Who Dumpster Dives - Stories Please

[shengmei]

Re: Who Dumpster Dives - Stories Please

If it is a recycling dumpster with papers, etc. I would often dive in for free material. I don't do it late at night because I am concernec I would be mistaken for an identity thief.

Nowadays, however, it seems everybody shreds everything already (a very smart thing to do!!!)

[Fern]

Re: Who Dumpster Dives - Stories Please

I'm also intrigued by the idea of what you could find, but my town is too tony for dumpster divers and besides you either have a sticker on your car that lets you go the dump with your own garbage or you pay for private curbside service, which, like ima said, requires that everything be bagged. They took all the fun out of it.

About 20 years ago i did retrieve a small old wood table and bookcase, painted them, and kept them all these years. I sold the bookcase for $10 at my tag sale recently.

Dumpster diving in reality is not too appealing, but i loved living in a certain town years ago that had Junk Day, one designated day each year where you'd put out large or bulky items at curbside and the town would pick it up. Lots of people would go cruising thru the neighborhoods to see what there wa; that could be fun!

[Ima saver]

Re: Who Dumpster Dives - Stories Please

I think a Junk day is a good idea, one man's trash is another man's treasure.

[katwoman]

Re: Who Dumpster Dives - Stories Please

I haven't done it but a friend I visit lives in a large condo complex. Before I go up I linger in the complex vestibule where the mailman leaves piles and piles of weekly ad circulars. Picked up some great new/transferred prescription coups this way.

And no, I don't feel guilty. This is a very well heeled suburb. Not many coupon clippers, if any.



Back to the dumpster diving: a gal I once knew had a husband who worked as a city sanitation driver (garbage man, as they're known in my parts). His route was downtown Chicago. One of the stops was at a well known department store where he retrieved 50 brand new Coach bags and a $700 oriental rug that is now in their home. She tells me he routinely brings home lots of goodies.

[shelbylovesmelby]

Re: Who Dumpster Dives - Stories Please

My mom was a diver, she collected cans & coupons from the trash. I didn't mind that she did it, but it was embarassing as a tween-teen to have someone mention they saw your mom dive'n in their trash. I would go with her sometimes when I was a kid, I don't know why I stopped or why I went with her in the first place. I'll tell ya our car was nasty from the smell of can's, not that it was anything worth looking @ anyway. But it was what my mom used to suppliment her income before Recycling everything became the standard & diving was a "no-no"

I did it when I was 12 w/ a friend for the soda cans and used the money I got from the cans to buy myself a new bike.

One of my friends, mother used to dive in the back of the grocerystore dumpster for meat.

My mom's cousin used to dive to get coupon sections out from the gas station dumpsters. Her & my aunt used to get some decent cut flower boquets from the garden centers trash.

[boomeyers]

Re: Who Dumpster Dives - Stories Please

Sounds like most of us are more "trash pickers" then dumpster divers, but both are great! We love trash picked furniture! My husband watches the side of the road while in traffic to see what goodies can be picked up! We got a table last week. It did'nt work for us, but I passed it along in my garage sale!

[cschin4]

Re: Who Dumpster Dives - Stories Please

Is it even "legal" to dumpster dive? If someone were dumpster diving behind a retail store, grocery store, etc could they get charged for that or some other offense such as trespassing?
And, do people actually get into the dumpsters? What about the risk of getting stuck with a needle, broken glass, rodents, etc?

[Bookie]

Re: Who Dumpster Dives - Stories Please

The legality of dumpster diving is probably a matter for local regulation. I'm sure someone could be prosecuted for the practice under some existing statute or other -- trespassing, littering, whatever.

People do climb into dumpsters. A couple of years ago a street person was trapped in the dumpster at my office complex. He climbed in to collect drink cans, and one of the maintenance people shut the door. Luckily someone heard him hammering and yelling.

[jmz2005]

Re: Who Dumpster Dives - Stories Please

My dh, dd, and I dumpster dive. We live in an apt complex (if u can call it that), with 5 apts, and we all take our stuff to a dumpster, we have no regular trash pickup as we are outside of town. We have found many nice things in the dumpster that we have cleaned up and is perfectly usable. We also have a "bargain barn" in front of the apts who also uses the dumpster to "dump" things that do not sell. Dh's sister even likes to come to visit and dumpster dives when she is here. She found a really nice, thick, white comforter. I just found a toaster oven, works great, cleaned it with awesome and sos pad. We have no problem dumpster diving.

[rob62521]

Re: Who Dumpster Dives - Stories Please

I will admit it, I did dumpster dive, but it isn't like it was at a house or apartment. A local gas station closed and they pitched a bunch of office stuff. I grabbed a lot of to use at school. They threw away little shelves that attached with suction cups -- these were ideal to put chalk in at the chalkboard. They threw away these little number things that you could change the number on since they were all connected, they were great to put in a center to work on numbers with first graders. They pitched rolls of adding machine paper -- we used it for scratch paper for kids as well as ideal for sentence strips. Most teachers are scavengers.

[Marcymox]

Re: Who Dumpster Dives - Stories Please

Here's a neat site to check out-

http://www.dumpsterworld.com/

the general talk section is full of dumpster diving discussions. neat people there.

[LuxLiving]

Re: Who Dumpster Dives - Stories Please

Didn't stop but just today saw 1 doggie crate, 1 ice cooler, 1 bow and arrow! If I was closer to having a garage sale I'd of stopped for these items and checked them out! As is, I don't need any of them and would have to store them until ready to have a sale.

[jacquelynrose]

Re: Who Dumpster Dives - Stories Please

My mother and I used to go to Church on Sunday in Sunday Gear, and in the area where we went to Church was really nice...so before and after church we would go through the Dumpsters

[MoneyHoney]

Re: Who Dumpster Dives - Stories Please

- Cautionary tale for dumpster divers -
Check out this news story recently published in the Steamboat Pilot & Today (Colorado) newspaper: 2 men given 6 mos. in jail for taking food from dumpster. http://www2.steamboatpilot.com/news/...nt/?local_news

[amberfocus]

Re: Who Dumpster Dives - Stories Please

Contrary to popular perception, most dumpsters aren't gross and filled with rabies-laden rodents and rotting food. Some are, for sure, but those aren't the dumpsters that people dumpster dive in.

My college housemates are hardcore dumpster divers. They'd go every week, and bring their haul back to the house. They even teach a workshop on how to dumpster dive. They don't do it out of tightwaddery, but rather as a way to reduce waste and show the cool stuff that people throw out.

Also, at the end of the school year, the dumpsters become FILLED with useful stuff that students just throw out, probably because it's too heavy to bring on their flight home. During that time, they dumpster dive every day. I would have gone as well, if I had a car to lug stuff home in. I did nab a nice set of dishes, however.

My housemates are actually filming a documentary on dumpster diving on college campuses. Pretty cool stuff.

~mimi