Teach me about dumpster diving!

[aihcalappa]

I tried to search this, and didn't come up with much. I am very interested in learning about dumpster diving. What are your experiences with this?
I love a good free box on the side of the road, but have never taken the plunge and dumpster dived. Teach me, oh wise ones!

[angelcollector1]

Not something I've ever done, and don't think I will. If you're talking about food/beverages I know there was an article in the St. Petersburg Times about 3 months ago talking about people who did it and how things went. They were successful, but they were also open to eating various strange things... not for me.
As far as other items I know that there are many people who go driving through neighborhoods on trash day to see what's available or to apartment complexes and seeing what's hanging outside the dumpsters.
I have a friend who used to do that type of dumpster diving daily for several years, but she hasn't done it in the past few years.. she always founds lots of interesting things she put to good use.

[aihcalappa]

Good tip about the apartments! I used to find stuff outside the dumpster sometimes when I lived in an apartment.
I don't think I would be comfortable eating food from dumpter diving, either. Not judging anyone who does, though.

[Denvergirlie]

We dumpster dive, although haven't been doing much recently as int he summer a lot of our spare time is spent on the garden.

Anyways,we've done retail dumpsters as well as residental. Residental had produced a lot of really nice things.

Retail has been hit or miss, sometimes find a full dumpster of stuff, soemtimes nothing but empty boxes. Make sure you check your local laws on the legality of it in your city and surrounding cities.

I've posted this in the past I think, but here are some pictures of stuff we found last winter, we haven't added to it in a long time.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1421215...7603884031586/

We've found cash, Books (sell in Half.com) gold rings (cashed them in for $200 in cash at a jewelry place that buys old gold), brand new tag still on Columbia jackets and duck boots (they fit perfect), tv/ vcr combo, bullets, food, beer, wine, rolls ands rolls of new garbage bags, coke/ pepsi points, baseball cards and other collectables. A bike frame we found last winter just sold for $50 the other day on Craigslist, we could have cleaned it up and sold for $200, but didn't want the bother. My favorite PJ pants came from a dumpster as did the desk I am sitting at right now.

You can check out the forums at dumpster world, but beware as the IQ seems rather low in there and they are not friendly to "newbies". The general age of the poster seems to be about a 15 year old male teenager (they are older, but that's the mentaility), but you can learn some stuff by reading the old threads. They also talk in code about actual stores, but it's fairly easy to figure it out. If you do post on that forum don't ask them about the local laws in your area as they will rip into you. Don't ask for ideas, they will rip into you. On rare occasion a serious and mature conversation will occur but it's infrequent...

The biggest thing you need to do is get out there and look. What else?

[Shelsi]

Do you live near any large universities? When I was in college we used to find stuff in the dumpster all the time but especially at the end of each semester, particularly after the winter one. These rich kids would live in these nice apartments with brand new furniture and at the end of the year they'd just throw it all away. My best friend and I got a really great couch once. We also once found a TON of food and related things. It was all boxed and canned goods so we felt OK eating it. There were also unopened boxes of foil, ziplock bags, etc.

My great Uncle Joe used to dumpster dive all the time. It wasn't uncommon for my mom to be driving us to school and we'd look over and see Uncle Joe going head first into someone's dumpster lol. It of course was horribly embarrassing at the time. But he got some cool stuff and he found us a nice coffee table that my mom still uses (it has to be at least 20 yrs old now).

[Shelsi]

I forgot to mention that about 10 yrs ago I worked at a Walgreens and things that were slightly messed up that we couldn't sell eventually went out to the dumpster. They could never technically let us just take it home but we could dig it out of the trash if we wanted. I got a really nice fan with remote control (the box it came in had water damage), some photo albums, and some of that wax stuff that used to be all the rage "Nads" which btw totally ripped the skin off my leg, ouch, lol.

[2 in August]

My grandma used to dumpster dive for food all the time. She didn't need to, but it was the thrill of it that made her go for it at 70 odd years old. Around here most stores either have compactors or lock up their garbage. A homeless teen was sleeping in one and got dumped into the garbage truck and crushed, it seems like after that a lot of places secured their dumpsters.

