Ottawa Herald, The (KS)
Published: July 14, 2011
A couple years ago, Aaron Mayo was looking for a way to make a little extra cash.
Some of his friends offered ideas based on their experiences with scrapping metal and recycling items commonly found strewn across farming properties, but Mayo was reluctant at first. He said he figured after gas money and labor, it wouldn’t be worth the effort.
Mayo, a Franklin County resident, is a paramedic with Franklin County Emergency Medical Services, and has four young children who are all home-schooled by his wife, Vanessa.
Inspired by his friends’ suggestion and the “pile of junk” that had became an “eyesore” on his own 10-acres of property outside of Williamsburg, Mayo, 35, dove head first into the world of scrapping for profit.
“We all have full-time jobs,” Mayo said, referring to himself and his friends who also scrap. “But this helps supplement gas money and food. It helps pay for extra stuff and helps make ends meet. I mean, I don’t know anywhere else to make $80 in two hours.”
Mayo said he typically scraps for neighbors and friends and tries to take a load to an area recycling center about once a week. He said he even made up some fliers to advertise his new business venture, but said it’s typically word-of-mouth advertising that brings in his clients.
“If someone I know has stuff on their land, I go and approach them about it,” Mayo said. ”I’ve had people come to me and say, ‘I don’t want it here, so take it.’ Or others say, ‘Well, can I get a little bit of that money, too?”
Depending on how much is hauled off and whether anyone assists in loading it, Mayo said, he usually splits whatever he makes with the landowners.
Teens to laid-off workers
Stagnant salaries and infrequent hiring and layoffs coupled with an ever-struggling economy has led many people, like Mayo, to explore alternative ways to make money.
Tiffany Hoyt, an employee at East Wilson Street Welding & Recycling, 2202 E. Wilson St, Ottawa, said during her six months on the job, she has seen a wide range of people coming in to make extra money. From teenage girls with their parents to laid-off workers, Hoyt said she’s seen it all.
“Its kind of amazing to see the different people who do come in to try and make an extra dollar or two,” Hoyt said.
Shelley Bartlett, also an employee at the recycling business, said she scraps on the side, too.
“I started just for some extra money,” Bartlett said. “I was donating plasma, which is just about the same amount of work.”
After Bartlett’s fiance lost his job and started scrapping, she said she realized he was making just as much as he was while employed.
No. 1 and No. 2 copper now net $2.40 a pound and $2.25 a pound respectively at East Wilson Street Welding & Recycling. Bartlett said, however, what you mostly find on properties is iron, which nets $135 a ton.
“But anything a magnet sticks to you can get money,” Bartlett said.
A family affair
Arleen Talbert and her family recently moved to Kansas from Warrensburg, Mo. The Talberts previously had scrapped metal for profit on the side there and decided to bring the business with them to Franklin County.
Talbert said it started when she and her husband were looking for something their boys — ages 10, 12, 13 and 15 — could get involved with during their teenage years. Talbert said the extra money doesn’t hurt either.
“We are not considered a large family, but with the economy and my husband working almost 9 years without a pay raise it helps,” she said. “Scrap metal paid for our daughter’s wedding. And she had the most beautiful wedding.”
Like Mayo, the Talberts rely strictly on word-of-mouth. Christina Wharton, one of the Talberts’ neighbors, said she had about a trailer-full of some old tractors and other materials that sat around on her property and wanted removed.
“I needed to get it off of my property,” Wharton said. “And they came and did it for us.”
‘Not just for profit’
In addition to scrapping metal for money, Mayo said, he also has recycled some other items he’s picked up. He has started collecting old phone poles for fence posts or lumber.
He said his current project includes using the wood from old shipping pallets to construct a milking barn for his goats. He estimates he’s only spent about $200 on the project, compared to what he assumes would have cost about $3,000.
“When you don’t have the money to do something, you take things and recycle stuff out of what you do have,” Mayo said.
Angelique McNaughton 