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Dumpster Diving (Srs Bsns Only)

Thanks for locating this thread, FP.

I'm so happy to see so many people are familiar with this art. It has changed my life and helped me eat so much better. The amount of food that gets tossed out is truly a tragedy. I posted about my recent dumpster finds in that other thread but I will keep track of my achievements here from now on, as I'd like to inspire others to get all the high quality food that will go to waste otherwise.
 
This thread is interesting...while I've never dumpster-dove, we usually put anything like furniture that's a bit beat up that we no longer want out by the side of the road, not the garbage, in hopes that someone walking/driving passed will see it and take it. Just moving out of the college town I lived in, I saw tons of goodies by the side of the road, but unfortunately some were mine...I hope someone got a lucky find thanks to me. And, for those of you a little apprehensive about this...Salvation Army/Goodwill is a GREAT place to shop, I've gotten designer clothing with tags still on it for $1, and often would see other people who came across as relatively well-off in there looking through the racks right along with me. None of this is anything to be ashamed of, in my opinion, even if the rest of society says so.
 
silentangst said:
I've done it for porn before
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Haha yes! Back in the day

We've gotten some sweet furniture/electronics from the trash. The recliner I'm sitting on, the speakers in my room, my stereo, our outside table, garden table, all the wicker furniture on our porch...oh and a $1800 glass and wood coffee table. I live near some well off neighborhoods and people throw out some treasures!

skillz~4~thrillz said:
"One man gathers what another man spills"~Gerry Garcia/Bob Weir-vocals(IIRC)...Grateful Dead
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you beat me to it..although it's Jerry Garcia
 
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I don't really anymore, but I used to be an avid dumpster diver. So avid, infact, I own this shirt:


Dumpster-Diving-T-Shirt-%281644%29.jpg



I used to live behind a strip of grocery stores, Chipotle's, etc. There would be loads of slightly bruised fruit, halves of burritos, etc. There are a few things I think are totally essential when dumpstering for food:

only dive when it's cool (early morning or evening). once it gets hot, the food spoils.
when in doubt, throw it out.
wear clothes you don't mind getting dirty, and shoes that are safe. getting some sort of infection from cutting yourself through your shoes or whatever, totally sucks.
be wary -- some grocery stores dump bleach over all their unused fruit and shit, just to keep divers away. fuckers.

know that no one can legally tell you to fuck off. as of 1988 the supreme court ruled that trash does not belong to anyone, so it cannot be considered theft. so tell anyone who bothers you to fuck off. now if it's on private property, you're screwed. but most people are so shocked that anyone knows anything about court cases involving diving that they usually back off.
 
Dumpster diving is huge in the city I live in. A lot of people actually just put things outside rather than even wasting time with a craiglist "free section" ad talking about it.

I've given away two or three busted bikes, a bunch of chairs, couches, etc. All gone within 24 hours and I know the city garbage trucks aren't picking these things up.
 
I'm working/living on site at a personal storage complex. It's amazing what people throw away or set by the dumpster.

I've found books, a framed MC Escher poster in brand new condition, a working XBox 360 all kinds of stuff!
 
one of my favorite hobbies. We hit Michael's-an art store and i have about ten $300 frames. Pier One is another great one. Book stores. and Office depot. we keep a good bit of out booty the rest we make bank having yard sales. This is a weekly,bi-weekly hobby for my girlfriend and I. we are artists so a lot of things stores throw away are a part of the art we make. we also don't grab from the charity bin. but dumpster diving is a hell of a rush and like the Grateful Dead immortalize in "St. Stephen" ...."another man gathers what another man spills".
 
I frequently find myself in seedy bathrooms trying to go "dumpster diving". Sometimes its a good thing.
 
I totally support those who dumpster dive. I HAVE been known to partake in this festivity ;). A friend of mine is a huge freegan (as mentioned many pages ago in this thread). In fact, in my city there is a free co-op where the basement is full of clothing, household things, books/zines, etc., and the people that frequent the place are part of a huge freegan community. It's really an interesting concept and way to live. why NOT grab and use things that would otherwise be thrown into a landfill (etc).

Tips? I don't know how easy it is where you live to do this, but find a group of people into the 'dirty hippy' (haha - I don't use this term... but those in the freegan community throw it around describing themselves. So - no hate!) or freegan scene. Talk with them and join forces! Usually they can tell you where the best spots are and are pretty eager to share their lifestyle with you. It's a shame places like Whole Foods (at least where I live) throw bleach in their dumpster so that people (like me, or you, or others) do not 'dumpster dive' at their location/s. Isn't that horrible!?
 
^ Actually, some of my family worked for the school food office for NYC public schools, and they weren't allowed to take any food home at the end of the week that had to be thrown out. They would toss tons and tons of fruit and good food, and put some chemicals in the garbage with it so no one would take it. However, I doubt this really happened, since my family and all the other lunch workers would take the food home and stock the fridge and freezer with it.

I'm also not into the taking food out of the trash thing...you can eat cheaply enough, but for furniture/etc buying things new is almost sorta silly. There's a lot of trading that goes on also...I know I posted pictures of things I had to get rid of when moving, and friends were quick to scoop up free stuff!
 
euphoricnod said:
I frequently find myself in seedy bathrooms trying to go "dumpster diving". Sometimes its a good thing.
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euphoricnod said:
We are talking about gay sex aren't we?
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Uh, no. :P

We're talking about people who climb in/around garbage dumpsters and dig out items.

One man's trash is truly another man's treasure. :P

I had to do community service at the town dumps a couple years ago. Someone threw out these golden Japanese-looking fans. I dug 'em out, took 'em home, cleaned 'em up, and they've been up in the kitchen since. :D
 
I run with a pretty diverse crowd of friends, and one time my hippie, environmentalist friends convinced me to go dumpster diving behind the Odwalla factory.

They explained to me that it's sometimes cheaper for the company to throw away their surplus inventory or whatever than find somewhere to sell it.

So, a lot of the stuff in the dumpsters hasn't expired yet and is just fine to consume. The dumpsters work like giant refrigerators in the winter time.

Anyway, I made away with a lot of juice and granola bars. It was pretty cool, actually. I would do it again.
 
i remember being "helped" into dumpsters at auction houses as a child ,for some reason the only thing that stuck out realy is finding a deck of NUDY playing cards with naked women on them ,my uncle got a bit pissed when a few were missing :)
 
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