[ibahippiemama]

I'm still trying to get dh to onboard with trying this. Will try around the end of the semester.

love and blessings
angie

[aihcalappa]

Wow! So many replies! Thanks for the tips, and keep 'em coming.

[BananaBreadGirl]

Ditto on the college thing. Find out what day students must move out at the end of the year. My neighbors furnished their "rec room" this way, I found some great shelves and sweaters.

[aihcalappa]

Bump

[dancebaraka]

:

I keep wanting to try it too, but keep chickening out. I am stalking the back of Borders books

[aihcalappa]

Originally Posted by Denvergirlie

I've posted this in the past I think, but here are some pictures of stuff we found last winter, we haven't added to it in a long time.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1421215...7603884031586/

Those scores are amazing! Crazy what people throw away!

[Norasmomma]

Well I have only helped do it once years ago, when my Dh and were first together we were neighbors with a bunch of anarchist punk rocker squatters, and they did this often, that was how they lived when they were in NY City.

Well once I went with them to a local little grocery store and we got all this cheese, yogurts, and a huge box of produce(green pepper, onions-I can't remember exactly what). We in turn went home and had a huge pizza party with all the cheese. At that time we were a bunch of young 20 somethings and older teens, so none of us ever had any money. I was a little in awe and *slightly* freaked out by the prospect of eating food from the garbage, but then I realized it was all fine, and boy was that pizza good.

I also just saw this thing on National Geographic's Taboo about Free-gans, that was interesting. These people got everything from the garbage in Sydney, Australia. It really is amazing what people throw away.

I also second the university thing, even my little sisters have gotten stuff from the curb. They got an awesome bookshelf, they were a little embarrassed about it but who cares someone was throwing out a perfectly good bookshelf, so why not use it. My friends also used to go through the dumpster at REI and score sleeping bags, tents and other clothing and equipment. They now lock the dumpsters, like many businesses do.

[Jilian]

I saw an Oprah show on this. I think they called themselves Freegans? They would take food from the dumpsters in the back of supermarkets. Everything was packaged up too - good, edible foods. Some were just past their date of expiration. I haven't done it and don't think I will but there is certainly a lot out there that should not be thrown away! My mom once went to a bagel place when they were about to close and they gave her a trash bag full of free bagels they were about to throw away. So many places just throw good food away at the end of the day because of board of health regulations about giving it away.

[Shelsi]

I used to be a manager of a gym that happened to be next door to a bagel place and I used to go there after work in the evenings and they would give me as many bagels as I wanted for free because they were just going to toss them anyways. I always had to sneak over there so my members didn't see me getting bagels! LMAO

[Sierra]

When I was a kid, we sometimes went dumpster diving at the schools the last week of school because kids would clean out their desks and often throw aways unused, barely used, or still good items ranging from pens and pencils to erasers and notebooks. Once, my sister even found $20 in an unmarked notebook (which probably helped lessen the sting of any embarrassment felt in dumpster diving, as she was the oldest and I assume most likely to feel shame).

I know my mom has talked about getting food from the grocery store that was just barely past expiration, or heads of lettuce that would be thrown away but that were okay after the first layer was peeled away. If I did it with food, especially non-packaged food, I think I would want to find out exactly when the stuff was thrown out and go and ask for them to just give it to me because I would be a little worried about contamination inside the dumpster, especially since raw meats probably get thrown out some too.

[Scribe]

I've done it, but not for years. I wish I still did it. I absolutely support it.

Denvergirlie, your photo set is amazing. Crazy what people throw away.

[aihcalappa]

[bmcneal]

I would love to go dumpster diving. I almost always see good, decent stuff laying out on the curb, but DH doesn't want to stop for it. Food past it's expiration date is still good, manufacturers just have to put the date on to make consumers feel better. (On most stuff, like chips, sodas, etc. I don't know how it works with more perishable items, though. My mom does vending machines, so whatever goes out of date, we get to take home, and some of those chips, scarily enough, are still good for months and months after they "go bad")

I have been really interested in at least once trying to get food from retailers, but I'm never quite sure what day they get rid of stuff.