Visalian Cooper Scott, 12, loves garbage trucks big and small.

Jun 03, 2023

Most people take their trash to the curb once a week and give it no further thought.

Not Cooper Scott.

Scott has been pursuing garbage trucks since he was 2, even on out-of-state trips with his family. Multiple shelves in his bedroom can barely contain his collection of model trucks in all colors. Most of his model collection was gifted by his grandparents and varies in size from a classic Matchbox on up to ones that barely fit under his arm.

On Wednesday, the normal pick-up day for his neighborhood, garbage day was extra special. He knows some of the local drivers on a first name basis and waves from the curb as they approach the cans on his street.

This day, one day before his 12th birthday, several employees from Visalia Solid Waste department assembled a variety of garbage trucks into a mini parade and gave Cooper the chance to sit in a real garbage truck for the first time.

He grinned from ear-to-ear.

His real-life garbage truck encounters outside of California include Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas and Hawai’i. He’s also friends with an Arizona family that has a YouTube channel called GARBage Family Show with more than 143,000 followers. Cooper shares their enthusiasm for the mechanics involved as the arm lifts cans and larger bins from curb to truck.

Cooper is also cashing in on his love of garbage trucks.

Cooper, who will start Blue Oak Academy next week as a sixth grader, began his own garbage-related business as way to earn money. He charges $5 per can to clean garbage cans in his neighborhood.

His parents, Tiffany and Kenny Scott, hope he cleans up.