Have you ever gone dumpster diving?

As many of the other responders have said, i have never actually climbed into a dumpster o dig around and retrieve things, but i have rescued many items from next to them or just items that my friends mentioned they are getting rid of. Though i must say, my primary place for getting such items is my work. I work at a grocery store and we constantly have all kinds of racks and displays and shelving units that come into or stores, are used to a special promostion for a month or so, then gotten rid of. I coudln't begin to tell you all the shelves i have brought home form there (which is good as my apartment doens't have much in the way of storage room) i hve a tall thin wire rack in my bathroom that is perfect for storing folded bath towels on, another rack in my bathroom that gives me storage for all my beauty products, my entertainment center is a five foot tall by 6 foot wide black wire shelving unit with adjustable shelves...and the book case in my room is a heavy duty old newspaper display shelving unit. There are probably many more that i am not even remembering right now. I also bring home many plastic lidded toates and storage bins from work, which are great for seasonal items and things you don't use often.

I think it's great. People should never throw away things that others can use. Think of everything that ends up in the landfills that shouldn't be there. Both of my parents have been known to stop along the road when they see something good being thrown out. We knew this one family (super rich) that put all of their pool/patio furniture at the garbage because they wanted a different style that season. The furniture was ONLY a year old and high quality as well....

i actually haven't done that but we used to have a big garbage day in my city and i have gotten a dresser (i was 4 months pregnant and that dresser was cleaned up and used for the baby) a night stand and a whole bunch of other great stuff. you are right, a lot of people are really lazy and dont want to be bothered.

Hubby and I are very active dumpster-divers/garbage pickers. It's amazing what people throw out that are in like-new shape. If we don't need the stuff and noone we know can use them, I'll try selling the stuff. If after so many months the stuff don't sell, I list on freecycle. With the economy the way it is, bicycles are a hot commodity and we find plenty in the garbage with just minor things wrong with them. We fix them and sell em. I've made quite a bit on just the bikes in the past 2 months. Course I put a cheap price on them. lol Stuff that is too far gone gets hauled to the scrapyard for cash. Never forget the time we found an old floor lamp that was literally covered in some kind of scum. It worked and after giving it a really good cleaning, I put it in a yard sale. Would you believe the exact same people that threw it out in the first place bought it again for $5? lol We still laugh about it even though it happened several years ago. Really wish people would find new homes for their unwanted but still usable items instead of tossing them. We don't need landfills, just everyone recycle.

There is far too much waste in this world! Perfectly good items are not being recycled or re-used and are becoming landfill! I think that it is great to grab these things before they are gone forever. I do not have the opportunity to find these things where I live, but at the local council rubbish dump, there are people who have the contract to scavenge for anything they think can still be used. They have a shop nearby where they sell all of these things very cheaply! Freecycle is a great idea and I know of a few people who have used this service succesfully. I also know some people who live in the city, who go and dumpster dive for food!!! It is not as bad as it sounds! They get all of their fruit and vegetables from the trash at the large markets in the city. It is mostly perfectly good food, maybe the bananas were too ripe to sell that day or produce had small imperfections that did not make them look appealing. They come away with massive amounts of produce for free that they then share with others!

Oh yeah, dumpsters at apartments are always great. and usually it isn't the tennets dropping the stuff, its peoples stuff who moves out or is evected, and mantenence are the ones that throw it out. When I was pregnent with my son I got a great 'saucer' chair for my son. It was one of those complete play things that even broke down into a walker chair, for when he got older. BRAND NEW! Not only was it in the box (half way) it still had all the plastic bags and covers over it. I saw it about a week later in babies r us for $200. Then I got a wonderful entertainment center, all glass for a flat panel tv. I am actually staring at it right now. I've also jumped in to a dumpster for a awesome pole lamp. Completely stainless steel, 3 way light bulb and everything! Actually looking around my apartment .... The only thing furniture wise that I have actually bought (beside my bed) is the futon I have. My couch, coffee table came from my boss, My computer desk was a dumpster find (it too is glass and black painted steel.) The TV was a engagement gift, but the stand: dumpster, My dressers I got for a dollar from a moving sale, my Microwave stand is actually a metal entertainment stereo stand, but turned backwards my friends keep asking me where I got that awesome microwave stand. My end tables came out of an apartment that the people got kicked out of, and I stopped maintenance from taking the them to the dumpster and had them move them into my apartment. and oddly everything matches. It is all dark cherry wood, black steel and glass. :D Lesson here: to look like you spend a fortune on furniture, just keep your eyes peeled in the spring and fall, cuz that is when people move the most.

Apartment dumpsters are good for that. Usually though it's not the owners who throw that stuff out, it's the apartment managers after an eviction. They just junk everything in the apartment to clean it out for new tenants.

I LOVE dumpster diving! I have found small drink type fridges, wonderful sofas, expensive Texas Instruments graphing calculators, clothing and more. In fact I've even found money in the pockets of the clothes that I've found (one time it was $100! People may give me funny looks, but there is no way that I won't check out the dumpsters.

In the apartment where I used to live there was a garbage room where the residents could place the things that they didn't use anymore. You could find all sorts of useful things there. When I left some of our things there I always had a look at the other things that people had thrown away. When I lived in another house we also had a garbage room with a huge dumpster. People placed their old newspapers and magazines there, and I use the pictures from old magazines in my art so I sometimes climbed into the dumpster and looked for old magazines. Some of the pictures I have used in my paintings are actually things that came from the dumpster.

