Sunday, Jan. 20, 2008

'Diving' For Nickels, Dimes

Rifling Dumpsters for recyclables is how some survive

Leonard Quesada never thought he'd have to dig through garbage for cans and plastic bottles to make money.

But that's what the 43-year-old unemployed divorced father of four was doing in a Dumpster behind a north Modesto business one evening last week.

It was one of his stops on a well-planned Dumpster diving route that allows him to earn enough money in recyclables for a trip to the grocery store.

"This way, I won't have to depend on other people for food," Quesada said. "I can make a little money while helping the environment."

He's one of a number of people from all backgrounds in Modesto who search through everything from commercial Dumpsters to simple park garbage cans looking for tossed-out items that can be taken to recycling centers or sold on the street.

If the City Council gives final approval Tuesday to the ordinance it OK'd earlier this month, Modesto police in March will be able to arrest and fine people digging through waste containers. The vote is largely procedural, but residents at the council meeting will have another chance to speak about the issue.

Quesada knows all about the ordinance after reading newspaper articles on the subject. He carries one of the articles, cut out and folded in his shirt pocket, hoping to educate other garbage diggers.

"It was bound to happen. There's just too many of us out there," said Quesada as he stood in line at a recycling center ready to exchange about 9 pounds of crushed aluminum cans and plastic bottles secured in bags hung from the handlebars of his mountain bike.

At least four days a week, Quesada spends 7½ hours collecting cans and bottles without any hassle from police or business owners. His take? About $12 a day.

He starts out on his bike at 2 p.m. from his mom's mobile home southeast of Geer Road and Highway 132, hauling the previous trip's bounty on a 10-mile, 90-minute ride to Central Valley Recycling on South Ninth Street in Modesto.

It's a tough ride along the highway, given his weakening knees and the loaded garbage and dangling grocery bags. It's one of the reasons he doesn't collect glass -- too heavy.

On Wednesday, he exchanged 2.7 pounds of cans and 6.8 pounds of plastic bottles for $11.52. He says it's just enough for him to get by.

Quesada, who's been doing this for nine years, is a welder by trade and has worked some odd jobs around town, but he has not been able to maintain steady employment for the past few years.

After his recycling stop, he continues his ride north across the Ninth Street Bridge.

After hustling through downtown, Quesada reaches west Modesto and Dumpsters along Carpenter Road.

The garbage stench, a combination of stale alcohol, rotten food and used toilet paper, would make anyone hold their breath and pinch their nose. Quesada just tries to ignore the smell.

It's one reason he never actually goes "diving." Instead, he leans in and reaches for items or garbage bags to search.

To protect his hands, Quesada uses plastic bags used to hold newspapers.

The odor is why he puts on "can-digging clothes" -- black jeans, black sneakers, a sweat shirt, a long-sleeved shirt and a baseball cap.

Quesada doesn't want to spoil other clothes because the smell lingers long after a wash.

"As soon as I get home," he said, "I take off all my clothes and take a shower."

Although the Dumpsters on Carpenter typically don't yield much, he still explores them because they're hidden from the road -- and police -- and they're on his route to his personal mother lode.