Dumpster Diving: not just for the homeless & anarchists anymore.

[99th_Monkey]

Food Bills Getting You Down? Try Dumpster Diving
By Nicole McClelland, AlterNet. Posted April 1, 2008.

If you're disgusted with our culture of waste, wasting resources, wasting money, then swallow your pride and start sifting through supermarket trash.

It's dark outside, as it tends to be past midnight, and unseasonably warm but raining. Though it was my idea to be parked behind Trader Joe's, scoping out the dumpster, I didn't really want to come; I'm kind of lazy in general, and specifically nervous right now, and it's so much easier to just make a list and go buy groceries in a sheltered, lighted shopping facility where you are guaranteed to both find what you want and avoid police harassment.

My nerdiness is showing: Before we get out of the car, I turn to my partner in crime and ask, "What's the plan?"

Dan looks at me. I've heard about dumpster diving, and read about dumpster diving, but in conversations and articles that seemed to identify it as the pursuit of anarchists and gutter punks --nothing that served as a guide for upwardly mobile middle-class squares. A few weeks ago, though, some hippie Dan went to high school with mentioned she was going to Trader Joe's to score for free the very same foodstuffs we paid good money for. It was just as good, just as edible and sanitarily packaged, and it didn't cost $100 a week if it just came out of the trash, she said. We felt like suckers.

http://www.alternet.org/environment/80887/

[Richard Steele]

1. K&R

[redqueen]

2. Thanks!

This might come in handy...

[99th_Monkey]

4. I'm eating premium whole grain breads & bagels for free every day

cuz my youngest son showed me the location of a dumpster behind a local bakery that's one of his favorites.
I just freeze it and heat up/toast it in my toaster as needed, so it never goes bad.

[leftofcool]

3. Dumpster Diving is an art and there are books on the best

ways to do it.

[Mojorabbit]

5. I used to dumpster dive

at a white rose plant nursery which used to be nearby. Half of my landscaping is from plants they had thrown away which only needed a little tlc to bring back to glory.

[Quantess]

7. Don't bother trying at The Home Depot.

Everything, wilted plants, half-dead trees, everything goes in the incinerator. They don't even put their stressed plants on clearance sale, or let employees take them. Every stressed plant gets destroyed.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

13. Home Depot has to destroy alot of unsold merchandise

Because Home Depot has terms with most vendors that only see them pay for an item once it has been sold, perishable inventory or inventory of minimal value has to be destroyed - otherwise Home Depot has to pay for it. No vendors are going to bother reclaiming perishable plants.

That is also the reason Home Depot is a shoplifters paradise, if you steal something it is usually the vendors loss, no theirs.

[Quantess]

29. It's not fair to the vendors, because

the typical reason for stressed plants is not getting enough water in the summer heat. That is the employees' job to keep the plants watered. But I can attest that the workers at some HDs are stretched so thin, that they aren't always able to keep up with the watering. Last year I worked in the Garden dept. at a Home Depot, and we were RIDICULOUSLY UNDERSTAFFED. I think our store was worse than most other HDs. Anyway, we lost so many plants due to dehydration. Trees, shrubs, flowers, vegetable starts, all had to be thrown out every week. I'm a plant lover / tree hugger, so this was hard for me.

Re: your last sentence: Another reason Home Depot a shoplifter's dream, is that you don't need a receipt to return stuff! How dumb is that.

After working at HD for 3 idiotic months, I am now officially a Lowe's customer (mainly because Lowes sells their stressed plants on clearance).

[The Stranger]

33. God, I fucking hate Home Depot.

[jojo54]

6. And this is exactly what George f*cking W. Bush wanted us to

be doing. Let's face it, he's succeeded, at least in part, to eliminate the middle class.

[99th_Monkey]

8. Dumpster diving is politically correct even in good economic times

from the standpoint of using (not throwing into the landfill) perfectly good food so
it doesn't go to waste. Just saying.

[Solon]

23. I used to dumpster dive to get computer parts from obsolete computers...

Usually near office buildings. I don't know why, but very few of them recycle that stuff, so sent it to recycling plants and get money for it.

[Ordr]

9. ew.

[grilled onions]

10. Stores Didn't Waste Food Like They Do Now

Every store had it's day old bread rack,dented can section, bruised fruit and reduced produce. A person who had little money could easily save by searching the racks every day.
Locally we have a small store that sells yesterdays deli sandwiches,fried chicken,deli mac and cheese--whatever doesn't sell. I often load up and decide my menu AFTER I shop. Their day old bread section can yield muffins,bread,rolls,right next to their veggie section where brusied bananas are just perfect for banana bread. Other veggies may need a bit more "trim" but perfect for soups,stews,salads.
But so many stores have policy that requires good food to be dumped after a certain date. Day old bread often goes back to the baker to be ground up into breadcrumbs(only to be shipped back to the store!).
The waste is astounding and the cost of transportation can double when they send back what they can't sell.
On the non edible side greeting card companies would send back cards that didn't sell but they actually tossed all the envelopes! I don't know if this is still policy but it shows that waste goes across the board.
Consumers need to be aware of places that do sell day old goods,products that are being discontinued. Every item we buy(one doesn't even have to dumpster dive) shrinks the amount headed for landfills.

