“Since we live in a country with so much excess, I think it’s important to have scavengers. That’s basically what I do. Just like the natural world has.” Bakari Kafele, founder of Oakland, California’s Biodiesel Hauling service, rescues truckloads of people’s used stuff from landfills.

Instead of paying a fee to unload the contents of his customers’ garages/attics/basements/closets at a dump site, Kafele spends hours sorting through his clients’ castoffs to find a home for everything from electronics to books.

In this video, Kafele sorts a truckload for its final destination with recycling, craigslist, Urban Ore and Goodwill and talks about living in a society of planned obsolescence.