On Monday morning, Steve Chartrand is picking up trash in front of my house. I had gotten into the habit of greeting him and his accomplices, Daniel and Omar, while standing behind the truck as it sped through the neighborhood at lightning speed.
I have a lot of respect for my garbage collectors. In the scale of the most important positions in the city, I put them first. In front of the guy who clears snow from my side of the sidewalk or repairs potholes in the road. (Okay, that’s next.)
Because the snow is melting. Not our stock.
Without our precious garbage collectors, the city would just stink. She will cede her territory to rats and other pests, who will make short work of our overflowing bags. We would be overwhelmed by the tons of waste, shameful symbols of our excesses and our inability to control overconsumption.
That’s why we can’t stand to have our damn drains lying around everywhere. They say too much about who we are. We just want them to go away.
“Hide this bag so I don’t see it.” Like Moliere’s Tartuffe, we are hypocrites and heartless in the face of our bulky, perishable products.
Dirty work
We, inveterate polluters, wasters of all types of food, have no idea of the demands of the job of a scavenger, which comes with its share of ingratitude, dirt and unsavory comments. Even from loved ones.
“My ex-wife already told me, ‘Fuck your crappy job!’ We’ll find you a real job!” “Oh no,” Steve said, grinning.
When I ask him if his three children say their father is a drain cleaner, he hesitates for a second. “I think so. This is less of an insult than it was.”
As we drink coffee in my backyard, Steve sums up his story. Like many of the kids who work with him, he didn’t really like school and dropped out of high school.
His father-in-law, who thought he was doing the right thing, told him: “You’ll end up on a park bench or in a landfill!” »
Steve grew up in Longueuil, where he made 400 rounds, ended up in a reception center and, at 18, came out and fell in love with a garbage truck parked on the street behind his house.
“The boss of the company told me: “Wait later and come with us.” run !”I have an error! »
Human machine
Steve is a “machine.” These are what we call “real” people in business. In 28 years of practice, he had to transport more than 120,000 tons of garbage alone. (One ton is equal to 1000 kilograms. Respect.)
He doesn’t see the day when he stops.
“The lifespan of a garbage collector behind a truck is less than 10 years. Following a truck is fun!” – waste management sociologist Simon Paré-Poupart writes in his book. Garbage ! Diary of a plumber. The work that I have already recommended to you here and which has just been published in France and the USA contributes to the “detabooization” of the profession.
The job is not available to everyone. Carrying the weight of the world on your back requires the iron health and cardio of an Ironman runner.
On his body, cut with a knife, Steve shows me a still fresh scar left by a piece of glass, “crushed in a bag” by a careless citizen. He has something to say about people who throw things away “without thinking about the guys who pick it up.” »
“The world doesn’t think so.”
His friend Simon had already found the pot in the trash. From the most eccentric scraps to the most useful, Steve has seen it all.
He pulls his latest discovery out of the truck: a fully functional folding massage table. The owner, one of my neighbors, probably threw it away because the mattress was a little worn out. The table costs $350.
Steve Chartrand picks up any recyclable trash along the way, like this folding massage table.
Photo by Isabelle Marechal
Steve Chartrand picks up any scraps along the way that can be recycled, like this folding massage table that remains fully functional even if the fabric is a little damaged.
Photo by Isabelle Marechal
Treasures of trash
Steve collects all recyclable waste. He has a barn full of trash treasures. All sorts of items that the townspeople didn’t bother to pass on to the next person and chose to throw in the trash.
“It’s easy to give a ‘give’ to something you want more of, and it’s still good. It’s all of our relationships with things that are unhealthy.”
A follower of freeganism, Steve lives off the dregs of consumer society. He earns $70,000 as a garbage collector and supplements his income with whatever he finds.
“If only you knew how much I save.” I don’t have to go shopping for laundry, I just pick it up from the trash. (on this day he is wearing black shorts from a famous brand and black sneakers that look like new). I collect all the metals that people throw away. I resell them. The price has increased a lot. »
His Alibaba cave contains skis, car parts, windows, furniture, suitcases, toys and jewelry, rings, necklaces, watches. How does he manage to find this fabulous prey?
Skis, hockey sticks, bird cages… Steve Chartrand finds them all in his collections.
Photo courtesy of Steve Chartrand.
Waste collector Steve Chartrand collects any recyclable waste along his route. His “Alibaba Cave” contains skis, car parts, windows (in this photo), furniture, suitcases, toys and jewelry, rings, necklaces, watches.
Photo courtesy of Steve Chartrand.
In his “Alibaba Cave” he also accumulates numerous rings and other jewelry he found in the trash.
Photo courtesy of Steve Chartrand.
He even collects lawn mowers, like the one in this photo.
Photo courtesy of Steve Chartrand.
Suitcases and other bags abandoned on the side of the road also make him happy, since most of them are still in perfect condition.
Photo courtesy of Steve Chartrand.
“When you always do the same sectors, you end up learning the habits of the townspeople. When the pile is larger than usual, or when houses are for sale or have already been sold, I let go of all my senses. When I grab a bag, I can tell what’s inside just by the sound, texture or appearance of the bag.”
Without repeating myself, I ask him a question.
“How could people throw this away?”
“I’m telling you, people don’t think like that.” »
Steve asked me to come and pick up the money with him.
“You can see for yourself how much we throw away.”
I promise, dear Steve, it will be cooler this fall.
“In the meantime, can I send a message to people to help you with your work?
– Place newspaper at the bottom of the compost bin. We hate the garbage juice that flows over us! »