Dumpster Diving

[2moretrees]

I have a friend who does this all the time and he seems to find amazing things. He gives a lot of it away to charity, but he also sells a lot of it on eBay and makes a pretty penny. I can't get myself to do it. I don't have the nerve. Does anyone else do it?

[DivaJen]

Nope, I've never done it. I don't know that I could get up the guts to do it. Both my mother and my MIL have no qualms about taking home things they find on the curb that have been set out for the garbage trucks. In fact, the chair in my guest room is just such a rescued item.

[jeffrey]

I have done it in a way I guess...people throw away the most amazing things in Japan. The CD player that I listen to while on the computer was a throw away on the sidewalk. I have never had a single problem with it and it was thrown away in its original box. I've never gone specifically to search, but when the big trash day comes and I walking down the street and something perfectly good that I know I will use is heading for the dump, I'll grab it. You could probably make a good amount of money if you did it full time out here. I think a lot of stuff that is still perfectly good gets thrown out here due to limited house and storage space.

[Tree0164]

I think that there is a difference between something sitting out on a sidewalk and actually going into a dumpster.

I would technically dumpster dive but if something is sitting on a corner waiting for the trashmen I would take it.

[midnight]

What exactly is dumster diving?

[terry1156]

midnight, Dumster Diving is going into trash (dumpsters) to look for things.

[DivaJen]

Amy Dacyzyn (spelling?) of The Tightwad Gazette has a section dedicated to this very topic.

[terry1156]

There is also information at The Dumsper lady although it looks fairly hardcore.

[crosses]

I like to save money, but I don't think this is for me.

[emily1067]

I think I would have to see something I wanted to go after before I just "dove" into the dumpster!

[maven]

I do "curbside shopping" often, and certainly take a peek inside dumpsters (garbage bins), but only literally dive into them after Christmas, when there's a ton of wrapping paper, empty gift boxes, and other clean and dry stuff to recycle!

[2moretrees]

See, now if people would refer to it as "curbside shopping" instead of dumpster diving, I bet a lot more people would take a look at it without writing it off before even trying. The name effects the perception so much.

I would be much more inclined to curbside shop than dumpster dive even though they are basically the same thing.