I've found some amazing stuff.

The best was a mounted, gimbled compass.

The funniest was getting 2 old style kids' desks from the side of the road. I came back to get more, and it turned out that the guy just hadn't put out his for sale sign yet....

whoops

I'm sorry, I just can't see myself using someone else's furniture left on the side of the road. Perhaps I'm just a little OCD, but you have no idea what's been on that or where it's been.

I can live with the canned goods, but fresh food is a little too far for me.

My dad was a huge scrounge. He used to bring crap home from the beach everyday. Once, he found a weed dealers fannypack and asked me and my friend: "what's the going price of marijuana these days? I found six lids" I later found the stash in his porn drawer and smoked it for months pinch by pinch.

I had some neighbors move out from an apartment next to mine, and when they moved they tossed out an amazing amount of things. We noticed some really nice dining room chairs and decided to pull them and check them out. They turned out to be basically brand new! We found that they were just tossing things because they didn't want to move them!

The best part: finding 5 tins filled with pennies which amounted to just under $120.

One man's trash...

My dad is a computer junkie. He does programming and stuff for various types of computers and even some websites, but occasionally when he gets off work he'll just head over to the office's dumpster and find anything remotely related to computers. He's found enough parts and casings to build three custom PCs, all of which run a version of Windows, 2000 or newer. Their hard-drives aren't very big, but it's beyond me why people would waste so much computer hardware that works perfectly fine.

Being just out of college, the art of rummaging (sp?) is something I take pride in. Some people/businesses have no idea what they're throwing out. I think my biggest prize was a working washer and dryer that someone was throwing out after graduation becuase it was going to cost more to ship it back than what the items actually cost themselves. -- I've also been fortunate enough to get lots of computer equipment. Our school systems are known to upgrade computer systems at least once very two years. And what do they do with the rest? Well, if they don't scavage them for parts, they just toss them out. Gold mine, baby!!

@gigafide:
That's something I should look into doing. I own a laptop, but I've been looking to get a cheap desktop... our school has probably thirty computer labs scattered around campus, each with a minimum of twenty computers. I should start keeping an eye open for when they dump out perfectly good stuff... although, the way my college runs, they'll probably sell it for more than it's worth.

I've just started dumpster diving. I found perfectly good corelle bowls and a cheap but blemish-free and perfectly good wood shoe rack. It drives me insane the stuff that people would throw out. I always donate items I don't want anymore, if I think someone else could have some use out of it. It's just a waste of landfill space to throw perfectly good things away.

My little brother went dumpster diving for Wendy's cups about a year or so ago. Apparently, there was some sort of promotion where you could turn in X number of Wendy's cups for a free AirTran round trip ticket. He and a friend of his went to every Wendy's in Baton Rouge, collecting used cups from the dumpster. He did learn though to never open up a tied black bag (rotten food from the fridge). They both maxed out with about 9 vouchers from AirTran.

The best part about the whole thing is the fact that for one of his free flights, he cashed in 2 of the vouchers and flew first class. I just love the irony in the fact that he went dumpster diving to pay for his first class ticket.

@OptoGeek:

ITA -- I don't even like antique stores because it's all stuff other people have used before. Ick. Germs : P

The slightly wilted lettuce may be okay, but what has it been laying next to in that trash bin??

Don't they still support Waste Management?

My brother in law has found a lot of great yard equipment that gets tossed out because it won't start. It turns out most of the time after a quick tune up the items work like brand new.

My cousin heads out to the wealthy beach community near his house during bulk pick up days and gets tons of nice stuff. He has also found some quality stuff in an area near him that is going through a lot of renovations.

I use freecycle which is a yahoo group that lets its members post items they are looking to part ways with. Other members get to look through the posts and see if they spot something they need.

I am all for it. The more stuff we can keep out of the landfills the better.

"It drives me insane the stuff that people would throw out. I always donate items I don't want anymore, if I think someone else could have some use out of it. It's just a waste of landfill space to throw perfectly good things away."

me too! that's why my girlfriend and i donate or freecycle all the stuff we don't need/want.

