4 ms·
Great read that brings back some strong memories. Used to dumpster dive extensively thanks to the 2008 collapse. Found all manner of things - passports, compute
by Panino 5y ago
Great read that brings back some strong memories. Used to dumpster dive extensively thanks to the 2008 collapse. Found all manner of things - passports, computers, cameras, furniture, clothing. Still have a now-unused digital camera from 18 years ago (the original memory card had a picture of some guys mooning the photographer) and a pair of jeans that are still going strong a decade later.
While I agree that can scroungers often make an absolute mess of things, I think it's unfair to say they "are drug addicts and winos." Although I do appreciate the highbrow grimace of a fellow dumpster diver!
I've paid rent from redeemed dumpstered cans and bottles. I've paid rent from furniture thrown away and fixed, then sold on Craigslist. From thrown away computers and other such things, and much more. One sale was from my nextdoor neighbor (who liked to be loud late at night). After cleaning out the ungodly amount of dust and removing an enormous amount of malware using Malware Bytes and other tools, I sold it for $45. My favorite sale was a ratty old computer chair that I found in my apartment complex dumpster then sold the same day for $10 to someone else living in the same apartment complex.
I was fortunate to have direct access to a god-tier dumpster kept fully stocked by college kids.
If you're thinking of trying dumpster diving, my advice is: wear good shoes - the insides of a dumpster are sharp, dark, and uneven. You'll find out the rest along the way. Happy hunting.
- rootsudo 5y agoThis, same experience it's fun but there is a tipping point when it is not effective. It's def an experience everyone should try sometime though. Really teaches you about value and opportunity.
- mrexroad 5y agoI’ve always been tempted, but I almost worry I’d start obsessing over “the next find” as well as hoarding. While I’m (maybe?) 75% kidding, I do already have a garage half full of my stuff over the years that I can’t bring myself to throw away and am planning to fix and sell/gift/donate. It’d be great if there were a more formal delineation, at the point of disposal, between “pure trash” (no value, even as scrap) and “things others may extract value from” (unwanted, fixable, etc).
- convolvatron 5y agoI had a friend...really a jewel of a man...who made a living this way until he just couldn't cache any more stuff. so he used to do the rounds in the dead of night and during the day would visit a slew of local artists and ask 'you want this?'. I took some stuff I probably shouldn't have, but found a new home for it eventually. I got 50 different hammers, a steel materials cart, a hand truck, ots of old decorative brass, other hand tools. I got to dig through the contents of a large marine electronics parts warehouse as it was getting scrapped out (also got some old brass enclosures out of that)...colored glass gels for lights...it goes and on. he got his fix without having to fill up more uhauls, and a whole bunch of people had Christmas every day
- neilv 5y agoI spent years "curb shopping" trash set out for pickup in a dense university town, 4 nights a week, a few hours at a time. I found around 100 PCs, and numerous more interesting items. Dumpsters and food seemed too risky. I figured that one cut, animal bite, poisoning, or misunderstanding could wipe out all the profits of an entire dumpster diving career. Even sticking to the curb, in the city, you have to be wary of wildlife (rats, skunks, possums, raccoons), muggers, and aggro drunks, as well as of contaminating your home (bed bugs, roaches, spiders). And, at the end of the repair&flipping pipeline, if you're selling a lot of used items, you'll probably realize there's some percentage of sketchy buyers. I'm oddly proud of accomplishments in the trash sector during some lean times, but I can't recommend it to anyone who doesn't need the money. I would've rather had a well-paying career at the time, and spent the same amount of evening time building things