[grasswire]

11. the comments section is very interesting...

..thanks for posting this!

On my way home from an errand today I spotted a big dumpster outside a restaurant that just went out of business and was selling off equipment. I might just take a walk this afternoon.....I love freebies and have found some fine vintage clothing and other items just sitting on the curb.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

12. they call themselves "freegans" around here

I will freely admit I took a computer monitor out of the trash where I once worked because the IT fucktards were too lazy to order the $60 power brick for a $350 monitor that was lost in an office move, but taking food out of a dumpster that has been out in the california heat for hours on end and mixed with god knows what?

I will never be that hungry,

[kestrel91316]

14. Most food packaging is pretty tough stuff. What are you afraid it might

sit next to? Poop? LOL

The world is not sterile. Food is not sterile. Your MOUTH certainly is not sterile.

And it's NOT hot this time of year.

[Speck Tater]

15. You can even dumpster dive for rotten, inedible foodstuffs.

Why? Because they are still good material for the compost heap. Just recycle those valuable nutrients through the soil and into freshly grown veggies in your own garden.

[slampoet]

16. There are several levels of Sidewalk Shopping. Each with their own rules and practices.

Everyone should sidewalk shop. This is when you just see a desk or other large piece of furniture on the curb and decide to pick it up and take it home. Maybe you refinish or repair or maybe it's perfect as is. I personally have outfitted an entire apartment three times over like this. I have even found $500+ Herman Miller chairs on the sidewalk waiting for the garbage truck. Parts of my computer setup are from the curbside. The rule on sidewalk shopping is that you need to be discrete or at least quiet when you do it and never leave a bigger mess than was there or otherwise the garbage man will notice and end your good thing. Also shy away from fabric covered items.

There are those that dumpster dive. I used to and even still have the a flashlight to wear on your head, a good tool to have, and a grabber stick, a completely necessary tool to have. I have found a lot of building materials and consumer electronics just being thrown out into the dumpster at some places. I won't reveal my places but there is a huge amount of waste out there for non-food items. The main hazard is the dumpster itself, hence the stick, but also police sometimes try to get involved. If you get stopped just say that you are moving and looking for cardboard boxes. Almost everyone does that.

The next level is sometimes called "Gleaning". This is getting food out of supermarket dumpsters. I haven't done this in forever but i recall a time when one of my apartment mates stumbled on seven full bags of frozen pizza crusts. We had pizza parties for a month. There is the rumored hazard of store owners throwing bleach on food but I've never encountered it. You need to be careful where you do it too, but it is safer the colder it is outside. I don't personally do this at the moment but i might in the future.

The final level is called "Wet Work". I've taken lessons from a garbologist who dons heavy gloves and finds things inside the plastic bags of residential garbage. Some of the things he had found are amazing, but this is far beyond most people's comfort zone including mine.

There is also a hired class of Garbage Picker who is the kind that gives the rest a bad name. These people are the g. gordon liddy-wannabe types who work for private eyes in divorce cases or those assholes who try to find info that people have forgotten to shred. I never associate with this type and have never even heard of anyone who has seen or even heard of one, but of course it is the first thing that goes through a cops mind when he sees your legs sticking out of a dumpster, even if your car is full of shelving units not paperwork.

[99th_Monkey]

18. Wow, there are lots of nuances to the art, huh? Thanks for the info. ~nt~

[slampoet]

27. Let's just say that there are a lot of nuances in any college town like mine.

[Blue_Tires]

32. i was just about to mention that

having lived in a major college town, i can tell you the amount of waste at the end of each meal and on move-out day is absolutely tragic....

the pawn shops and salvage yards always loved move-out day -- they would crowd their pickup trucks right at the back door of the dorm...

[Bozita]

34. One of the Detroit papers did a story a few years ago about move-out day in Ann Arbor.

Everything you might find in a college kid's room was sitting at the curb. A lot of the stuff was almost new.

[riverdeep]

17. I was surprised I hadn't heard about this earlier.

Oh, I've heard of people who sift through trash forever, but people who don't HAVE to sift through trash and do it anyway, that was a revelation.

I can't stand Oprah, but I saw once about a month or two ago she had an intriguing topic on ethical dumpster divers, so I tuned in. Half the show was dedicated to Freeganism (the other half to stripper moms- go figure). I guess the name is sort of a play on 'veganism'. They showed a group of about 20-30 people going out into the streets of New York at night, and show these people how to safely dumpster dive. It was a sort of class. One couple just starting out had their apartment furnished this way, most of their meals are this way. For most of these people, it was the ethical consideration of living in a disposable society rather than strict necessity that motivated them. Very cool.

