What is Unacceptable Refuse?

Dr. Thanatos of Ann Arbor

After Lughnasadh (08.26.06 C.E.)

Unacceptable Refuse is nonprofit organization dedicated to keeping things out of the landfill and getting them into places where they can be used. Although several recycling “centers” have been started, we spend most of our time recovering stuff from the trash (because most people/organizations/businesses/corporations don’t adequately recycle) and making better use of it. The project recycles some of these “found” items, but others are salvaged for future applications. In fact, we made this entire flyer from things found in nearby dumpsters. And we clean, repair, and distribute many items every night. These things are then given to members of our “family” or are taken to local charities.

Melio, Lykos, and Thanatos started an unnamed “dumpster dive” project in Bowling Green during the early 1990s. In these formative years, the primary purpose was to obtain free food for activist gatherings held at the United Christian Fellowship and the Temple of Life and Death. Melio, Anakatora, and Thanatos then used this initial protocol to gather building materials to restore the Temple for Metamorphic Siren in Cincinnati during the late 1990s. Cider and Thanatos formally established the “Dumpster Dive Project of Bowling Green” to recover art supplies for Dystopia Incorporated in Bowling Green during the early 2000s. Adopting its current name, DJ Anakatora, Spare Parts, and Dr. Thanatos expanded Unacceptable Refuse to Ann Arbor during the mid 2000s. Miles and Amanda filmed video documentaries in Bowling Green and Findlay during that expansion, and this contributed to the project’s rapid growth. Finally, veteran dumpster divers such as Chad of Findlay, Mark of Texas, and those met on a trip to New York have taught us valuable lessons over the years.

Members of the project have “dumpster dived” nightly for the last several years. Each night, we have successfully filled an entire truck thereby keeping an estimated 35,000 cubic feet of “trash” out of the Ohio and Michigan landfills. Unacceptable Refuse has also nicely furnished an entire “home” and has donated hundreds of items to area charities. And we have used the art and office supplies to promote other nonprofit and local projects including WBGU Radio, Flesh From Ashes Magazine, Svlfuric Records, and the Frequency Mutineers. (We have also postered the world with salvaged items like adding machine tape and multicolored spray paint. Using banners and stencils, we mock corporate advertising with our own hyperbolic slogans such as “Saving the World with Trash” and “Your Future Lies in the Dumpster”.) Finally, we have paid for first-aid training (e.g., for activist medics), sponsored trips to activist gatherings (e.g., to New York) and have given money to the homeless (e.g., in Ann Arbor).

Unacceptable Refuse is a law-abiding organization and operates as a nonprofit entity in complete compliance with all Ohio and Michigan ordinances. Working closely with property owners, legal consultants, and the police, we are gradually changing the way our society handles its trash and manages its landfills. And the project has other goals including an expansion of the “Bottle Law” in Michigan (to include all containers) and the introduction of a similar law in Ohio. In addition, Unacceptable Refuse is collaborating with A4mation to build a warehouse for holding the large number of reusable items it recovers every night. These items will be made publicly available to provide an alternative to the corporations who are selling things already available for free in the dumpsters.

Please do what you can to help Unacceptable Refuse recycle and reuse. The landfills are getting closer to Bowling Green, Ann Arbor, and everywhere. These sites are contaminating the environment (e.g., mercury) and contain the last of our nonrenewable resources (e.g., aluminum). Almost every item can be salvaged and kept out the trash. Feel free to contact us if you need assistance. Working together, we can create a cleaner (and more sustainable) future.

Created using only materials salvaged by Unacceptable Refuse

More data is available at www.FrequencyMutineers.org