Like a Kid in a Candy Store: A Treasure Story from the Dump
We recently moved from the concrete jungle to the woods to live a life of freedom in a community setting homestead. We like permaculture, upcycling, art, music, traveling, things that make you feel good and creating a healthy environment for our great grand children and their kids.
Before moving onto our property I had been asked the question of how we had been preparing for this new lifestyle. In answer to that question, I mentioned something I had learned, a new concept (to me) called the 8 Forms of Capital.
Essentially these 8 forms remind us of the many different types of capital we have readily available, if we pay attention to our environment. Where we are, with nearly 20 acres, we have an abundance of untapped capital, as long as we play our cards with sustainabilty in mind.
Here's what they are briefely:
- Intelectual Capital
- Experiential Capital
- Spiritual Capital
- Cultural Capital
- Social Capital
- Living Capital
- Material Capital
- Financial Capital
You see how money can be found just about anywhere, if you look hard enough???
I find this chart so amazing... I had to show it again!
Last friday, I got a call from a prepper friend who lives near by, he wanted to bring me to the relycling center where he'd put some fencing aside for me. He had been talking to me about this place for a while, he even brought me a few good things from there before, like a koy fish pond liner and a whole kid's bowling game set.
I was like a kid in a candy store
We went to this place and I just couldn't believe my eyes! The workers there, were super nice, I got introduced as the new kid on the block, having just moved from the big city to the country to live off grid and I felt very welcome!
Look at that, there are so many valuable things in there! All I wanted to do was spend my entire day sifting through that pile of junk... I really was like a kid in a candy store!
I'm not sure why I didn't take pictures of all the treasure I collected but we now are proud owners of a new (to us) red beach cruiser bike, which is the same color as our little human's bike, a bucket full of galvanised roofing nails, around 100 ft of fencing, a dozen metal fence posts, a beautiful wooden table, a folding chair, and a 100 gallon propane tank with a bit of gas still in it!!!
What a score!
That was a great example and experience of how valuable Social Capital can be... and that was just a taste of this 8 forms of capital concept. I can't wait to explore more of it!
proof-of-candy-store
We got rich and cleaned up the dump... just a tiny little bit 😁!
I am a proud passenger of the @EcoTrain, have a look at what other passengers have to say... we're all in for making the world a better place!
"Supporting People who make this world a better place!"
Up-Vote, Re-Steem and Reply. Your comments are very welcome! Don't forget… #DreamsComeTrue!
Love this times a million. Your capital post was the first one of yours I read and I loved it then and I loved it now. Dumps (or tips as we call them in Australia) or scrapyards are TREASURE TROVES - we LOVE them. Here we have tip shops too where they pull the best stuff out and you can buy it dirt cheap. Nothing better than free though!! What a great find. Love to see your smiling face too!!!! WE also have hard rubbish collection here - the cities are better for it than the rural areas but still. We scored lots of furniture that way, and some old hard wood dressers and tables were pulled apart for great building wood - the bench in our bathroom and kitchen are lined with beautiful redgum from a 100 year old dresser that was essentially dirty rubbish.
Ah that is so cool, I would love to see those benches in your kitchen and bathroom made from an old dresser. Definitely yes! A treasure trove LOL...
I really could have stayed there all day, my friend had to pull me away because I needed to return the car to my wife so she could get to work on time...just made it too!
In New York City, it took me about 10 years before I bought my first piece of (second hand) furniture, everything else always came from the street in big rubbish days. I think in that first capital post I mentioned a dish washer I picked up off the streets. Like new it was.
Well ok, cheers and thank you for readin!
Cool post I'm one that can't pass things up but just occasional scores nothing systematic like first dibs at recycle center. I have two chairs that are connected like a bench from the waiting room of a jiffy lube that was remodeling set up in my garage. Great for putting on and taking off shoes. Also swung a U and stopped in traffic to get a replacement hub cap for one of my work vans earlier this week. The world is split about in half between people that love those kind of stories and people that think I am crazy. But back to your post, great you are off to a good start leveraging social capital in your new home.
LOL, that is amazing, a U turn in the middle of traffic for a hub-cap! I love it. I definitely stand on the side of those types of stories are genius! I know what you mean, I work in the Hollywood industry (in New York) and I am surrounded by people who are so used to throwing bits and pieces of lumber and other great materials... if I had a box truck I'd be rich with Junk for sure. Very valuable junk for some of us, that is!
