Who else here does this for fun? Its crazy some of the things people throw away. You can make some good extra money selling things you found for free on Craigslist / Ebay.

1/7/2012 6:04:33 PM

what have you found?

1/7/2012 6:21:11 PM

how do you choose a dumpster? and is this legal?

1/7/2012 6:30:12 PM

You gon get shanked by some bum when you rummage through the wrong dumpster.

1/7/2012 6:41:38 PM

http://www.divethefilm.com/

1/7/2012 7:25:54 PM

I used to when I lived in a collective house in Raleigh. We mainly did produce and bread products. I would
stay away from meat and dairy, as these have a high spoilage rate.

Now, I mainly curb-pick household items in my neighborhood, and around the local university (clothes, furniture, organizing stuff). I'm glad I'm not finding as much college-era stuff as I used to; this means that the students are doing a better job of keeping it, or donating it to local charities.

I've found a radio, a TV that worked, lamps, several bicycles, a butcher block for my kitchen, organizing shelves for the pantry, outdoor chairs, several dressers, tools, notebooks, unopened pens and pencils, uncut yards of fabric, several working microwaves in my lifetime.

I'm annoyed that someone would make a documentary on dumpster diving. It's kinda like blabbing about
your favorite illegal swimming spot (which someone I know did a few years ago in the Independent).
Part of the fun of illegal or quasi-legal activities is keeping a certain level of hush-hush about them.

1/7/2012 8:05:05 PM

So far this week I've found a vintage 50s or 60s all metal fan, a shop vac, and an outdoor furniture metal & glass stand. All these items were sitting outside of a dumpster so I guess it wasn't technically dumpster diving. I'd give the items a craigslist estimate of about $40-$50 often times the items have more value in utility than in resale.

1/7/2012 8:30:48 PM

After watching Dive, I now want to go to Trader Joe's and see what's up

1/7/2012 8:46:34 PM

[Edited on January 7, 2012 at 9:01 PM. Reason : ]

1/7/2012 9:00:19 PM

I used to get mad bagels from behind breugers. dumpsters back of food lion, for fruits and veggies, crushed boxes of food, etc. found a lawnmower on the curb that just needed a plug. couple years ago got 4 35" mud tires off the curb next to some trash- sold em for $300. hip clothes from the 70's and a nice (slightly ripped) north face backpack out of the dumpster at the rams rack thrift store in boone. set of seat covers (out of box but new) from an auto parts store. tons of other stuff too.

the only problem now is lots of places, esp. big businesses have gone to using trash compactors you cant get in to. or chaining up dumpsters, and using cameras near them. you can still find neat stuff though.

1/7/2012 10:17:45 PM

i had a big kindergarten table i used for a desk one time. thing was pimp as hell but took up too much room in my apartment. I put it outside by the dumpster, within 2 hours it was gone.

1/7/2012 10:50:39 PM

I dumpstered the gumbys club coupons one time, got enough of them for 3 free pizzas haha.

1/8/2012 9:21:34 AM

The Time Warner Cable dumpster off High House is always good for all kinds of cables. Got a ton of cat5, rg6, and composite cables still in the plastic.

1/8/2012 10:19:01 AM

Is that stuff in a dumpster headed for a landfill?

1/8/2012 10:24:27 AM

Yes. Most stores aren't too bothered if you dumpster, as long as you don't do dumb shit like
try to return things to the store it was thrown out from. They probably didn't want it if it's in the back.

Treat your adventure like camping: be quiet, leave the place better than you found it, and avoid the security
guards. You'll get more harassment from them than you ever will from the actual cops- the most commentary
I got when I was pulled over by a bored Cary cop was "what? you dumpster food? you can do that?" after I showed
him our findings. Taken, this was a good 4-6 years ago, so I don't know how things have changed related to dumpstering.

Additionally, we lost some reliable spots after people were in general disrespectful to the experience. So, overall,
use some common sense and you'll be fine.

1/8/2012 2:41:39 PM

I've only dove around move-out time (Mayish) on campus and at student style apartments. My best finds have been a keg shell and a hi-lift tractor/4wd jack.

1/8/2012 2:45:25 PM

you people eat food out of dumpsters? jesus christ

1/8/2012 3:08:06 PM

Never, NEVER do you want to use a shop vac that you found in a dumpster.

1/9/2012 7:54:19 AM

^^

1/9/2012 8:01:55 AM

sounds like a good way to get an infection.

