My Authors
Read all threads
the trash truck roars as its engine ignites. Ralph wakes up and remembers where he is. he reaches for a plastic cup and relieves himself. he gets dressed and finishes his food reserves. his dirty clothes in one hand and his cup of urine in the other, he steps outside of his tent
Ralph leaves his cup on the ground to his left and his clothes to his right. The urine is collected and harvested for phosphorous, and the dirty clothes are collected and converted to raw materials.

Ralph reaches into his pockets, finding a clean pair of gloves and a fresh mask
"Phosphorous is perhaps more valuable than gold: it is present in our teeth and bones and is known to gardeners and farmers as one of the three major nutrients needed by plants along with nitrogen and potassium."

localbanquet.com/stories/on-the…
Does the idea of RECYCLING urine sound crazy to you? This company is doing exactly this

richearthinstitute.org/rethinking-uri…
Mark steps out of his tent. He places his cup of urine to the left and leaves his dirty clothes to his right. He pulls gloves and a mask out of his pockets and puts them on.

John steps out of his tent.
cup of urine to the left
dirty clothes to his right.
gloves and a mask
Ralph is first in line, as usual. The security officer takes his photo before handing him a #FitBit and a burner phone. These devices, and his clothes, are his for the day.

The phone contains an access code to enter the door.
Ralph's favorite sensation is the complex, unique smell of the interior. It feels alien, and includes traces of citrus and exotic herbs and spices.

As usual, he heads straight for the mail room
The mailroom is a 10x20 replica of the tent city. There are shoeboxes in rows on the floor. Each box represents a tent.

It is too early to receive mail, but that is not why Ralph is here.
Each box contains scrap paper, and a pen or pencil. Until your mailbox becomes an inbox, it is an outbox.

Ralph makes his requests for the day. There is a 99% likelihood he will get anything he asks for within 6-8 hours.

Dunkin Donuts Medium Iced Coffee with Mocha and Cream
The security officer takes Luke's photo
FitBit and burner phone
Enters the building

Johnathan's photo
FitBit / Phone
Enters the building
Luke has some big ideas and heads straight for the supply manager's office, the highest office his security clearance allows him to access.

Johnathan isn't really awake yet and finds a place to sit down and browse Twitter

They have almost 45 minutes of unstructured time
The trash truck is fitted with a bangin' system with rather expensive subwoofers and power amp. Lucas and Greg are anxious to push its limits, but they are not allowed to play music until they pass through the security gate, and into the outside world.
Theme Music:

🎵TRASH PEOPLE
COMIN TO YOUR TOWN
TRASH PEOPLE
WE AINT FUCKIN AROUND
TRASH PEOPLE
YEEAAAAHHHH
TRASH PEOPLE 🎵
their first stop is an illegal dumping on RT-168 in Williamstown, reported by a local via social media.

There is some good stuff, like wooded furniture, electronics, books, records, but some bad stuff, like diapers, food waste, and a moldy, wet couch.

They have only 30 minutes
Nancy and Nancy are in the older truck, en route to stop at less than a dozen local businesses with whom they have a collection contract. Just a few bags, sometimes equipment. They like to call each other "Nancy 2" and "Nancy 3" just to confuse people.

There is no "Nancy 1".
The van has been with the company since the beginning. The van is never used for wet trash, and is used more for freestyle treasure-hunting expeditions or curb alerts.

It is a privilege to drive the van, and the drivers compete with each other to earn the assignment.
Nancy and Nancy are the first to return.

They turn off the music as they approach the security gate. Nancy 3 fixes her hair, knowing what comes next will be on camera.

No one is allowed to talk about the show while on camera or they are let go and banned.
Eddie is still asleep in his tent.

That's ok.
Nancy and Nancy back up the truck to the loading dock. "It's all yours, TRASH-HOLES!!!", flipping off the camera

The editing team unanimously has crushes on Nancy 2, and so does the YouTube comments

They remove their gloves and head to the clothing room.
The security officer has signed in everyone but there are two fitbits and phones left. He sends a text to his supervisor:

"TWO OUT"
Ralph opens the back of the truck, revealing the contents to the seven new-hires.

It's just a few bags, a pizza box, a chair with three legs, and a printer. One of the bags is ripped and there are papers everywhere. Something smells like poop.

They begin to empty the truck
Lucas and Greg are out of time. They loaded the worst of the worst from the site, and send a text one of their friend's companies

"SOME RANDOM DEBRIS AND CRAP AT 168 AND FRANKLYN"

they are one of those guerilla trash pickup teams who want to beautify park and forest areas
ed is still in bed
that's ok
he reaches for a cup
he vomits
places the cup on the ground
and falls back asleep
Nancy and Nancy are at the clothing room. It's a 30x40 space with racks and racks of clean clothes, although they are mostly unsorted.

