Dumpster Dipping (for a small planet or just for fun)

Dumpster Dipping (please avoid dangerous diving) is an enjoyable activity involving a pleasant bike ride, a hunt, the thrill of discovery, the mystery of recent archeology, forensic storytelling, good Karma recycling, and a form of shopping with green environmental impact. It helps me get in touch with my early human hunter gathering roots. It is similar to gold panning, hunting, geo-caching, shopping, gambling and other hunt and find challenges where there are a variety of possible outcomes.

It is also possible to undo your entire carbon footprint through the recycling of other people's former stuff.

Step 1 What would I see If I'm brave enough to look?

There are many things in the dumpster that do not deserve to be buried yet.

You will see some things that do, and some that do not, belong in the dumpster.
You can recycle them, repurpose them, make them into art.
You can clean them up and use them, donate them or just set them next to the dumpster hoping they are adopted (Catch and Release).

I finds lots of clothing, household goods, computers, appliances, vacuum cleaners, household chemicals, paint, mixed drawers emptied into bags, coins, postage, furniture, on and on.

Some of the best items found to date:
Autographed scripts from "The King of Queens", new Navajo woven rug, LCD computer projector, various hand tools, a folding bike, complete sound systems with music CD's, and record players with records.

Comments

[pyrotechnical]

Anyone have any advice on coffee beans or grounds found in the dumpster? The ones i found were in their can and inside a plastic bag.

[Agentfern]

I heard about a printer that uses coffee grounds for ink a while back.

[Ian01]

If you find any more coffee, and it isn't consumable, you might want to use it to make a coffee balloon gripper. Just an idea.
Original: http://www.botjunkie.com/2010/10/26/balloon-plus-coffee-grounds-equals-versatile-robot-gripper/
Homemade version: http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/01/homemade-coffee-balloon-gripper-eas.html

[BeanGolem]

I went diving with some friend a while back at a coffee packaging plant. Most of the discarded coffee was due to a misprinted label, or the plastifoil tubes not being separated properly. If it's sealed, then it is highly likely to be OK for consumption. If it's just a grocery bag full of grounds in a can... try a cup and see :D

[pyrotechnical]

cool, thanks.

[ilpug]

Oh god, do I have to try this. In my small town, not a very good idea, but definitely when I get to college.

[Reuse Portland]

College campuses are a great hit. ESPECIALLY in June when the students move out. Many fly home and cannot take their belongings with them. Also, at least here, colleges make you move out during a very small window of time (~3days) so treasure is very concentrated. So far this year, I have lived on just the proceeds of what I find as well as donated some really good stuff.

My best finds:
Ipod
Computer flat screens
Photographers Luggage
Lots of Beer
Textbooks, Textbooks, Textbooks
$1,200 Italian suit (My size!)

[Tricorvus]

And let us not forget the hillbilly staple of Big Trash Day Curbing. My neighbor found a perfect white couch for her parlor. My better half was stunned & more than happy to help her get it, and install it. Combine some of the more fantastic finds with going thru this Instructables site, and you can really do some serious damage (the good kind). MBH & I are redecorating our home that way. Got rid of my late mother's old 1941 furniture, in the house she left me, gotta have somewhere to sit. Saving a fortune. All upside, no downside, so far as I have seen to date. :D

[cantthinkof bettername]

can you make a living off dumpster diving?

[louis.m]

Can you make a living off dumpster diving?

Are you kidding ?
Here in the Netherlands, we even organized "Giveaway Shops" where found and donated items are distributed. See for example:
http://www.huizespoorloos.org/taxonomy/term/11

[Rishnai]

Yes, but don't count on making big money. But one can live comforably, given they have the ability to turn the materials found in the dumpster into things people want again. Some dumpster stuff doesn't even need this help. My uncle found a very nice Dale Earnhardt uniform jacket in the dumpster, and even before a trip though the wash, you wouldn't have guessed if you didn't know.

[ursus57]

A retired couple who were receiving their pension any way in the Los Angeles area paid for a few semesters of college for their kid by dumpster diving. They sold items and recycled them, used items for their home, putting the money aside for school. The story ran in theTtimes...

[Prometheus]

Some people have averaged over $40,000 a year doing this...