1/9/2012 9:10:29 AM

you people eat food out of dumpsters? jesus christ

1/9/2012 9:13:07 AM

what's wrong with dumpster shop vacs?

I mean I wouldn't use anything I dragged out of the dumpster, but I'm curious what makes a shop vac so notorious

[Edited on January 9, 2012 at 9:18 AM. Reason : lkj]

1/9/2012 9:17:15 AM

I remember seeing the Campus Greens having events where they'd Dumpster dive and find food that was still good and set it all up to give to homeless people, students or whoever wanted it as a statement on wastefulness. I wonder if they're still around.

1/9/2012 9:26:51 AM

^Good call. It kind of defeats the purpose of "making a statement" if the people you're making a statement to are looking at you like you're fucking insane.

1/9/2012 9:34:16 AM

Quote :

"what's wrong with dumpster shop vacs?"

i think the only reason anyone would throw away a functional shop vac is because they last used it to clean up something really disgusting

Quote :

"It kind of defeats the purpose of "making a statement" if the people you're making a statement to are looking at you like you're fucking insane."

Grocery stores throw away a lot of sealed, perfectly good food. Unfortunately people immediately associate dumpsters with garbage and don't give it a second thought.

[Edited on January 9, 2012 at 9:37 AM. Reason : .]

1/9/2012 9:35:14 AM

Quote :

"Unfortunately people immediately associate dumpsters with garbage and don't give it a second thought."

I think you proved your own point...

Quote :

"i think the only reason anyone would throw away a functional shop vac is because they last used it to clean up something really disgusting"

1/9/2012 9:47:17 AM

^
Not really. I just can't think of any other reason someone would throw away a shop vac.

It's well known that grocery stores throw away fresh, unspoiled food.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sunday-mirror/2008/07/13/supermarkets-throw-away-two-million-tons-of-food-a-year-98487-20641582/

1/9/2012 9:58:51 AM

Quote :

"i think the only reason anyone would throw away a functional shop vac is because they last used it to clean up something really disgusting"

the last one i threw away was full of dog diarrhea

1/9/2012 10:02:14 AM

^frayed cable(s), got a better one and are just being lazy so they curb it, filter is clogged up and the dumb shit doesn't know you can just buy a new filter (seen it happen around campus before)... unfortunately you just assumed that what they were throwing away was garbage.

Sarcasm aside, I do understand your point. Americans are wasteful. I get it and agree. I'm just not sure that doing some huge demonstration where you line up food from a dumpster and hand it out is really going to 'demonstrate' to people how wasteful they are as much as just give them further validation that 'those greenpeace people are freaks'. I just feel like it's an extremely good message that is lost in translation. That's all.

---

FWIW, in high school I worked for a grocery store and in college I worked for one of those "ready-made meals" places that fixes a meal for you and you just chuck it in the oven. We threw out a lot of food, but food=profit. If we threw it out, it was because it was either spoiled or something like milk or an emulsion that was coagulating. The danger of eating something that "is still in the packaging" but appears fine is that it may be something that was in a batch/gross of product where the vast majority of it was bad. In the 'kitchen', if we got 5 boxes of produce and 4 of them were bad, we would call up our supplier who would tell us to trash all of them and they would bring us 5 more boxes.

Like I said before, food=profit. If they're chucking it, usually it's not just for shits and grins.

Also, if you want to get mad at resteraunts (not saying you specifically are, but it's relevant to the conversation) for throwing out food, then you should really be demonstrating to the government. If you cook fresh food and then your joint closes, you are not allowed to take anything down to the homeless shelter that isn't in manufacturer packaging. If it's something that won't keep, it gets trashed.

1/9/2012 10:11:18 AM

I won't feel bad for you fuckers when you die from eating shit out of dumpsters.

1/9/2012 10:36:22 AM

Quote :

"FWIW, in high school I worked for a grocery store and in college I worked for one of those "ready-made meals" places that fixes a meal for you and you just chuck it in the oven. We threw out a lot of food, but food=profit. If we threw it out, it was because it was either spoiled or something like milk or an emulsion that was coagulating. The danger of eating something that "is still in the packaging" but appears fine is that it may be something that was in a batch/gross of product where the vast majority of it was bad. In the 'kitchen', if we got 5 boxes of produce and 4 of them were bad, we would call up our supplier who would tell us to trash all of them and they would bring us 5 more boxes. Like I said before, food=profit. If they're chucking it, usually it's not just for shits and grins. "

If this were true, then there wouldn't be a movement against grocery stores wasting food. Maybe it was true for where you worked, but certainly not everywhere.