They are not alone. There are several other people sifting through the collection. Some are outside contractors and upsellers.

It's all clean
Joey and Vinnie are in the van on the way to Millville. Joey won the van drive contest, and Vinnie is the strongest materials manager. They have a specific mission -- to drive to a house and move a FREE PIANO into the back of the van

southjersey.craigslist.org/msg/d/millvill…
The new hires are emptying the Nancy truck and emptying the bags onto the loading dock. The materials are separated into classes, which are later broken down to 34 categories, and finally 136 types

plastics
glass
wood
cardboard
papers
etc

one of the bags smells like poop
Rebecca is wearing a HazMat suit

she has a knife

she cuts open the bag

it is mostly household waste

it contains a small bag

the bag has poop in it
Both Nancys are satisfied with their clothing selections and exit the dressing rooms. They drop their dirty clothes to their right as they exit the main clothing space.

Their next driver-duty begins at the mailroom
Joe and Vinnie are surprised that the piano doesn't weigh as much as they expected, and get it into the van in only a few minutes. They mutually agree to split a pack of cigarettes using the company #Venmo card.
Eddie is wide awake in bed
he is getting worried
all three cups are full
trying to find the will to live
trying to find the courage to step outside

every morning is another coming into existence
Lucas and Greg are upset about the moldy couch. They couldn't just leave it there, but they are worried that the supply manager is going to be upset that they are bringing in a liability.

A moldy couch can contaminate the entire ecosphere
The new-hires are standing nervously, as Rebecca, in a HazMat suit holds the bag of poop in the air.

"MMM MMM RMM VMM!!"

what?

"THMM VMM RMM VMM!!!"

They can't hear anything she says while the suit is on
Joe and Vinny are rolling 80mph+ on rt55 with a FREE PIANO in the back of the van.

" 🎵AND WE'RE ALL IN THE MOOD FOR A MELODY AND YOU GOT A SPIRIT ALRIGHT!!! 🎵"

They are smoking cigarettes
The world is wide open
Rebecca drops the poop-bag into a cardboard box and removes her helmet

I SAID "THIS WILL BE YOU NEXT WEEK"
Lucas and Greg back up the truck into the loading dock.

The team is done emptying the Nancy truck but the materials are far from sorted. The new hires look visibly stressed.

"ITS ALL YOURS, TRASH HOLES!!!"

no one is amused.
only Nancy 2 can deliver that line
Nancy and Nancy split up. They have a system.

Nancy 3 starts a phone video, and reads every request from the shoeboxes in the mailroom.

Nancy 2 is at the supply manager's office, and grabs a small stack of papers of requests from the other departments

they meet at the car
OK KIDS WHICHEVER ONE OF YOU ISN'T AFRAID OF POOP IS COMING WITH ME

Rebecca is entirely serious. The new-hires look at each other. Two of them raise their hands.
The loading dock is half indoors, half outdoors.

The far wall in the indoor half is lined with various supplies.

PUT THESE ON

Rebecca hands the two new-hires a pink and a green HazMat suit
The three of them return to the truck and pull the moldy couch onto the concrete

CUT THERE. THERE. CUT THERE. UNTIL THERE.

they are using knives and removing sections of the couch

everyone is watching
The outdoor security guard is getting nervous.

It's been an hour since open, and there are still two people in their tents, although he can't see from his vantage point which tents do not have cups and clothes at their doors
nancy and nancy agree to split a pack of cigarettes with the company #PayPal card.

they leave the facility for the 2nd time today, but now in a compact red car with V6 engine.

they will spend the next few hours on a hunt. Nancy 2 likes to call it

"professional shopping spree"
Lucas and Greg are outside near the north. There is a few feet of space between the fence and the building's north wall. This is where the cool kids smoke pot.

This is where I come in.

To Lucas and Greg, I am just a janitor from another department. The viewers know the truth
I'm actually the CEO and founder

We are #TrashPPL
Only the chemist and the logistics manager know who I really am, and they are the only people who directly report to me. The chemist is really the only person I don't have control over. She is the highest educated person on site and it's in my best interest to take her advice
Rebecca and the two new-hires have filled two cardboard boxes with moldy couch pieces, several diapers, moldy newspapers, and a bag of poop.

They push the boxes aside. They will later be inspected by the chemist's assistants and specific plans will be developed for the material
Joe and Vinny get off the highway

🎵 "NAAAAA NAAA NAA NANA NA NAAAAA
NA NA NA NAAAA HEEEY JUDE
JUDE DUDE A DOO DA DOO DEY OWW!"🎵

they don't even play piano
Lucas hands me the bowl
I hit just the corner
I angle myself so the camera gets my good side
I don't think Lucas and Greg realize that we are NOT off camera here. But they still follow the rules.

