Bote Bakal Collector In The Philippines.
For sure, if you live in the Philippines, you often see a lot of them on the streets riding on their pedicab while shouting the words "BOTE(bottle)" and "Bakal(Steel)" over and over. These guys collect recyclable garbage from households like empty bottles, cartons, newspapers, plastic wares, nails, electrical wires, and steel of any form. Right after they've collected sufficient quantity, they deliver it to junk-shops who, in turn, pay them according to the value of the garbage they brought in.
When I was a kid, I've had a lot of friends who worked as bote bakal collectors during summer time for fun. Seeing from the look of their faces, I can say that they had a great time doing it and not even bothering the heat of the sun. Adding to that, they did not only enjoy biking around the town but also made some money out of it at the same time. I even remembered one of my friends treating us with snacks after being paid by the junk-shop owner with 200 pesos (way back then, 200 pesos was already a big amount) when he brought 5 kilos of electrical wires. Later did I know that it was because of the copper found inside the wires.
The junk-shops, in turn, made bigger profits out of those salvaged garbage by selling it to customers at a higher price. For example, the junk-shop owner can sell the 5 kilos of electric wire at 400 pesos to its customer. That's already twice the amount! But still, a lot of Filipinos prefer to buy from junk-shops because it is way cheaper than a brand new one.
A typical Junkshop in the Philippines. Photo Credits
When we built our boat, not all of its parts were brand new. If we opted to build our boat out of brand new materials, then its cost would have been over a million pesos. Just like any typical Filipino, we tend to look for other cheaper alternatives first before buying a brand new unit. By doing this, we were able to save a lot and minimize its overall cost. We just have to make sure that the things we buy from surplus shops are in good condition and still function as intended.
One time, Ramil asked me, "Van, do you know any junk-shop that sells steering wheel with a shaft?"
"I know of some junkshops but I am not sure if they have what you are looking for. Where would you use it anyway?", I replied.
"For our boat!", Ramil answered.
"Why do we have to look for it in junkshops? Can't we buy those from automotive supply stores?", I inquired.
"You mean brand new? Well, we could but that would be very expensive, Van!", He insisted.
"I'll try to look for it...", I said.
Before I went home, I went to several automotive supply stores to inquire and I found out that what Ramil said was indeed true. A brand new steering wheel alone costs around 5k pesos and a brand new shaft costs 8k pesos. I actually gulped when I heard how much it costs.
The next morning, the thought never departed my mind and so I went straight to the junk-shops nearby without even taking my breakfast. I asked the owner, who happened to be a friend of my father, if he had a steering wheel with a shaft in his collection. He said that he remembered having a lot of those but he forgot where he piled it. So, I asked him if it would be okay if i would go over his shop to look for the likes of it. Luckily, he agreed with it.
What's in a junkshop. Photo Credits
After thirty minutes of searching, I came about a long rounded steel that was covered with rusty galvanized sheets. Out of curiosity, I tried pulling it from its place. It was kinda heavy and it required greater amount of force. When I successfully pulled it through, I was very surprised to see that it was actually what I was looking for. A steering wheel attached in its shaft. And not only one but three.
I immediately went to the owner and asked, "Sir, how much would this cost?".
He then placed it in a big weighing scale and computed something in his calculator while saying, "This one is heavy, this will cost a little higher..."
And after few seconds he said, "this one costs 310 pesos..."
"What? 310 pesos?", I asked him again to clarify what he said...
"Yeah! 310 pesos. That's my last price for it..."
"Okay, I'll buy it sir...", I said with a very big smile.
"That's very cheap!", I said to myself. I immediately called Ramil on his phone and told him about my discovery. Without wasting a minute, he arrived in a flash and we ended up buying the three of it for just over a thousand pesos.
By the way, when our boat was finished, this is how the steering wheel looked like.
Me holding the steering wheel of our newly built boat.
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