Dumpster Diving/

[Frodo]

Does any one here Dumpster Dive? I do

 

[Cabin Fever]

Only once when I saw this waffle iron in the trash dumpster at our local recycling center.

 

[Weedygarden]

I have never been a dumpster diver, but I am an alley shopper. I check things out in the alley when I see them. I don't always pick up things I see, but sometimes I do. I recently got a trash can, a stainless steel trash can. I also saw a photo of a dresser in an alley that I knew was not trash. It was not easy for me to get it, but I did. Took it home, repainted it, replaced the hardware and it is beautiful and in my entry way. The dresser in the photo is similar, but mine is painted off white and only has 9 drawers, 3 wide, 3 drawers high.
I have also watched Craiglist free. I have gotten boxes of books that I have resold on Amazon and ebay and may $1000's from that. There are many books out there worth nothing, but I have gone through 100's of boxes of books and given away many again.
I have gotten other things for free on Craigslist that were great. I once got so many boxes of canning jars that my car was loaded. I also saw an ad where a company was moving and they had a pallet of toilet paper for free. I went and loaded up my car, and left so much t.p. behind that wouldn't fit in my car.

 

[backlash]

Not dumpster diving but close.
I went to a garbage transfer station once and there was an Aramark truck next to me unloading brand new rubber floor mats. I asked they guy why and he said they had too many and his boss said to get rid of them. I said toss them on the ground and I would take them, he did. I weighed almost as much leaving the transfer station as I did when I weighed in.
I still have a bunch of high quality rubber floor mats in my shop.
My nephew found 25 new Makita cordless drills in the dump. Costco had a fire and the cases were melted some but the drivers were in perfect condition.
It had to do with Costco's insurance. They had to call them destroyed and trash them.
A lot of good stuff gets put in the trash.
Homeless people in Seattle were seen wearing new expensive shoes. They were getting them from a dumpster so the shoe store started slashing the shoes before they trashed them so the homeless wouldn't be seen in their shoes.

 

[Bacpacker]

Years ago when I was in school we had very little income. Place i worked was next door to a florist. So for our anniversary I picked out a dozen roses they had thrown out. They looked pretty good and wife was thrilled.

 

[dademoss]

I used too, but too many video cameras and security curtailed my practice.

 

[angie_nrs]

When I was little my dad used to go into town and look thru some of the overflowed dumpsters near the dorms after the last day of college. Those college kids used to toss a bunch of brand new stuff like wood furniture, bed frames, milk crates, clocks, etc. It was mostly large or bulky items that they couldn't fit into their little cars to haul home but also stuff they just didn't want anymore. It was like going to a garage sale and getting anything you wanted for free. I actually had a blast doing that with my dad. Good memories.

 

[Just Cliff]

I used to do it every night. I was on third shift 11-7 We got more stuff that was good. I got 20 some fishing poles one night from Rose's dumpster. Instead of untangling the line, they would throw them away.
I guy I worked with got shot in his ass one night by some guys that broke into a business. He was ok. Just had to hear about getting shot in his ass while dumpster diving till his retirement .

 

[masterspark]

https://www.wbur.org/news/2020/09/01/sept-1-moving-day-allston-christmas-pandemic-photos

 

[Cascadian]

Not lately, but I am not above bringing stuff home from the dump.

 

[LadyLocust]

Like a couple others, I've brought stuff home from the dump. Best was probably about a dozen sheets of green board sheetrock (the kind used in bathrooms.)

 

[Magus]

And I thought I was the only scavver here!
I used to have a website called "Bone hunters" I doubt anyone remembers it though.
We had threads on tools you need, staying out of trouble, how to sell your trash or make it sellable
and how to strip actually abandoned buildings of EVERYTHING! with owner's permission obviously.

 

[UrbanHunter]

When I was in college I worked in a machine shop on campus and was doing a capstone project that relied on specific materials for components. I started watching the dumpsters near the other shops on campus, I found that on Friday afternoons I could "harvest" the aluminum 7075-T6, 303 stainless steel, and some magnesium. In the end I was able to build almost my entire project out of the dumpster...

I don't dumper dive here today because I don't want to be stuck with an unknown needle... or other such unpleasant encounter....

 

[Magus]

Kevlar gloves bro, I had a pair when I had to handle "biological waste" from industrial accidents.

