Greetings, fellow sentient beings.

For those more interested in the prices of scrap metal in my region, there shall be a small list at the end of the article. I'd love to compare and discuss with you.

But now, I'm also telling a story and sharing some personal philosophy, so...those who like to read long, yes you right there in the back row, hang on...

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I had a certain mood recently that made me go back to childhood hobbies such as...scrap metal recycling. Well, selling it to those who actually recycle it or resell it to the actual recyclers, or...I don't know. The way of the iron is probably long and full of barbed wire, rusty thumbnails, discarder hoes in dangerous positions, etc.

Lol, if you look a couple of posts back on my LeoFinance profile you'll see another post about rust.

Anyway.

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### Why am I into scrap

I actually find it an elegant way to utilize some dirty work time in order to save the planet. On your own! All right, it's at least the right thing to do. I am long into that Reduce Reuse Recycle kind of philosophy, the RRR of non-super-consumer behavior.

Also, it's resources wasted, otherwise. Money wasted for me, the commodity that recycled metal could be...for everyone else. For the planet, right?

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### So, I ran two missions in the past couple of weeks...

The first one was getting rid of an old (heat) accumulating heater (you don't say). It did have some sentimental value to me, my brother, my mother even. We used to sit upon it, warm our asses, watch TV back in the days when we were kids... It's heat is mild, it uses electricity to warm up but it has lots of insulation layers and bricks inside that would absorb the warmth generated by that electricity and keep radiating it for many hours to come. Old School Eco Tech. It was probably fifty years old or so...Older than me, anyway.

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![Scrapyard Blues One B.jpg](https://images.hive.blog/DQmb3r4NupdrXw8PfN36Znvc1MeCJVYUsvmqUumwQc7GMaR/Scrapyard%20Blues%20One%20B.jpg)
_Just look at that beautiful Soc. letter design!_

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Minimalism and more living space. My current goals. My idea of creating a good life for my family. It was finally able to beat that nostalgia feeling.

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![Scrapyard Blues One A.jpg](https://images.hive.blog/DQmRFXDtkM5RgDZc5Ty1AS9NSKSMP8tMXxZZx64mWwKt1sB/Scrapyard%20Blues%20One%20A.jpg)


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Space was cleared, bricks were designated for some future Reuse, scrap metal was...mostly tin. I sold the casing for almost nothing. It felt good, though.

Half a square meter of living space was gained. A piece of retro furniture where I used to put my cups and glasses of water was lost.

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### The second important part of that same mission was...

To get the local scrap collectors. Their price lists, their conditions, etc. I might still need that for industrial waste purposes.

It was market research. Exploration. Totally worth the time expended.

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### My second mission was...

 to get rid of two old electric motors that my grandfather used to pump water out of the well in his village garden. Not working anymore.

Him, standing upright but bent back due to old age's feebleness, cursing at his drunken neighbor for the damage caused instead of help provided...that is one of my fondest memories.

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The money I got at the scrap yard for 49 kilos of iron and 3.4 kilos of copper was enough to buy... an iron reel mounted on a hook and 63 or 64 meters of rope.

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For the bucket that I shall now use to get water from that same well.

I did not need all that rope, I just wanted to buy it off, make it scarce in the local store, hoard the remaining fifty meters until it all rots or something ;)

Anyway.

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### The actual scrap metal price list in Bulgaria, roughly converted in Euros (and Hive) by yours truly:

Iron: 0.22 for a kilo (less than 1 Hive)
Aluminum: 0.6 for a kilo (about 2 Hive)
Lead: 0.65 (About 2 Hive again)
Stainless Steel: 0.7 (same 2 Hive, but a bit fatter)
Bronze: 2.5 (About 7 or 8 Hive)
Copper: 4 to 5 Euro (about 13 to 16 Hive)

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Surely better prices could be found but that's the local circumstances.

What felt interesting to me was...

Copper turns out to be more expensive than Bronze. Not so in certain symbolic rankings, right? Like...Copper League would be below Bronze League, there's a Bronze medal for third place in a competition, etc.

The usefulness of Copper in electric stuff though...Ah, the use cases! Less "noble", more "getting the job done".

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How about your local prices?

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Yours,

Manol


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