@OptoGeek: "I'm sorry, I just can't see myself using someone else's furniture left on the side of the road. Perhaps I'm just a little OCD, but you have no idea what's been on that or where it's been."

I hope you don't own a used car. Cognitive dissonance is fun.

My freshman year in college my dad brought home a recliner he pulled out of a dumpster. He thought it would be cool in my new place. It was ripped up and nasty. I said no thanks to the gift and assumed he took it back to the dump. Little did I know he took it to an upholstery shop instead. Turns out it was a Strata lounger from the 1950's. It was my Christmas gift that following year all decked out with fresh springs and new leather. My dad passed in 2001. Ive had that chair almost 17 years now. Dumpster diving has given me a memory and a piece of furniture I will cherish forever.

Ok, was that too Hallmark? I just had to share!

I don't know about making a living dumpster-diving, but people throw away stuff that's in pretty decent condition. It seems a waste to just let it sit in a landfill.

Having worked in the food industry in high school and college, I think it would be pretty easy to be a freegan and never eat food that's been placed in a dumpster. A lot of my best meals were from people who sent their food back to the kitchen because a special request was missing or whatever, and it was perfectly good food that otherwise would have been discarded. So I just stick it in a to-go container and eat it during my break. I could have easily collected enough meals to feed myself completely. It would have been a rich diet, but throw in some fresh produce from the back of a grocery store, and I can envision that being relatively healthy.

I'm sitting on a hard-backed chair I got from the street; before that, it was another hard-backed chair that was falling apart (also from the street).

I don't think I'd get anything with a cushion. These I definitely "hose down" with some windex and paper towels before any serious sitting.

My dad e-bays anything he finds on the side of the road.

OK, as I write this, the view counter is at 666! That kinda sums up my take on dumpster diving. I've ALWAYS been a clean freak (just ask my mother) and the idea of diving into such a filthy, germ-ridden place just doesn't fit into my brain. Don't get me wrong; it's a great thing to do. People throw away amazing stuff that's in great or repairable condition. I just can't do it. Used cars aren't bad if they've been cleaned. Hard objects like metal, wood, etc can be cleaned well. Clothing and such... I donate because it's good and helpful, but I don't shop secondhand stores myself.

RAHNEE: Ya, VERY Hallmark, but so very cool! Great note.

Now, if we could get folks to STOP waisting so much, landfills wouldn't be quite so overflowing. But then, the economy might collapse.

A local donut-chain franchise was known to double bag their day-old wares, and set them by the side of the dumpster. The local street-punk kids made a nightly collection.

As a (tangental) riff off of this, Panera Bread supposedly donates their day-old wares to local soup kitchens.

@strathmeyer:

I hope you don't own a used car. Cognitive dissonance is fun.

And forget about staying in a hotel room. Everything in there has been used in every way you can imagine.

I think this is awesome. I come from a family of yard-sale junkies, and I can't get over what people will throw away or sell for a buck. I also loved that within five minutes of putting stuff out in the alley by our place when we last moved, people had carted it off. I hate to throw things away. I'd much rather someone was getting some use out of it.

If people are washing fresh food and only eating what's still safe, I don't see anything wrong with that. I think that if a lot of people saw what happened to food they think is "better" that hasn't been thrown out yet, they'd be appalled.

My dumper monkey days are pretty much over.

But now and then I will still notice something and get a great find. For example, a dumper full of copper pipe (which I melted down to make "fine art"), fairly new G4 tower macs (I only took two of the ten, one worked), and a neat samurai sword (not a wall hanger but the real deal, though it did end up on my wall).

The best was when I was in grad school. There was a Giving Tree. Almost weekly books, text books, cookware, computer parts, and clothes showed up. I too gave or gave back what I had gotten often. It was neat.

Just be careful to not end up with a place like this guy's place: [multimedia.api.no]

He is a friend of my family. A real nice guy. But he just cant stop scavenging stuff.

