Laura Pritchett is the author/editor of five books. Her fiction includes the novel Sky Bridge, which won the WILLA Fiction Award, and the short story collection Hell’s Bottom, Colorado, which won the Milkweed National Fiction Prize and the PEN USA Award. She is also the editor/coeditor of three anthologies: The Pulse of the River, Home Land, and Going Green: True Tales from Gleaners, Scavengers, and Dumpster Divers. Pritchett has published over seventy essays and short stories in numerous magazines. She lives in northern Colorado, near the ranch where she was raised.

Excerpt (in which Pritchett describes the sorting process that follows the delivery of dumpster treasure to the waste processing facility):

“…Finally, the workers are done: we have 108 pounds of cans (that’s about
3,215 of those babies), 400 pounds of scrap aluminum, 10 pounds of clean
and dirty copper, 174 pounds of radiators (aluminum/copper mixed), 116
pounds of insulated wire, 26 pounds of number-one single wire, 25 pounds
of soft lead, 23 pounds of stainless steel, 30 pounds of yellow brass, and a
bunch of batteries.

Assuming that the aluminum would be produced by a coal-fired power
system, we have saved 18,000 pounds (9 tons) of carbon dioxide from being
released into the air. That’s 56 million BTUs. Add to that the copper—about
175 pounds—which saves another 10 million BTUs (and an additional 3,000
pounds of carbon dioxide from being emitted). And we’re just talking about
the aluminum and copper here; we’re not even talking about how much
earth would have been stripped, processed, and laid waste in a tailings pile
left to further pollute.

On top of this, my kids are holding their first $100 dollar bill, which
they’re looking at with reverence and awe. Compared to their lemonade
stands, this diving business is the better deal.”