Ahoy! Thar’s gold in that junk drawer!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science… saying…
At least keys, old cell phones, those weird little IKEA joints to—argh!—assemble your Bilsbo’s.
All are metal, of increasing demand today, and expensive to mine.
Enterprising? You could be like Vancouver’s “freelance metal recycler” Steve Nelson, featured in our book of the month, Vince Beiser’s Power Metal. A good dumpster dive can yield $370 at a scrapyard, but stripping copper out of electrical wire? Takes time.
In Lagos, Nigeria, e-waste pickers smash open, like clamshells, a portion of the world’s estimated annual 5 billion dead cell phones for the metal bits inside. Daily take home? A few dollars a day.
Hmm… Maybe crafting some DIY holiday ornaments makes more sense. Pair with dead Christmas tree lights!
Reference: Beiser, V. (2024). Power Metal: The race for the resources that will shape the future. Riverhead Books