Dumpster Diving.

me and a friend recently went Dumpster Diving and we got about a weeks supply of perfectly good food..

does anyone here dumpster dive?

 

define 'perfectly good food'

 

food that was the same quality as i would have got from the supermarket. packaged stuff one day past its used by date etc ...and vegetables too.

 

i think its great, i love dumpster diving. theres not much good stuff in my little town though

 

I have found some good stuff in the trash like old cool books, furniture, vinyl records, paint, etc, have not found good food though.

 

i have also found good stuff in the trash, but not food.

 

literally everything in my friends old house, furniture and all, we picked from the trash.... or made from bamboo. i loved that place.

its a way of life. i believe in the future i will be getting a lot of my stuff from the trash. food too.
produce markets will commonly throw away great produce.

 

The other day I was dumpster diving. I was looking for a piece to a baby carriage swing that had just been thrown out. I found maggots at the bottom of the dumpster under the trash.

On a happy note I found a phisicians refference guide book outside a hospital in the dumpster once.

 

Dumpster diving is a way of life. Yes, supermarkets and health food stores throw away perfectly good food. But some stores have taken to sprinkling it with rat poison. I know a chain store that does it in Tulsa, OK. So if it has what looks like flour or some such on it. Do Not eat it unless it is packaged and brush off the poison or wash outside of package. Of course it washes off of produce too. But it is kinda hard to wash all of it off. I used to process such food that was donated instead of throwing it away for a food baskets at a homeless shelter. I removed the bad parts and washed what could be washed and sorted the rest into one pile for humans and one pile for the hogs. The hog man picked up bins full of stuff twice a week. Maggots too can be washed off. They are just yuck. If meat still smells and looks OK it is. Same for veggies and fruit. If they are still firm and not rotten they are OK. Just cut off the bad part. The sell by date on foods is always shy of the date the food is not fit to eat. It is that way because supermarkets don't want to get sued and they don't want irate customers coming in complaining and wanting their money back or worse not shopping there. Which is why they don't want you getting it out of their dumpster either. They are worried about lawsuits.

But as long as they don't catch you they can't worry their little pea brains to death about lawsuits.
Dumpster diving is an Art form and a very enjoyable past time. I have fed lots of folks on stuff we dumpster dived. Plus got lots of neat other stuff. The best dumpster was in Shasta City in northern cal at the health food store. Lots of great organic produce. Heavenly Ham stores always throw away the bone portion of the ham with a lot of good meat on it. Any chain barbecue joint always throws out lots of good already cooked meat. Lots of times it is a little dry which is why it is there. If the meat doesn't get cooked fast enough it dries out. Or what doesn't sell fast enough. The list is endless of good dumpsters. Just be careful and don't get caught and arrested for "molesting a dumpster".

Peace, Cricket

 

I found some wonderful furnitre and other items in dumpsters. My favorite dumpster item is my wonderful big blue corderoy folding bowl chair. It was the first piece of furniture I had in my apartment when I was done with my homelessness. I found it when I had been out walking. It had been left out by some students who moved. It had rained and the chair was soaked and partially filled with water. There was a big burn hole in the side.

I took it home, cleaned it up and lovingly dried it out for three days. I had some denim patches from a recycled jeans quilt I'm making for my son. These hid the burn hole and water stains, and the denim blue goes so well with the corderoy people think the chair was just made like that. Not only does it look great, but it's comfy too. It's a perfect chair to curl up in to read in, either alone or with a lapful of children and cat.

I make art from cast-off objects I find in the street, like bottlecaps and candy tins. I have an agreement with my kids that I will not pull anything directly out of the trash when they are with me, because they find it embarrassing, although the oldest has made found object art himself, and both kids are constantly picking small objects up that they think I can use in my sculpture.

Another one of my best scores was a pair of wooden stands that I use for displaying necklaces in my festival stand. It was funny how I found them. I'd been walking down the street thinking, I really need to get some stands, I'm not going to have room on my tables, and there they were. Apparently they had been used as Christmas table wreath stands by the AA people down the street. All they needed was sanding and hooks! I'm going to need a couple more stands soon because my inventory is expanding, but I'm not counting on getting so lucky twice!

 

what are the charges if the police catch you dumpster diving or will they usually let you go if you get caught?

 

that can vary drastically from city to city.

 

Last week I found about a dozen mongoes, several tomatoes, fresh apricots, apples, potatoes, hot peppers, etc... Been doing really well lately. As long as waste is such an integral part of our culture, there will always be people to fill that niche.

Try liquidation type stores. You can find anything. I mean it. Anything.

I would also recomend a set of lock picks or bolt cutters.
Happy hunting. And look out for bleach.

 

trash picking is one thing.... but breaking and entering is a whole different story. even if it is just into a fenced in area...

 

technically garbage is open for the public isnt it as long as it isnt locked up right? I thought i remember my friend saying something like that cause he didnt want me putting anything with his name on it in the trashbag with all the beer bottles cause he said once its in the trash anyone can go through it.

 

Every couple of nights I ride my bike down to this dumpster down the street, and it's amazing some of the things I've brought home...Tons of books, two cordless phones (which work excellent), CD's, Movies, toys, you name it.

I'd say close to 75-80% of the things in my house are from the garbage...Whether it be a dumpster, or just out riding around and on garbage day I come across something. Like my current computer monitor!

 

I think that all depends on local laws...Here, it is illegal to take someones garbage when its at the curb for pickup...However it is NEVER inforced.

 

The one dumpster I go to does have a lock on it...I just lift it up from the side and pick the stuff out. May take a few extra minutes to get the things out, but I wouldn't cut a lock.

 

I've found about 100 loaves of bread that were about a week from the due date and still perfectly edible. I was shocked, but then again I used to work at the kroger I was dumpster diving and remember throwing away so much good food it made me sick. Big corporations can just throw away food and get the money back for it from taxes. Its stupid and ridiculus.

 

man on chicago's northside people leave furniture in the alleys all over the place.
i got my coffee table, a chair, and some other sweet stuff in the alley.