When a new shipment comes in, many stores just throw the old one out. Other reasons include imperfect packaging or near-expiration.

I agree that the wastefulness is not always their fault, but there are protections in place if they decide to donate it.

http://www.usda.gov/news/pubs/gleaning/appc.htm

[Edited on January 9, 2012 at 10:50 AM. Reason : .]

1/9/2012 10:46:20 AM

have fun jumping in and landing on a syringe!

1/9/2012 10:58:55 AM

Quote :

"If this were true, then there wouldn't be a movement against grocery stores wasting food."

Just because there is a movement doesn't mean the cause exists. The Red Scare comes to mind in the pre-war 20th century. I don't doubt that it happens, but I question the extent of the problem and whether there are other ways to encourage wiser consumerism besides jumping in a dumpster.

A couple posts up someone said the last shopvac they threw out had been used for dog diarrhea. Do you trust the packaging your "nearly expired" bread came in enough to protect against the various diseases that could infest it sitting beside the diarrhea vac?

-----

By the way, the law you posted supports what I explained to you earlier. Golden Corral can't donate a fresh pound cake it bakes to the Salvation Army homeless shelter because it is not appropriatelly packaged, AKA "labelled".

Quote :

"The term "apparently wholesome food" means food that meets all quality and labeling standards imposed by Federal, State, and local laws and regulations"

FWIW, I don't recall federal law being cited as the reason why we couldn't send stuff to the shelter; it was state law that may have augmented/clarified the federal law.

1/9/2012 11:15:59 AM

Quote :

"Unfortunately people immediately associate dumpsters with garbage"

uhh, yeah.

1/9/2012 11:26:17 AM

One of the places I worked in high school shared a dumpster with one of those pawn shop chain stores. I got plenty of good stuff that was just sitting next to the dumpster like speakers, sub boxes, stereos, computers, etc.

I also worked at a restaurant, and there's no fucking way I would've tried to pick anything out of that dumpster.

In college I worked in the food court, and we wrapped up some of the food at the end of the day and donated it to the local shelter instead of throwing it away.

1/9/2012 11:31:50 AM

Quote :

"Do you trust the packaging your "nearly expired" bread came in enough to protect against the various diseases that could infest it sitting beside the diarrhea vac?"

It comes down to a personal judgement call. If there's a bunch of actual garbage in the same dumpster as the food, leave it. If seal is broken, leave it. I don't dumpster dive so I don't know the specifics, but I'm sure most people are careful.

Quote :

"By the way, the law you posted supports what I explained to you earlier. Golden Corral can't donate a fresh pound cake it bakes to the Salvation Army homeless shelter because it is not appropriatelly packaged, AKA "labelled"."

Right. I was just showing that there are protections for some products that are regularly thrown away. Don't know anything about the state or local laws, but I'm sure they do conflict in some cases.

Example of grocery stores and restaurants giving away food:
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-07-09/news/fl-food-rescue-20110709_1_soup-kitchens-leftover-food-feeding-south-florida

1/9/2012 11:47:28 AM

Quote :

"If there's a bunch of actual garbage in the same dumpster as the food, leave it."

What about the "garbage" from animals/insects that get into the same dumpster for food? What about the tetanus that develops on the dumpster itself? Not saying there aren't probably some clean-ish dumpsters around somewhere, but I simply don't believe any dumpster on Hillsborough (like the begal shop) is THAT clean...

The problem is the judgement call. Once the food hits that dumpster, it's officially in a bacterial and viral haven. Maybe if you pull something out of the dumpster with rubber gloves, spray the container with a dissinfectant, then eat the contents of the packaging it might be alright, but at that point you're probably being more wasteful than just buying something off the shelf of the grocer so that it doesn't end up in the trash in the first place.

1/9/2012 11:57:09 AM

Yes, use your common sense when dumpstering. You don't pull up opened bread from the very bottom that's
been marinating in dumpster juice and eat it. Oftentimes the produce and bread we found was sitting on the very
top in produce boxes, or wrapped up in separate bags then the general garbage, because these items were the last
to be cleaned out of the store before closing. If it wasn't, we left it.

Tetanus booster and getting food out within a few hours of it sitting there takes care of your bacterial/viral concerns.
Also, we usually avoided dumpstering in the summer- too risky, and we also had enough produce from the garden
to use. I can honestly say I never got food poisoning once from the dumpster.

