, soffits, awnings and carports, even an entire garage door. If Cannon saw it, he'd jump out, ask the homeowner for permission to drag it off their property and throw it into the back of his truck or onto the metal trailer he towed behind the truck.
When Cannon had a large enough pile in his yard, he drove it up to a recycling center in Rockledge for cash - about $310 for two loads of aluminum. At 20 cents a pound, that's 1,550 pounds of cannibalized carport and lambasted lanai.
'It'll help pay for the gas to my generator at this point,' said Cannon, who still was without power on Monday, eight days after he lost it.
Nearly twice as many people are dropping off five times as much aluminum as normal at ATM Recycling in Cocoa, supervisor Daniel Durante said. "
With silver hoop earrings, a pierced left nipple and colorful hibiscus tattoos on his right arm, Cannon cut a striking path through this debris-strewn beachside community still recovering from the storm. But he provided a service to those too weary from dealing with other problems like damaged roofs and no electricity.
Cannon isn't alone. Roving bands of rogue recyclers scour neighborhoods for wind-torn aluminum debris to cash in for recycling.
Gutters, soffits, awnings and carports, even an entire garage door. If Cannon saw it, he'd jump out, ask the homeowner for permission to drag it off their property and throw it into the back of his truck or onto the metal trailer he towed behind the truck.
When Cannon had a large enough pile in his yard, he drove it up to a recycling center in Rockledge for cash - about $310 for two loads of aluminum. At 20 cents a pound, that's 1,550 pounds of cannibalized carport and lambasted lanai.
'It'll help pay for the gas to my generator at this point,' said Cannon, who still was without power on Monday, eight days after he lost it.
Nearly twice as many people are dropping off five times as much aluminum as normal at ATM Recycling in Cocoa, supervisor Daniel Durante said. "
