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Man caught living for 8 years among half-ton of trash in national forest, feds say
(www.independent.co.uk)
this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2026
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The items listed weren't necessarily waste, pans and tires and part bikes and barrels and recyclables he may have collected to turn in for coin... He may have cleaned up other areas in order to collect some of the stuff he had at his site, we don't know.
The people who clear campsites just estimate weight of all they remove and label it all 'trash that they cleared'... But it's never is.
That's like calling all the plants in my yard weeds, just cause you don't like them.
I've come into contact with a lot of rough sleepers through work, and many of them tend to be hoarders. But not hoarding useful things, just rotting crap they've found wherever, then it's left out in the weather and infested with bugs, real nasty shit. I've had to clear up abandoned encampments and it is grim. I think maybe there's something about not having a home that makes some people more inclined to surround themselves with stuff, they maybe find some sense of security in it. Of course, often it's bottles of piss and dirty needles too.