It's ridiculous how much waste the average American produces, and what's worse is that a large percentage of what goes into landfill could still be used. It's easier to throw away that old bike or lawnmower than fix it, even if fixing it means new tires or a spark plug. I think one could make a decent living fixing bikes, lawn mowers and appliances found in the trash and scavenging copper and aluminum. I think you could do pretty well on scrap alone.