SoCal “Trash-outs” on PBS

On the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer last night, I caught a riveting segment by KCET Los Angeles about a company called Western Security Realty Preservation, which specializes in rapidly removing belongings from foreclosed homes. A few years ago, the company employed three people. Now it has 73 employees, who empty out an average of 15 homes a day. It’s staggering to see the things that people leave behind—in one house, we glimpse a flat-screen television, two computers, children’s toys, and a pile of family photos—and nearly all of it goes to the landfill. Watch the six-minute video here.