Ironically, I got food poisoning later from eating at an Indian restaurant that is supposedly health inspected and had cooked its food.

1/9/2012 12:08:40 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRkCQH02AxE

1/9/2012 12:16:13 PM

I don't even

1/9/2012 1:01:46 PM

Quote :

"You don't pull up opened bread from the very bottom that's been marinating in dumpster juice and eat it. "

Yeah, and eating a cookie off the ground is still okay as long as you can't visibly see any dirt on it...

What's hilarious to me is that the thread is on dumpster diving and a lot of people have great points about not being wasteful and proving the adage "one man's trash is other man's treasure" correct. What I think is so disguisting is that of all aspects of dumpster diving, some have decided to defend the eating of FOOD out of a dumpster rather then just saying "yeah, eating out of a dumpster sounds kind of extreme, but you can still find a lot of other good stuff in there."

Kind of makes freaking out of a thrown-out shopvac seem silly.

1/9/2012 2:19:32 PM

I thought that the whole point of human progress was to get us to the point where we don't have to fight racoons for food.

1/9/2012 2:26:00 PM

I'm 100% ok with dumpster diving for home furnishings or scrap for projects etc. You can find some awesome stuff doing it.

Dumpster diving for food just isn't worth it to me. You're either dumpster diving for food 1) to save money or 2) to save food from being wasted on principal. If it's to save food from being wasted, try talking to local business if you know that throws out a lot of food and make personal agreements with them. I know people who have done this...it's similar to people who get oil from restaurants. Food isn't expensive enough for the effort or the risk (especially the items like produce that you are most likely to find still edible in a dumpster). It's one thing to recover an old sofa someone threw out because the upholstery is ruined and get it reupholstered; the cost savings there are huge and it can turn into a cool conversation piece.

Just my personal opinion of course.

1/9/2012 2:30:33 PM

I had an ex pull a "perfectly good" mattress from next to the dumpster, then kept getting these weird bites on his legs in the subsequent months... yup bedbugs. That sort of curbed my enthusiasm to use stuff pulled out of the garbage. I used to find some pretty neat stuff in the dumpsters behind the music shop, though- the cardboard they ship pianos in is almost an inch thick, and awesome for prop building and other crafts!

1/9/2012 3:08:00 PM

Is this like urban foraging, a la Andre from The League?

1/9/2012 3:20:01 PM

Quote :

"What I think is so disguisting is that of all aspects of dumpster diving, some have decided to defend the eating of FOOD out of a dumpster rather then just saying "yeah, eating out of a dumpster sounds kind of extreme, but you can still find a lot of other good stuff in there." Kind of makes freaking out of a thrown-out shopvac seem silly."

No one is freaking out over a thrown-out shop vac, lol. I think it was more of a joke than anything.

I think you're being ridiculous making statements like "eating out of a dumpster". Nothing wrong with taking packaged food out from the top of a dumpster. No one's telling you to do it. I'd be willing to bet that food gets more contaminated through processing and packaging that it does sitting packaged in a dumpster. /shrug

1/9/2012 3:21:09 PM

http://youtu.be/vGHTcF4thLw

1/9/2012 3:25:01 PM

late to the game

Quote :

"what have you found?"

hepatitis

1/9/2012 3:25:26 PM

The quotes in this thread are epic.

Quote :

"I think you're being ridiculous making statements like "eating out of a dumpster". Nothing wrong with taking packaged food out from the top of a dumpster."

Quote :

"I used to get mad bagels from behind breugers. dumpsters back of food lion, for fruits and veggies, crushed boxes of food, etc."

Quote :

"Unfortunately people immediately associate dumpsters with garbage and don't give it a second thought."

Quote :

"Treat your adventure [dumpster diving] like camping: be quiet, leave the place better than you found it, and avoid the security guards."

Quote :

"I don't dumpster dive so I don't know the specifics, but I'm sure most people are careful. "

The advice for remaining in good health while eating food someone threw in an outdoor dumpster is pretty epic, too.

Quote :

"Tetanus booster and getting food out within a few hours of it sitting there takes care of your bacterial/viral concerns. "

Smath74 and Mr. Joshua did a good job summing all this up...

Quote :

"you people eat food out of dumpsters? jesus christ "

Quote :

"I thought that the whole point of human progress was to get us to the point where we don't have to fight racoons for food."

1/9/2012 4:17:37 PM

I'm with Smath74 on this - this shit is gross

[Edited on January 9, 2012 at 5:41 PM. Reason : ]

1/9/2012 5:21:48 PM