The only thing is, this movement depends in a way on not becoming TOO popular. If everyone started doing it, I'm sure stores would respond.

This loosely fits in with the guest on Colbert last night (repeat at 8 eastern tonight) who builds homes from trash. They were good-looking, unique homes too. Supposedly, some homes have a utility bill of $100/year.

[99th_Monkey]

19. Sorry if I spilled the beans

regarding it becoming TOO popular. And thanks for the info.

[riverdeep]

26. Can't edit, but it's actually 8:30p eastern that Colbert is on. n/t

[slampoet]

28. That "Houses out of Trash" guy was really inspiring.

He also left Colbert's character completely at a loss on how to respond when he said the junk built homes had a $100 per year bill for all utilities.

The homes were really modern but had a great colonial look too from how the bottles looked like colonial-era bottle glass. Cool stuff. I never knew that earth and old car tires could be a substitute for wallboard and insulation.

[pitohui]

20. in most areas it is no longer possible

in my area grocery stores have used compactors for over a decade

the great era of the dumpster diver has been over for a long time, while it was "good," then people weren't publishing about it, because you could actually make money doing it and who in their right mind would want to start a gold rush to the dumpster when you could just quietly skim and re-sell

these days, you have compactors, you have fast food stores pouring chlorine on food before they throw it out, you have locks -- actual locks! -- on dumpsters to keep people out

it's really sad, but the golden age of the diver is done and has been for a LONG time around here

now that the getting is no good, plenty of reporters are happy to write about diving, because they're not giving up any expected value when you can go months and not really get anything good out of the trash anyway

:cry:

[maveric]

21. I've found some treasures in San Diego Beach area dumpsters.

A functional laptop that had few missing letter keys.
Three decent surfboards. Just found one 2 weeks ago.
A mosaic tripod table.
A clean and functional microwave.
Scores of college schoolbooks.
A functional DVD player......
....

Wasteful people or those who move to smaller places I guess.

[pitohui]

22. i used to fix up finds like that and sell them

never anything any good around here any more though

everything is new thanks to katrina, everything thrown out is ruined!

sigh, another cool hobby spoiled by that stupid storm

i don't call that true dumpster diving, i call that trash picking

dumpster diving to me is more commercial, trash picking is checking out thy neighbor's trash

:-)

these days craig's list is a blessing to put a free ad and sell a heavy item for free for cash if you have a nice find, you can even put a picture, in the old days i would have to use the limited "free classifieds" in our local newspaper, which you could only describe the item, price, and phone number in 2 lines! like "wooden childs desk, $25 cash OBO, (555-5555), lv msg."

craig's list spoils me, i can even put a photo for free

[juno jones]

24. I used to be good at finding 'estate dumpsters'

ie: grandma kicked off and instead of doing anything beneficial with her stuff, the kids just threw it out. I still have quilts, curtains, furniture, sewing notions and silverware gathered from dumpsters. The ones that got away: Perian rugs which had been folded up and rotted in the rain, an 1820 edition of Byron that got rained on, and one dumpster from which I gathered a ton of stuff, to have the family come out and ask me what I was doing. 'Salvage' I replied. To which they said, "You should have been here a week ago, this is the fifth dumpster load."

Dumpster diving for antiques is probably still viable in the midwest. Still have a few I plucked from Spfld, IL alleys.

Every town should have a facility like Berekely's (CA) Urban Ore- a buffer that keeps useful items from being thrown away.

PS: sewers, check dumpsters behind fabric stores, periodically they throw away patterns...

[Solon]

25. My roommate worked as a garbage man through day labor...

I got a portable CD player, a VCR, and several other electronic items out of the deal. Just some fixing up, and they were as good as new. Later on, I actually went dumpster diving near office buildings, getting computers, printers, computer monitors, etc. out of the deal, I sent those to recycling centers that accept those types of items.

[Orwellian_Ghost]

30. K&R n/t

[superkia]

31. Growing up poor, my brothers and I found ourselves doing this...

often and you can get some kick ass stuff. Not only packaged foods but we found all kinds of things like clothes, shoes and other things that we actually returned for store credit sometimes. Not the most honest part but it was what we did to help get by. :thumbsup:

[Alameda]

35. actually

some people put stuff out for others to pick up. I do it all the time. Things don't last too long. I just set them up nicely so they can be seen and appreciated, and taken if so desired.

[alittlelark]

36. My sis and her husband have been diving for years..

They are not 'poor'. They are middle to lower class, and have the best compost pile I have seen in a residential neighborhood.

They started when they were lower class - scavenging Odwallas that were past date (a friend at the store told them) They moved into bagels and other bread items....


They now grab all the veggies they can find - their compost pile ROCKS!

[SoCalDem]

37. Not around here..Most stores have them well secured

with fencing around them..and locks..

and it's actually illegal