Reader W.J. is a dumpster diver. During the controversy over H&M and Walmart destroying unsold clothing in Manhattan a few months ago, experienced dumpster divers pointed out that this is nothing new. W.J. e-mailed Consumerist about her recent find in the trash of an unnamed Eddie Bauer outlet store, and also made a video of her finds and how they were rendered unusable before throwing away.

She writes:

I am a dumpster diver. I find tons of useful items thrown away and often destroyed. I am accustomed, though it sickens me, to seeing items deliberately destroyed to prevent further use. I cannot count how many times I have seen this over the years. I had never heard this common practice given any attention until I read about H&M and Walmart throwing away/destroying clothing. I know from personal experience that this is not a new practice. So, on a recent diving trip with my mother I brought back to my home and documented the find of destroyed clothing at an Eddie Bauer outlet.

I love finding free items in the dumpster and putting them to use. But I would rather find nothing at all and give up diving if it meant that retail outlets and other stores would donate or recycle their unused/returned items. Please help bring attention to this matter. It is easy to eliminate unnecessary waste from your own home and help the environment. But when it comes to corporate retail waste there is no one monitoring, no one watching the abundance carted off to landfills except us few divers. There aren’t enough divers out there to keep up with all the so called “trash”. Please help call out these stores on their unenforced donation policies.

Eddie Bauer, the new H&M or Retail Corporate Waste [Fill in the Blank Blog]

RELATED:
H&M Insists That All Unsold Clothing Is Donated, Manhattan Store Went Rogue
H&M Store Cuts Up Unsold Clothing, Throws It Away

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