I am totally enchanted by Freegans. I got a couple of loaves of Panera Bread from some of the locals this past weekend. It was obvious that Panera had taken care to make it sanitary when giving it to them. We also have local farmers and they had surplus greens. Farm surplus is often left to rot in the field because it takes more effort to find a buyer for it and pay people to pick it that it's not cost effective. So if someone puts some of that food to good use...awesome! Really, we over-package things so much in this country that there's hardly more chance of getting sick from something taken out a dumpster than something bought off the store shelf.

we are dumpster divers from way back.also a trash transfer station was known a wal-mart annex...lots of people came to shop.....

Heck, I don't care what people do with the trash they find, and re-cycling is great for the environment, but sheesh, for these people it has to be part of some sophomoric philosophy and they sprout dunderheaded crap like this quote from the Freegan interviewed in the article: "If a person chooses to live an ethical lifestyle it's not enough to be vegan, they need to absent themselves from capitalism..." Does it never occur to these folks that without capitalism none of this bounty would be available for then to scavenge in the first place? You're living in the USA, sweetie, you're benefiting from capitalism, not "absenting" yourself from it.

Some stuff you can find on college campuses is really good stuff.

Here's one theory I've heard. Students shoplift crap, especially designer clothes, and they don't want to bring it home because Mom will start asking questions about how a college kid can afford designer clothes. So, they throw them out or sell them cheap at a garage sale. (Mostly, they throw them out, because college kids are too damn lazy/stoned to organize something as complex as a garage sale - I mean, really - it's tough to go to the 7-11 to buy Cheetos!)

:D

Yeah, I can't see that cleanish dumpster food could be much worse than a lot of the things you'll get from the grocery store or a restaurant.

But I don't think I could make myself eat it, even though my reasons are pretty much irrational.

Furniture and other durable goods, I'll dive in a second.

My house is almost entirely furnished with hand me downs and things from dumpsters and thrift stores. The only furniture I've bought new are a couch and mattresses.

And seriously, I like my furniture better than I like new store bought stuff. Most of it, I've refinished, reupholstered, or rebuilt in some way, so it's just the way I like it. I even get the fabric and paint and things from thrift stores and mismixes and stuff.

It's scary how easy it can be to live off other peoples' discards.

I once found a perfectly good (but slow as hell; 800MHz, 128MB RAM) computer laying behind an office building. The only problem with it was that the case was banged up, but that was easy to fix.

I sold it to a friend for $30.

I once posted a Missed Connection with a Dumpster Diver and got a Best of Craigslist. I got email from all over from offended Dumpster Divers.

[www.craigslist.org]

Dumpster-diving for food sounds icky, but I could see salvaging the canned food, especially if one is down and out.

Seriously, anyone who has problems with used cars, furniture, clothing, etc. - get over it! Unless it's seriously stained or smells, if it gets some Lysol/bleach/is boiled/sits out in the sun/etc., it'll probably be fine.

Dumpsters can hide absolute gold.

One of the girls I work with fished some textbooks out a dumpster and sold them back for $80. Some kid was just too lazy to take them to the store!

I saw a fantastic armoire sitting out by the side of the road and went to get it not an hour later - already gone. People toss out the most ridiculously useful things. I have an end table I got for a dollar at a garage sale and some really nice outdoor furniture that someone was throwing away. Not to mention a coffee table and a bookshelf that some student simply didn't want to haul around.

Trash is a goldmine, I tell you!

I can certainly see why people wind up throwing perfectly good furniture into the dumpster. Speaking from experience, it can be surprisingly difficult to get rid on short notice, even if it's in good condition. On more than one occasion I have had Goodwill and other such organizations refuse to accept furniture donations, usually due to space constraints. I wound up holding on to the furniture and selling it later on, but I would imagine a lot of folks would just dump it somewhere.

i work at a book store and if you ever want free books check there recycling bins. when a book wont sell we rip off the covers, send those back to the publisher and chuck the books

My parents used to live behind a grocery store and one day, the manager came out and said "Listen, we have to throw out this bread after a day, but it's perfectly fine. I'll leave it on this rack and you can pick it up"

They never bought bread again.

