Comments on: Ever Go Dumpster Diving?

By: Soccer9040

Soccer9040 — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:56:55 +0000

I’m all for it. I’ve never actually gone into a dumpster, but if I can just grab something out then yea I’m going for it. Its amazing what some people can throw away. There is a fine line pertaining the to social norms of dumpster diving. I don’t exactly bring it up with everyone I talk to.

Where I went to school the week before move out was HUGE. You could just walk around campus and basically go shopping for everything you needed for your place next year. Air conditioners, fridges, tables, typical college stuff. Some people just didnt want to move it home for the summer.

On the other hand, the townies and it seemed like anyone with a pickup from 100 miles away also knew about this golden trash week. All of the sudden a 45 MPH road through town turns into a parade of overloaded pickup trucks.

Grab a beverage and sit on the front porch. It was time for some quality people watching.

By: yodie

yodie — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:05:09 +0000

I have an aunt that lives in a very well known college town and she goes dumpster diving on the weekend…she has found some really nice things from computers to jewerly. She has found enough items to furnish a small one bed room apt. I think this is a great way to save money and also recycle. I live in nice community and people discard a lot of useful items…Thanks for the ideas I will start to utilize others people trash as a treasure.

By: daemondust

daemondust — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:29:17 +0000

Best I ever got was a RRoD’d XBox 360 that Microsoft covered under warranty for me. Perk of living in a college town, I guess. Mommy’s and Daddy’s money just doesn’t mean much to some people.

There’re always tons of perfectly good Christmas trees waiting when school gets out a week or two before the big day too.

By: Zui

Zui — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 01:40:22 +0000

Earlier this year I found out about real dumpster diving for food, and that there are actual tours teaching about it in New York city. You can find information on http://www.Freegan.info

Unfortunately we waste so much in our society that it is quite normal to find perfectly good things in the garbage, and although it looks sick, the only thing wrong with much of it is the stigma we have placed on items found in a black bag. Many bakeries, donut shops, and stores have separate bags which contain just food, which they cant sell the next day as people want things very fresh.

I havent done this too much for other items, but I know that there are people who find almost anything in the garbage. I wish I knew how to do that a bit better actually.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:05:29 +0000

Hahah you very well may have! Those things were so stupid and such a scam anyway.

By: ECEgirl

ECEgirl — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:58:03 +0000

Damn, it’s a small world… I think I bought a balun from you back in the day. We met on the steps of Hammerschlag

I still wander the halls of wean when I need moving boxes (blush)

By: SeekingLemonade

SeekingLemonade — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 00:28:21 +0000

Been there, done that!

Actually, a fun activity if you do it alone or with a like-minded person.

I’ve gotten all sorts of misc. computer parts, cables. Books.

Never went for the food however.

Checkout/beware of security cameras nearby however.

Side-of-the-road discards too. In the glove compartment of my car I keep: scissors (to cut cables if I need to) and screwdrivers (to take something apart if needed).

Being near a college campus (where tuition is expensive) is a great thing: Lots of discards two or three times a year.

By: dePriest

dePriest — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 00:57:25 +0000

I love dumpster-diving, starting with a dumpster full of magazines when I was eight years old. My cousin lives in an apartment complex where when a resident leaves, the handyman just throws anything left in the apartment into the dumpsters. My cousin’s income is very limited, and the money my she makes selling the stuff she gets from the dumpsters provides 1/3 or more of her income. Of course, she keeps what she needs or things I may want. She has given and/or sold me so many things from the dumpsters. She has things she would never be able to afford just because she’s willing to hit the dumpsters in her complex. When I go to visit, we sometimes dive together.

By: Wren

Wren — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:56:41 +0000

I don’t dumpster dive in the winter, but here in Boston it can be seriously lucrative to dive (especially around May and September when the students are moving!). I’ve gotten furniture, lamps, books, a backpack, bike parts, fabric and sewing accessories–loads of perfectly good stuff that people throw out for one reason or another.
Like DRE, when I was in college, there was a coffee/bagel shop that threw out day-old bagels and crossaints–what a waste! So some friends and I liberated them and ate really well. I don’t think I ever bought bread in college!
I also what I call pre-dumpster diving at the local farmers’ markets. When it’s time to close up shop, whatever hasn’t sold gets thrown out. In the summers, I take my bike down to the market just before closing and fill up my basket. You learn a few tricks when you’ve been broke for most of your life.

By: Steve @ pfstartup

Steve @ pfstartup — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 05:01:46 +0000

I’ve never gone dumpster diving, but I have taken part in it’s sibling, garbage picking. I’ve taken TVs, couches, posters, etc. from curbside. The best time to go is right after Christmas or early spring when people do spring cleaning.

By: Sandy

Sandy — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 02:22:25 +0000

I’m cheap. I’ll be the first one to admit it. But I’m not so cheap that I’ve hit up a dumpster yet. I did however have a boss who did all the time. This was a woman making at least $500K per year. She would throw out half-eaten food and go right back into her trash can at her desk when she got hungry later. That right there just made me invest in plastic wrap. Ewww.

By: DRE

DRE — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:59:16 +0000

In college there was a bagel shop that would toss out their perfectly good, already bagged day-olds in one larger bag in the dumpster at the end of the night. Free bagels for a whole houseful of guys for at least a week!

In the same lot there was a newspaper/magazine store. At the end of the month, rather than send all the magazines back to the publisher, they simply tear off the covers to send back to the publisher as proof of non-sale and toss the actual content, sans covers, into the same dumpster. Free magazines!

By: johnharry

johnharry — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 10:15:09 +0000

Dumpster diving can be very profitable.
industrial parks, Throwing out all the old computer scrap. The old disk packs were about 20 pounds in scrap aluminum. discarded computers, relays if the contacts are round they are silver, square they are generally platinum. We found an old telephone switchboard in a dumpster.

By: google

google — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:55:28 +0000

My husband is almost 70 and I’m almost 67 and we dumpster dive, although due to tough times the quality is down a bit

By: Snapshot

Snapshot — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:45:18 +0000

As Grand Duke of Hobo’s, I am a semi-retired professional dumpster diver. I have fed myself and many other bo’s out of dumpsters. I can hear a gasp from many of your readers, as well as comments of “I’d NEVER do that!” Never say never. Hard Times are here again. Prepare.