This looks like them
https://www.uline.com/Product/Detai...UdNhU8jii2Mu0FYyzZ0aAh_GEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
I have used heavy welding gloves that have been dipped in water seal too.

 

[Peanut]

Colleges are a never ending supply of goodies. The major university near here… every May 5000 students graduate. Most junior’s or senior’s have their own apartments. It’s not a secret by any means. The locals know if you need to furnish an apt or house put up fliers in the student neighborhoods in April/May. It’s cheap student furniture but it’s a lot cheaper than buying it new from a store. A few hundred bucks and you have a house full of furniture and appliances, all you need is a truck. And there are surprises… I once got an antique hardrock maple bedroom suite for $80, even had the dresser with mirror and the small matching bench.

 

[Frodo]

I have 2 dumpsters i hit on the regular both are behind different dollar generals
I have found a lot of brand new in the box items but what chaps my ass to no end is the food that is tossed
I do not touch it because I have no idea how long ago it was tossed. BUT
WHY??? is the food tossed? If it has expired then give it to the homeless instead of a dumpster
I have seen boxes of bananas, candy bars, jimmy dean sausage, texas toast, pies, milk, p[otato chips, the list goes on and on

I have a pile of electronics out behind the barn, i strip them down and recycle the metals
Clothes i can not use go to a church store,

 

[angie_nrs]

I agree with you Frodo. I hate seeing stuff go to waste. I re-purpose a lot of stuff. It only takes a bit of imagination.

They should do events at colleges for flee markets on the last week of college in the football field and let people get the stuff the kids want to get rid of, instead of throwing it away. Proceeds could go the a local charity of some sort, like the Humane Society. The things that people won't buy for a small price, donate to habitat or salvation army or to a local shelter. The rest of it, the junkers can take for scrap metal.

On the very last day, before the dump trucks come, they should advertise FREE stuff! I'd bet the dumpsters would be less full and the cost to haul it away would be much less. It's a win win win situation for all involved......including the landfills.

What remains, the folks who sponsored the event could have the garbage trucks come and get. At that point, I'm sure it'd still be a money making venture, with a lot less 'garbage' going to the landfills.

 

[Neb]

Does any one here Dumpster Dive? I do

I can't walk past a dumpster without taking a look to see what is on sale.

Let's see how much I can pack into one post.

In the old days self paced instructions came on cassette tapes and VCR tapes. I used to gather them up and gave them to my mother. She always had a need for more.

My son and used to drive around in the pickup the night before trash day. Got a good couch. I noticed a pair of fans on the curb and knocked on the door to ask permission to take them. The old guy said yes and asked me if wanted a stove. He was going into a nursing and his niece had bought him a new stove a month earlier. I offered him $50 to be fair.

My favorite chair I sit in most nights was headed to the curb.

Then there was the time HP was moving to a new office and my buddy grabbed 6 o-scopes of which I claimed three.

That scope cart didn't come from HP but from when I used to work in the condensed matter physics dept at U of Pitt. At that time there we a large number of PHDs retiring and their labs were being cleared out. I was checking that dumpster multiple times a day. Here are a few of the finds.

The round objects is an oven for heat treating metal. The crate it is sitting contains a 3-phase generator in its original crate never used.

A 3-phase variac combined with the generator will let me generate electricity powered from a steam engine.

A cabinet full of laboratory glassware from the same dumpster including a distillation tube!

That cabinet of map drawers was nabbed just before it hit the dumpster.

The blue cabinet of machine tools came out of another dumpster used to be a tape storage cabinet.

Spools of wire from a dumpster behind a electronic manufacturing company. Also picked 6 bags or electrical components that have been sorted and stowed for when get into an electronics mood.

Found 5 bags of Lego that rook some time to sort. They live in the Lego Lounge now.

Looks i am limited only 10 pictures so I will stop there.

Yeah, I dumpster dive.

Ben

 

[Weedygarden]

I have 2 dumpsters i hit on the regular both are behind different dollar generals
I have found a lot of brand new in the box items but what chaps my ass to no end is the food that is tossed
I do not touch it because I have no idea how long ago it was tossed. BUT
WHY??? is the food tossed? If it has expired then give it to the homeless instead of a dumpster
I have seen boxes of bananas, candy bars, jimmy dean sausage, texas toast, pies, milk, p[otato chips, the list goes on and on

I have a pile of electronics out behind the barn, i strip them down and recycle the metals
Clothes i can not use go to a church store,

I am sure there are dumpsters that have good stuff around my area. I have been interested in dumpster diving, but the idea of climbing in and out of a dumpster seems more than I can do. I notice that most grocery stores have their dumpsters locked. I had a friend when I lived in North Dakota who reported lots of good finds in the grocery store dumpsters.