I pulled two dining room chairs out of someone's trash just the other day - well, the wooden part, anyway. I know how to do basic upholstery so it won't be hard to complete them. Since we're in need of a few more chairs it was a totally great find.

We trash pick or shop used for as much as we can. Yard sales rock and our local hospital thrift is the source of most of my kids' clothes and household items. We had a great used book shop for a while but the guy retired and now I do half.com. Seriously, there's so much in our waste stream that there's very little reason to buy new for almost anything (plus, old stuff was built to last and a 40 year old whatsit will generally be more durable than its brand-new cousin, not to mention the packaging and other waste that comes along with buying anything).

My own life isn't freegan-friendly, but I certainly understand the impulse and appreciate their approach to the problem.

I've been known to dumpster dive even now. Couple of select sites I know that routinely throw away computers. Usually only pieces are dead. So I salvage the bits and cobble a worker out of it. Most of it is Pentium I/II kinda of stuff. I put a fresh copy of Linux on it and gift it to a worthy family with kids.

My hometown also has a dents and cents store to this day. They buy less than wholesale the stuff that the retail grocers don't want. A dented can of good corn for a dime. When I am around there I still stock up.

GirlGoneRiled,

Here's a good book tip. Go over to www.bookmooch.com and register. There are books there for the taking. Yes as in free.

The idea is 'give a book, get a book'. They manage it on a point scoring system to avoid excessive takings by a few.

Fact I have a book to mail out to a member Monday. Its a pretty neat idea. But it does need more members. Sometimes you might have to wait several months for a book to surface that you want.

Try it.

@JohnMc: Thanks for the tip. That's a new one to me and I'll definitely check it out.

You know I've heard of freegans and vegans and all that and wondered Is it sustainable? Do thies people really live like that? Or do they get sick after a few months and say 'Whoa? What was I thinking' and adopt a less extreem aproach.

@ChrisC1234:

That's really gross, I hope he at least wore dishwashing gloves or workers gloves. Sure did beat the system though, good for him.

Personally, you'd never catch me sifting around in one of those trash containers. I worked at Goodwill one summer and you would not believe what people would donate. Try soiled diapers for starters, and it all ends up in that dumpster. yuck

I once found a brand new postal scale when I worked next to one of those mail centers. Brand new, in the box. You could load up to two hundred pounds on it - came in handy when I was shipping things to relocate to the East Coast.

Let's see... In my living room /office alone, I have a black desk I cobbled together (all it needed was to be assembled with some new screws), a heavy-duty office chair that was just thrown out, a long and heavy filing cabinet, an entable, and a coffee table I use to do some of my artwork on. I also work as a paper carrier, so when it's trash day I keep an eye on what's put out by the curb.

For those of you who are squeemish about dumpster diving - try shopping at Goodwill on a sunday afternoon. I've noticed that once people are done with their yard sales they'll bag up the stuff and drop it off at the goodwill -and then they process as much as they can and get it on the floor that Sunday.

Yard sales in the south start at 6:30 am and most are finished by 10:30 am - that's way too early for me to get up. By using the above tactic I was able to outfit my son's nursery(except the new mattress) for around $200. That's less than the cost of a crib, new. Maybe I should have been checking the dumpster out behind Babies R Us, though!

I don't dumpster dive but the guy across the street had a bunch of stuff out for a free pickup. There were 6 of the white plastic yard chairs there plus a table. I asked if I could take them and he said yet. Took the 5 non-broken chairs and left the broken table too; now I've got 13 (6,2,5) of these resin charis to use for when I have a BBQ.

As for my "stuff I don't want/need" I'll put it on Craigslist and try to get a few $$ for it. If I can't sell it then I'll give it away, but only if it's good to use.