I recently came across some things that get thrown out to the trash where I work, and had a couple of ideas pop into my head for using them as materials for survival use, and wanted to share them with everyone.
This is not the first time that I have seen something that was intended for a specific use, but could also be used for something survival related. I had a bunch of things this past summer that I came across while cleaning out a large amount of "junk" left behind by a person that was living in a family members rental property.
Things like...glass jars, metal cans, rope and strings, etc, etc;
If objects like these are viewed as things that can be recycled and re-used, the possibility for uses for survival gear and tools starts to become more easily seen.
Now as to the things that get thrown out at wotk....... I work for a company that does gontract work for The Postal Service, The Social Security Administration, as well as a lot of other local and state agencies that require bulk mailing services.
We go thru very large amounts of paper stock, both roll stock and printed forms, cupons, etc, etc;
During my time with the company, I have come across many items that are treated as waste, and are sent to the trash compactor.Here are a few that I have come across.
We get large skids of envelopes that are wrapped with plastic stretch wrap. Lately, one of our suppliers has placed large sheets of clear plastic sheeting (4 1/2'x 4 1/2') on the top of the stock before wrapping them with the stretch film. I have started to remove these and save them, and as long as they keep doing it, I have a good supply of plastic sheeting for projects like....... cold frame cover material, row covers, etc, for gardening. Covers for smaller windows in the winter to help stop drafts. Material to make a solar still to supply drinking water. A couple in a BOB or GHB, or a small survival kit, could be used to cover a small debris or lean-to shelter to hellp repel rain and snow. Ground covers or cover to be put over top a sleeping bag if exposed, to repel dew.
I'm sure there are many more uses that I just have not thought of yet, but you get the idea.
Another item is small bits of cotton string that turn up in our returned mail trays. These can be sometimes as long as 3-4 feet in length. A small hand-full of these can be used to tie small branches together for that debris shelter or lean-to. Tie tomato vines up in the garden. Emergency snare of fishing line. Again, ther are many more than I could think of right now.
One of my favorites, but the supply of these has stopped, and I don't know if they will ever use them again because of the cheaper alternatives, but for a while, I was able to get hold of some 1 1/2" wide nylon webbing in lengths that ran from around 3' to 7' in length. These were used to secure some of the large rolls of papre stock that we processed into forms and letters every day. When the employees that did this work got the rolls in on the skids, they were probably upwards of around 12' to 16' in continious length, but they would cut one side completly thru, and you would then have 2 or 3 smaller pieces, and some very small ones when the cut was near the end ( 6-8" pieces ). I asked the three shift supervisors in the print department to have their people save them for me instead of throwing them out as they would normally do, and over the coarse of the time that they had this webbing on these rolls, I was able to get a few hundred linear feet of hte stuff. The uses for this are too numerous to put here. Homemade web gear was the first thing that came to mind when i started to get this nice little treasure.
Another supply of nice "trash" from work is the supply of wood products that gets thrown out from time to time. 2x4s, 2x2s, etc;
About a year ago, we got in some new machinery, and there was a small mountain of wood that I secured for myself, just by asking for the skids ( a couple of them were about 10-12' in length) as well as the smaller support, cribbing, and brace pieces that came along with them. And I have even had dozens and dozens of pieces of white oak and pine boards that have been broken off of the wooden skids that our stock comes on, thrown into the back of my truck, in piles to be brought home to use as firewood in our backyard fire pit for many hotdog roast.
Recently, I have seen a number of lath type pieces that are made into a protective top on some stock, and these form a 4' square panel with a piece down the middle, and the thought struck me that these could be covered with chicken wire, to make fencing panels for small livestock. I have no real need for them, but if times do get a lot tougher than what they are right now, a small backyard flock of chickens can be kept safe by these panels posted and wired together to make a good sized run. I plan on asking for them next week, and if I can start geting them, I will add them to the covered woodpile behind our garden shed, to be saved until I need to use them, and even if I don't use them for that, they would also make some good frames for the garden to make trellises for tomatos, beans, cukes, etc;
So as you can see from these examples that I have given here, If you keep your eyes open, and your mind set on the possibility of using something for survuval and preparedness, you can find all sorts of things to help make life a bit easier and better for you and your family.