 

[Neb]

I have 2 dumpsters i hit on the regular both are behind different dollar generals
I have found a lot of brand new in the box items but what chaps my ass to no end is the food that is tossed
I do not touch it because I have no idea how long ago it was tossed. BUT
WHY??? is the food tossed? If it has expired then give it to the homeless instead of a dumpster
I have seen boxes of bananas, candy bars, jimmy dean sausage, texas toast, pies, milk, p[otato chips, the list goes on and on

I have a pile of electronics out behind the barn, i strip them down and recycle the metals
Clothes i can not use go to a church store,

My father found a case of peach turnovers that we feasted on for most of a winter.

He also brought home a case of the big lamp batteries. The experiments using them ... burning up wires... went a long way toward getting me into electronics.

I don't toss copper brass or other metals.

I have plans to do metal casting someday. Larger pieces go on the scrap shelf for machine shop projects.

Ben

 

[Neb]

Dumpster diving runs in my family.

My grandfather was trash collector in NYC. He would save metal for recycling but would grab every tool and throw them on his work bench. When visited him my father would sort the tools for him and claim the best ones. He stocked work shop with tools that way.

My grandfather basement was amazing. Filled with tools of all type but his collection of wind up animated toys was overwhelming.

Ben

 

[Bacpacker]

Neb you sparked a memory of mine. Place i used to work got sold and new company was shutting down part of the company. Parts department was told to toss everything that wasn't going to continue. I worked overtime to help move the stuff. What I wanted went in one pile, everything else in the dumpster. I got a boat load of hardware of all kinds, lots of electronic componenets, a couple handheld test meters. Good haul
Another job, same situation. I ended up with several metal frames for work tables and just good metal for cutting and rewelding into something else.

 

[UrbanHunter]

This isn't dumpster diving but it's close, everyone on the range knows that I sometimes reload. I bring 3 5 gallon buckets to the range with me, they have my name on them and people will put their brass (actually anything metal) into my buckets. They put thrash in the other bends on the range. I often come home with 5 gallons of brass after shooting 50 rounds of 22lr. explain that to the wife....

I sort and clean them, store them in ziplock bags, which are stored in 5 gallon buckets (sorted by size of course). I had a friend in WV who asked about brass, I asked him what he needed and sent 10 pounds to him in a cardboard box. He was shocked, and asked don't you need these, I said nope, don't own one.... and I only gave him what wouldn't fit in the bucket.

 

[dademoss]

Ah, the good old days. Used to run the upstream development lab, every instrument had to be certified to NIST standards.

Get a timer recalibrated and certified, 100 bucks. New timer, with certificate, 15 bucks. Same with lots of other items. They all got "scrapped"

I guarantee they are not in use for QA purposes.

 

[Frodo]

I am sure there are dumpsters that have good stuff around my area. I have been interested in dumpster diving, but the idea of climbing in and out of a dumpster seems more than I can do. I notice that most grocery stores have their dumpsters locked. I had a friend when I lived in North Dakota who reported lots of good finds in the grocery store dumpsters.

get a paint roller frame, and a threaded wood pole, screw them together
remove that plastic thing and you have sa hook, that will reach into the dumpster

 

[backlash]

Bacpacker reminded me of when the company I worked for sent their new office manager from CA to Seattle to organize the office.
She had a huge dumpster with doors on the end delivered. Her and her 2 minions started moving stuff from the shop to the dumpster. They had no idea what they were doing. As they would put stuff in us service guys would haul it out and put it in our vans.
Most vans were so loaded the backend was sitting on the frame.
She hauled a brand new piece of test equipment to the dumpster. I picked it back up and put it back. She said her decisions were final. I told her I had just got it and the company paid over $10,000 for it and I got on the phone with the district service manager and got it straightened out.
We all went out of our way to make her feel unwelcome. She was even told she was not invited to lunch her last day because we we celebrating her departure.
You want to talk about good stuff going in a dumpster just bring up the 5S program to someone that lived through it..

 

[Pearl]

Years ago when I was in school we had very little income. Place i worked was next door to a florist. So for our anniversary I picked out a dozen roses they had thrown out. They looked pretty good and wife was thrilled.

