Dumpster diving

[Tama]

I recently starting reading the reddit board for dumpster diving, and HOLY SHIT have my eyes been opened!

The utter waste is mind boggling. The things people find that can be salvaged (a vacuum needing itself cleaned) or at least recycled, is amazing. The people that feed themselves or their families? Wow. Just wow.


It's also funny when they run into unexpected things. One guy nearly has a heart attack because a deer head was left in the dumpster.

[AccountingDrone]

Having previously worked in the waste management industry there is nothing you can mention that would surprise me ... I got a call about a body in a dumpster. That happens way more than you would believe.

[ComputerNecromancer]

The utter waste is mind boggling. The things people find that can be salvaged (a vacuum needing itself cleaned) or at least recycled, is amazing. The people that feed themselves or their families? Wow. Just wow.

Someone I used to know that did a lot of dumpster diving once went thru one that was being filled with stuff from an old hardware/electrical supply warehouse.

Among other things, he found a dozen or so of these red cardboard cylinders with wires on them. About the size of a road flare and *heavy*. And the weight shifted.

I picked one up and felt the way the weight shifted. And looked at the writing on the cardboard.

Then I told him to grab any more that showed up and run them by a metal dealer. they were *industrial* mercury switches. And were likely worth 5-20 bucks each *just* for the mercury (I don't recall what the price for mercury was back then).

I also recall some techs at a plant I worked at having a fit after some equipment was upgraded. The guys who did the upgrade were tossing these DB25 "connectors" in the trash. And most got thrown out before the techs noticed.

The "connectors" were $50 transceivers/conveerters. The guys doing the upgrade had thrown out several *thousand* dollars worth of them.

[wolfie]

Among other things, he found a dozen or so of these red cardboard cylinders with wires on them. About the size of a road flare and *heavy*. And the weight shifted.

they were *industrial* mercury switches. And were likely worth 5-20 bucks each *just* for the mercury (I don't recall what the price for mercury was back then).

And whoever was cleaning the place out just threw them in the trash? Don't know what the laws were like back then, but now anyone improperly disposing of hazardous materials (which throwing a mercury switch in the trash is) would be facing big fines and possible jail time.

[Gilhelmi]

Ya, laws about safe disposing of mercury go back 30 years (at least to the 1980s). That is a major violation, surly someone there knew what they were.

I am something of an amateur scrapper. I will go to auctions and buy a bucket of metal bits/hinges/ect now and then for 1-2 dollars. If you really know what you are doing, you can make decent money. (I still have a hard time telling some of the different types of steel apart. Though, I am not bad with Aluminum.)

I have promised that I will go out to the farm this spring and gather up the Iron (and other metals) that have been sitting there for decades. Might get 2-3 thousand for it all, more if I find something good.

[Kitten in the box]

I once found 4 BRAND NEW backpacks in the cvs dumpster next door to my work. Why cvs would toss them out, I have no clue... But oh well.... I kept one, have one to my friend, my cousin, and one to a random homeless guy who needed to put his good inside it. All they needed to have done was being dusted off and the price tags torn off.

*note: I did not steal them, nor do I work at any cvs.

[EricKei]

Usually, when you find brand-new goods in a store dumpster like that, it means that the product was being discontinued and wasn't worth it to ship back to the manufacturer.

[Valentinian]

When I was studying in Japan for a year, another international student took me dumpster diving behind the nearest Huge Department Store and we got some brand-new, still in the packaging, gorgeous huge 'mink' blankets. There were a bunch more in there so she went back the next day with half a dozen more of the students - by the time they were done, half the international dorm had mink blankets to snuggle up in.

[April]

I was watching a show about a guy who went dumpster diving behind electronic stores on a regular basis. He said be got a fully functional security system for his home, that he found in the dumpster. I've always been a little tempted, but never tried it

[morgana]

Some friends of mine are Olympic-class dumpster divers.

* Grandfather clock, six feet tall, needed only about $20 work done on it.

* 52" flat screen tv, had one line of pixels burnt out, otherwise fine (could barely see the fault), just bought a universal remote for it

* 11 (that I know of) crockpots; they give them away, or use them for feasts for our SCA group

* three bookcases (I have one of them)

* several bags of usable fabric, including about 20 yards of pure linen

* two full size desks

And that's just what I know about. Yeah, the wastage is incredible . . .

[NorthernZel]

In our yard we have a shed designated for "larger items that are no longer used". I and Mr Zel got a lot of furniture from that shed when we just had moved in, and we donate some furniture to the shed now that we can afford to get new stuff. The shed gets cleaned out once a month, but people in our block are encouraged to take a look and get stuff out if they think they can use some of the lot.