People are so lazy! I can't believe some of stuff thrown out to be picked up by the trash people! I see it all the time! Like all the stuff you just mentioned and more! I have seen stuff animals and have rescued alot of them over the years! Some people are to lazy to seperate their recyclables! I have Dumpster dived at work for aluminum cans because the place were I work won't get a recycling dumpster! I'm told it will cost to much! Bull! I used to do it at my part-time job but I convinced my boss to save the aluminum cans for me! If I see a bag of trash in my alley that has trash and aluminum cans in it I'll grap the bag and take the cans out. I get money for the cans. Right now it isn't much but I don't care! It is sad and I wish people would wake up! If you don't want stuff anymore see if places like the Salvation Army will pick it up for you! Maybe someone can sell the stuff at a garage or rummage sell for you! I've done that with things I don't donate! I'll keep doing it until people stop doing it!

I've never done this before. Not to sound stuck up..But it doesn't seem right & sanitary for some reason. Obviously..Trash at some point becomes public property..But I just think it's gross and wouldn't be something I'd do. I DO think it's acceptable to check out people's things that they put by the curb or in a box marked "free" -but it's a different story with dumpster diving. That's just my opinion though.

wow well i have never been dumpster diving i never jumped in or went to get anything out the dumpster and i never tooken anything from anyone elses garbage but sometimes we throw away stuff by accident not knowing if anyone of us whose living here wanted it so when we come home and try to get it, its gone! like always i hate when people take stuff out of our trash i'm like i don't go through yourse so don't go through mine. so i don't know if i could ever go through someone trash. i just wish that when people have nice stuff they don't want they would just put it in a bin for the whole neighbor hood to go to i would like that better so i can take out some stuff i really don't want or like anymore and i can get something new to me.

Not dumpster diving per say, but we have picked up some great things from the trash in front of people's houses. My nieces high chair was one of these finds and a few toys that my children really like to play with. Old computers will be taken home to have processors and other pieces taken out of them to sell as scrap gold. There is nothing wrong with it in my opinion. What I don't understand is why people throw things away that still have some use or value. Haven't these people ever heard of Freecycle? I'm a member of that and think it is the greatest thing ever.

I'm an IT technician, and a hard believer in recycling. Sometimes when driving around I'll see people throw out equipment that actually works perfectly, and sometimes I pity the state of all the stuff I see being thrown away that still has a few good years left in them. I've taken most of those bits and pieces of equipment, computers, all sorts of things and fixed them to working like brand new, or upgraded them to give or sell to the community for those who need or want it. ones trash is anothers treasure. I don't think it's completely wrong to do this is it helps other people in some way. It's funny though, most people throw things away for the wrong reasons, usually if they think that the items are out of date, or they lose interest.

i do like to dumpster dive but its pretty risky here where i live because it is mostly illegal.

I dumpster dive for coupons at a recycling center. I remember when I was younger some people who I would spend some of my weekends with would dumpter dive behind a grocery store. They use to throw out things still sealed and a ways from the expired date. I also heard that a store throws things out that they don't sell in their dumpster but if anyone who worked there told anyone and got caught then they would be fired. I know someone who rides around the night before the garbage man passes in a really nice neighborhood. Once she found one of those huge grills and everything worked just fine on it. She said people throw stuff out all the time. I think they even have groups of people that get together and go dumpster diving. Oh I don't actually get in the dumpster b/c I wouldn't be able to jump in or out. I just stand on the side. I have found all kind of magazines in there also.

i have but not necessarily the dumpster. sometimes, people leave stuff they dont want anymore on the side of the street for others to pick up if they want their junk. sometimes, i check it out to see if it is worth it and i can renovate it to something cooler. sometimes, i like for people old junk with potential and fix it up to make it modern or cool look, like an art piece.

I clean for a living and i see all the time people throw away perfectly good stuff. I have found stuff in the dumpsters too. Just yesterday when i went to throw a bag of trash into the dumpster and i saw a nice piece of fabric right on top. I took my broom and pulled it out. It was brand new a bed skirt and the bag the set came in. The sheets and pillow case was missing. The zipped broke on the bag but i have plenty of zippers. I will make it all good again. I will wash it all and use it. My grandaughter will have a nice pink ruffly skirt on her bed. I will have a really cool bag. Its made of fabric, pink leapord and zebra print. I have found books sitting beside the dumpster. I read them and list them on amazon. Last month somebody left a new touch lamp and beautiful pair of shoes that were never worn. They still had that little sticker on the bottm. I sold the shoes for $20. There was a sticker of $50. on the box. Im using the lamp.

Yes.. Yes I have! I've returned with: Tables, chairs, desks, computer systems (working just fine!), bed frames, love seats, entertainment stands, working tv's and stereo systems, a brand new Slip n Slide, LOTS of bicycles, a brand new Xbox 360 game, a brand new guitar hero controller for the Xbox 360, strollers, cribs, baby changing stations... Most of the things were items that have been discarded simply because people didn't want them anymore or they were from units that evicted tenants left behind. or some cases I would think from someone getting kicked out by their significant other heheh

The more wealthy people here just put stuff out by the curb that looks like it's brand new sometimes! They get tired of the old stuff and buy new. To me, I don't have money like that to waste but I love that they do because I get good stuff sometimes