 

[Frodo]

I can't walk past a dumpster without taking a look to see what is on sale.

Let's see how much I can pack into one post.

In the old days self paced instructions came on cassette tapes and VCR tapes. I used to gather them up and gave them to my mother. She always had a need for more.

My son and used to drive around in the pickup the night before trash day. Got a good couch. I noticed a pair of fans on the curb and knocked on the door to ask permission to take them. The old guy said yes and asked me if wanted a stove. He was going into a nursing and his niece had bought him a new stove a month earlier. I offered him $50 to be fair.

My favorite chair I sit in most nights was headed to the curb.

Then there was the time HP was moving to a new office and my buddy grabbed 6 o-scopes of which I claimed three.

View attachment 75665

View attachment 75666

That scope cart didn't come from HP but from when I used to work in the condensed matter physics dept at U of Pitt. At that time there we a large number of PHDs retiring and their labs were being cleared out. I was checking that dumpster multiple times a day. Here are a few of the finds.

View attachment 75667
The round objects is an oven for heat treating metal. The crate it is sitting contains a 3-phase generator in its original crate never used.

View attachment 75668

A 3-phase variac combined with the generator will let me generate electricity powered from a steam engine.

View attachment 75669

A cabinet full of laboratory glassware from the same dumpster including a distillation tube!

View attachment 75670

That cabinet of map drawers was nabbed just before it hit the dumpster.

View attachment 75671

The blue cabinet of machine tools came out of another dumpster used to be a tape storage cabinet.

View attachment 75672

View attachment 75673

Spools of wire from a dumpster behind a electronic manufacturing company. Also picked 6 bags or electrical components that have been sorted and stowed for when get into an electronics mood.

View attachment 75674

Found 5 bags of Lego that rook some time to sort. They live in the Lego Lounge now.

Looks i am limited only 10 pictures so I will stop there.

Yeah, I dumpster dive.

Ben

I want to play in your garage.

 

[Pearl]

And I thought I was the only scavver here!
I used to have a website called "Bone hunters" I doubt anyone remembers it though.
We had threads on tools you need, staying out of trouble, how to sell your trash or make it sellable
and how to strip actually abandoned buildings of EVERYTHING! with owner's permission obviously.

I can't walk past a dumpster without taking a look to see what is on sale.

Let's see how much I can pack into one post.

In the old days self paced instructions came on cassette tapes and VCR tapes. I used to gather them up and gave them to my mother. She always had a need for more.

My son and used to drive around in the pickup the night before trash day. Got a good couch. I noticed a pair of fans on the curb and knocked on the door to ask permission to take them. The old guy said yes and asked me if wanted a stove. He was going into a nursing and his niece had bought him a new stove a month earlier. I offered him $50 to be fair.

My favorite chair I sit in most nights was headed to the curb.

Then there was the time HP was moving to a new office and my buddy grabbed 6 o-scopes of which I claimed three.

View attachment 75665

View attachment 75666

That scope cart didn't come from HP but from when I used to work in the condensed matter physics dept at U of Pitt. At that time there we a large number of PHDs retiring and their labs were being cleared out. I was checking that dumpster multiple times a day. Here are a few of the finds.

View attachment 75667
The round objects is an oven for heat treating metal. The crate it is sitting contains a 3-phase generator in its original crate never used.

View attachment 75668

A 3-phase variac combined with the generator will let me generate electricity powered from a steam engine.

View attachment 75669

A cabinet full of laboratory glassware from the same dumpster including a distillation tube!

View attachment 75670

That cabinet of map drawers was nabbed just before it hit the dumpster.

View attachment 75671

The blue cabinet of machine tools came out of another dumpster used to be a tape storage cabinet.

View attachment 75672

View attachment 75673

Spools of wire from a dumpster behind a electronic manufacturing company. Also picked 6 bags or electrical components that have been sorted and stowed for when get into an electronics mood.

View attachment 75674

Found 5 bags of Lego that rook some time to sort. They live in the Lego Lounge now.

Looks i am limited only 10 pictures so I will stop there.

Yeah, I dumpster dive.

Ben

I truly think you are related to my husband!!

 

[Pearl]

Hubby and I used to go trashing when we were young. Made a lot of side cash from vacuums that needed minor repair (pawn shop). We would go to town and drive around on trash night. Lots of awesome finds, nice way to spend time together!!