NO TALKING ABOUT THE SHOW
NO ASKING WHY ARE WE HERE
Joe and Vinny pull up to the security gate

"Hey guys!" (security officer knows them of course)

"DUDE WE GOT A FCKIN PIANO!!! YEAAAAHH!!"

"Oh cool. Do you play?"

"NO WAY BRO BUT IM GONA LEARN"
Nancy and Nancy are smoking cigarettes in a Walmart parking lot, reading the requests from the other departments

book of stamps
granola bars
ammonia
2-inch nails
paprika
paper copies of the 403 and 412 bus routes
raisin bread
bleach
The Wall Street Journal
Small Shrimp Lo-mein
Homemade brownies
box of live worms from bait shop
10 boxes of thin mint girl scout cookies
30 pounds of oranges
30 gallons orange juice
lavender essential oil
peach candle
Fettuccini Alfredo with breadsticks
The outdoor security guard is happy to see Rebecca. She is still wearing the hazmat suit and has the new hires with her.

"There are still two of them out there"

They proceed to collect the urine for recycling, emptying each cup into safe, larger containers on wheels.
There is a tent without clothes or urine outside

HEY ARE YOU OK

"YEAH I'M ALRIGHT"

Ed finally gets out of bed
he just needed some urgency
"OK WE ARE COLLECTING THE PEE CUPS"

"YEAH HOLD ON. I GOT VOMIT TOO"

"OK HOLD ON TO THAT FOR NOW JUST THE PEE PLEASE"
Earlier in the days of #TrashPPL the chemist became an overnight expert on urine and delivered a "Ted Talk" presentation to the engineering staff, who developed a system for recycling urine.

They have a whole room dedicated for this
I pass the bowl to Greg.
Lucas offers me a cigarette.

"we bought these on the company card"

He doesn't know he just told the CEO
He thinks I'm just a janitor

That's ok
Joe and Vinny back up the van

"ITS ALL YOURS TRASH HOLES!!!"

the new hires are starting to realize this is what they say every time they make a drop off

Ralph opens the van, revealing a small piano

OMG

everyone swoons in unison
Eddie exits his tent
Rebecca is standing there, waiting.
He sheepishly pours his cup into her portable container
drops his dirty clothes to his right

I HAVE TO CHECK ON FRANK WE GOT DRUNK LAST NIGHT
There is a tent without a cup or clothes out front

FRANK

no answer

he enters the tent

there's no one there

FRANK IS MISSING
Lucas, Greg, and I are stoned, smoking cigarettes
Nancy and Nancy are still forming a plan
Joe and Vinny are on their way to the clothing room
Ralph is taking turns playing piano with the new hires
Eddie is looking for Frank
Rebecca and two new hires are dealing with urine
Luke is in the supply manager's office

Danielle knocks on the door

COME IN

Luke has never seen one of the artists before

She is beautiful
Danielle is all business

"I need springs. Strong ones."

Ok then

"Thanks"

she leaves

Luke is in shock
Luke has forgotten his entire idea of recycling baby diapers and is completely focused on solving the mystery of who is Danielle and what is it like to work in the other departments. He inches towards the door before his manager makes a request

"tell your crew to get springs"
"yeah! springs! no problem! thanks! seeyalater"

he runs down the hall, but Danielle is gone. He doesn't even know what door she used. Accessing the other departments is a mystery for level 1 staff. The are only rumors of what they really do there #TrashPPL
Lucas and Greg are cool guys. I love feeding their imaginations. The rumors are wild around here

"yo is it true that we are really just collecting metal and phosphorous to build a spacecraft for the government?"

I laugh

"well, the engineers are doing amazing things here"
we hear music in the distance

"ooh the piano is here. I should get going"

we disperse. they head to the clothing room. Joe and Vinny have already found new clothes and are heading to a car. They have to call the Nancys and help with the scavenger hunt.

I'm going upstairs
Rebecca needs only one person to help with hazardous materials, but she likes to invite more than one because many people quit during the first day. $1000/m and a tent is a dream come true for those who need a fresh start, but not everyone can deal with urine and diapers.
The entire level-one staff lives and works on site.

They receive $1000/m, a tent, and access to a number of amenities and resources. The goal is to get their confidence up and increase their skillsets so we can refer them to other companies.