I lucked out meeting my prepper friend, he wants to pay forward all the help he got when he started his off the grid journey! He wants to teach people what he knows. I hope he likes tomatoes, because once ny plants start fuiting, he will benefit from that quite a bit!
Eventually it will be my turn to pay it forward too, I am very greatfull for having his friendship.
Thank you
Hoarder here :D! Salvaging materials is something I would do all day long. I really enjoyed this one :).
Thank you hoarder friend! I had to work really hard at not bringing things into our apartment these last few years... 500 square feet, 3 adults and 1 child, it would have gotten a little cramped!
Hey thank you for the minnow support vote by the way!
Nice! great insights and perspective. That bucket of nails would cost quite a few $$$ in my local hardware store..
it looks like that dump is actually a goldmine! ;-)
oh and by the way...
Congratulations @senorcoconut your post had been selected for an upvote worth ~$1.70 as part of the @ecoTrain minnow support project. Your upvote will come soon!
I hope this encourages you to keep writing amazing posts and making this world a better place!.
JOIN US ON DISCORD
https://discord.gg/XwAmRWW
Thank you once again @eco-alex, the @ecotrain community really rocks!!!
That dump is indeed a Gold Mine, can't wait to go back! But first, we still need to finish unpacking from our move and make an area designated for material both for art and construction. I also can't wait until you see what we buuld once we get started with our natural structures!!!!
Once again, thank you for the encouragement!
I have a friend who runs a waste management company in Hong Kong. One of the local university is his customer and he says its just shocking what he collects at the end of every term. If you were there, I bet you could kit up a brand new home!
That's so amazing what we humans discard because of an upgrade or because of budgets... I bet I could kit out a house!!!
Good friend to have!
Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by laurentiu.negrea from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows. Please find us at the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.
If you would like to delegate to the Minnow Support Project you can do so by clicking on the following links: 50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP, 5000SP.
Be sure to leave at least 50SP undelegated on your account.
I love salvage and rescue. If I wait around long enough, I can almost always find what I need for a project. 👍👍
Yes for sure... the universe will provide! A year or two ago we found space in our tiny kitchen to put in an small (18 inch) dishwasher, three weeks later it showed up on the streets next to where we were working. Someone was remodeling their kitchen and throwing out their little 2 year old stainless steel washer! Score!
Excellent! so many people just have extra money to burn they don't see what you can do without spending a lot. They get dependent on there high paying jobs and if they lost them they would fall apart. I admire what you are doing!!!
Thank you very much @silvertop, true people don't know what they have untill they lose it. There would be a lot of lost folks if the shit would to hit the fan big time!
As for the dump though, you know sometimes people may have to just get rid of their hoarded things for many other reasons than just being rich and throwing it out because you wanted a new one. We just don't know how it ends up in the dump, their could be a million different reasons!
Thank you
Love it! I can totally relate to this feeling of elation when you see a pile of discarded resources. I have to hold back at our local center, and I've learned I must have a use in mind before accumulating. Stuff become ju when it's unused, but it's a gem if out to use. Really appreciate the way you laid onn and relate do he differ t types of capital. There's so much untapped potential as you stay.
Glad you broke the ice and I'm sure you'll be makin many more trip back there in time to come.
Oh yea that's a very good thing to learn, the having a use in mind before collecting junk!
Capital is absolutely everywhere but we are taught that it should only refer to actual paper cash... it's a shame ou society today is so wasteful, people don't look into the future very much and the whole buying disposable anything has become so abusive. More treasure for us but are we enough to make a dent in the mountain of trash?
Thanks
This post has been featured in the @offgrid-online Weekly Review #7. Thanks for sharing your experience at the 'candy store' :) It's amazing what you can build with scraps, or what people have discarded. I have a little scrap yard on the property that I check whenever I have a project. Metal pieces, lumber, etc.. I'll be responding about the turbines and battery setup soon - it's a long story :)
Thanks @jackdub I do need to learn about solar and wind energy quite a bit, but I'll get there soon enough!
Thank you so much for the feature in the weekly feature!