We are recycling PEOPLE

#TrashPPL
The level-1 staff are known as "materials managers", but on paper they are actors in a monetized web series. All data, audio and video that results from daily activities and personal interactions is intellectual property of the company. The entire place is bugged.
The loading dock has a piano. But it also has a few piles of papers, cups, bottles, boxes, furniture parts, electronics, books, records, food waste, plastic bags, and random debris

Everything is sorted and will be added to the collection. There is a room for almost everything
The next few hours are not too exciting.

Nancy, Nancy, Joe, Vinny, Lucas, Greg are out in the world buying things for the entire staff

Rebecca is training two hires on urine recycling

Ralph, Mark, Luke and five hires are sorting trash

Eddie is worried that Frank is dead
Eddie is seriously worried
He finally signs in
two hours late
Guard reminds him of mask and gloves
He complies
Guard takes his photo
hands him the #FitBit and phone
He finds the code and enters the building

Someone must know what happened last night
The supply manager usually doesn't step away from the desk for the first two hours of the day. The position requires balancing requests from the art and engineering departments with whatever the drivers bring in. It's probably the most stressful position in the entire company
Randy is this month's supply manager and he is already about to lose his shit. It's unfortunate that this burden must fall on one person, but I have had bad results from splitting up the position or delegating any of its tasks.

It needs to be one person.
A very smart person
Randy opens his desk drawer, revealing a flask. Randy might not remember that he's on camera, but even if he does there is too much to think about right now.

He takes a swig, mentally preparing for a new day

It's already 11:13am
The new-hires don't know Randy yet
Everyone else freezes when he enters the loading dock
Will today be a good day?
Or a bad day?

With Randy, every day is a bad day
LUKE DID YOU GET ME THOSE SPRINGS
"yes sir they're right-"
WHY ARE THEY IN A COUCH!? EXTRACT THEM! DO IT NOW! YOU THERE-- HELP HIM

Mark runs to the wall and opens a toolbox
runs back with pliers and a bolt cutter
Luke is afraid to do this
Luke's grandfather lost an eye
trying to repair a couch
the spring shot out and dug into his eye
Luke is nervous
He doesn't want to end up like grandpa

But he knows these springs are for Danielle
He flips the couch over and inspects the bottom
CLEAN PAPER AND DIRTY PAPERS! SEPERATE THIS! WE NEED CLEAN PAPER! THE DIRTY PAPER COULD BE ANYTHING! THE CHEMIST IS GOING TO KILL ME

SHIT

GOD DAMMIT

the new hires are intimidated
but the chance to get a tent is attractive
THIS PLASTIC! GET THESE BOTTLES OUT OF HERE! JUST CUPS HERE! TAKE THESE LABELS OFF THE BOTTLES! THATS PAPER! ITS DIRTY PAPER! IT COULD BE ANYTHING! THERE IS PLASTIC ON THE PAPER! GLOSS COULD BE ANYTHING! THE CHEMIST IS GOING TO KILL ME SHIT DAMMIT FCKIN SHIT
eddie walks through the door

YOURE LATE

"frank is missing"

YEAH WELL SO WERE YOU UNTIL NOW HE WILL SHOW UP COME SORT THIS RUBBISH

"no really, I was sick and I think frank could be too.. I think it could be serious"

GOD DAMMIT I DONT HAVE TIME FOR THIS CRAP WTF EDDIE
OK YOU HAVE SIX PILES
YOURE GOING MAKE TWELVE PILES
THEN EIGHTEEN PILES
RALPH KNOWS THE DRILL
CLEAN THIS UP
THEN YOU GET LUNCH
I'LL BE BACK

(points at Eddie)

AND YOURE COMING WITH ME
My phone is vibrating.
Only a few people have this number.

It's a text from the logistics manager

"hey bro sorry to bother you. are you on site right now? I need you to go to A/V and find out what happened to one of our guys last night. I/T lost him at 5pm so he's not inside."
I send a text to A/V

"haha remember that dude who got wasted last night with Eddie and jumped the fence? well I think we have a liability issue so unfortunately we can't use that footage. sucks. hit me up if u wanna smoke"
I send a text to the logistics manager

"A/V says he jumped the east wall around 1:18am. If he comes back he's fired. Give his tent to one of the new hires"

rules are rules.
I recieve a text from A/V

"yeah bro come hit this bowl we up here. we found this hilarious bit of Danielle hiding behind a chair while some dufus is running around looking for her"
Meanwhile here is a text Nancy 3 sent to Vinne

"yo come to Walmart we just bought 30 gallons of OJ not realizing we can't fit it in this small ass car like an idiot"
that's enough for today

@threadreaderapp unroll please
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh.

Enjoying this thread?

Keep Current with 🌺Michael-Joseph:of-Britt(Jr) ☃️

Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!