[cantthinkof bettername]

That's really cool considering you dont need an education to get that much money. I try to save anything i can think of a use for, but i cant think of how i could sell it

[Prometheus]

In addition, depending on what you can repurpose/recycle, you can also try raiding demolition sites, industrial district, even the low-income areas can yield just what you can do to do the world better. I have three treadmill motors and their *expensive* DC controllers that, if I so chose, I could resell on Ebay for well over $400 a set.....but they are for my own use instead....As a result I have removed more than 30 percent of the total weight (less energy to haul the rest) and recovered awesome parts I could never afford on my own. I've never purchased a neon-sign-transformer in my life, yet I have four of them only 800 hours old that would have been landfill.

I've been doing this for well over a decade now, and no matter where you look, the ingenious person can find something somewhere. <looks around>.....In fact, I don't think there is a single appliance I own that I have paid anything for in my entire home, with the only exception being my computer's motherboard (literally), and my modem. Even my 19" monitor is rescued from certain "doom-fill", and it's in perfect working condition.

At this point my next run is donating over $13,000 worth of various equipment and appliances to fund charity. I also keep any cell-phone I find, as most will dial 911 whether you have service or not. Noone should not be able to call for help when they need it, contrary to the belief of the 27 percentile of the country nowadays.(thankfully not any issue come the new 2008 "not-for-sale" elections).

Oh that reminds me...I should publish my heavy-weight bike trailer construction (900+ lbs enough cargo for you?) Keep a lookout for it coming soon!

[Woodenbikes]

My wife and I have good day jobs that support us. So dumpster dipping for us is just a fun, charitable hobbie (like many other folks who do volunteer work) with perks (like the 3 cases of still cold, imported beer we found yesterday).

An earlier commentor (diylyhbilly) says he was a pro...
And I met a guy who said he made a good living handling the pickings in Hollywood and had to open a retail shop to sell it all.
In the pre-wasteful days (before 1950s in the US) there was a job known as the rag-picker who would sort the materials in the dump truck style garbage truck while on its route. The Freegans say they can get by on what they find.

You could start a business of proper handling of junk/clutter cleanup and make a good living.
There are many ways to participate for fun, charity, greenity, or profit in the spectrum of discard rescue.

[louis.m]

Nobody can change the past,
everyone is authorized to change the future!

[Lildevil963]

SCORE! i found a backpack full of porn at a campus lol i left it tho.

[unaffiliatedperson]

yeah i used to do this for a living a while back when i was squating in highschool and trying to get meals, needless to say food poisoning was normal. albiet i found a great dumpster i always get speakers, one time an almost new bottle of bacardi and a beach cruiser bicycle

[thewmas]

I've been dip'n/dive'n since I was young, Now day's I go on my bike > I've found everything from A to Z. Allot of stores have the inside compactors, or surveillance camras anymore, I still find stuff, but not like the good ol'days
Some of the best things I've found over the last year > push lawnmower, digital camra, food, (frozen turkey's), tobacco (i smoke), kids bike, kids guitar, office chair, etc
Best advice I can give is, have a partner, pic stick, wash water, good lighting, small ladder (one that leans up againts the dumpster, work clothes, and be careful.

[frodobot]

at up to what age would you class a "kid". 13?

[Woodenbikes]

Personally, I'd say under age 18 is too young. Yesterday I found a couple of boxes of cigars that are not legal for minors. Age improves judgment, and judgment is important in dipping.

[hellstudios]

oh c'mon, you just don't want an underage boy to look like an important business man with those cigars. you're hoarding them for yourself.

[Zem]

 I agree with you, about judgement. But I am 14 and would never touch a cigar/cigarette in my life. I have good judgement. I would really like to do this (in the recycling aspect.) But I guess your judgement is probably better then mine...

[sharlston]

im 13 what would happen if i went dumpster diving?what would i find?

[1spartan95]

Dude, I dumpster dive and I'm 12. I've found an old licence plate, 2 Cd-rom drives, an outdated computer book, and a computer chair that could be fixed with some duct tape.

[raceryz350]

http://www.instructables.com/id/Green-Garbage-Grabber%2c-Trash-Tongs%2c-pick-up-tool/

[joeofloath]

Schools are good for dumpster diving - I found about 6 laptops, 8 DLP projectors (Working on hacking in new bulbs), nearly a dozen hard drives, and some misc parts. My friends had most of it, but I got three working laptops, a parts laptop, two projectors and three hard drives.

Also, look everywhere. I found a £600, 700w UPS behind a bakery of all places. All it needed was new batteries. There were two laser printers too, but someone else had those.

[Whitestar245]

For all those bottles you recycled:
Coke bottles have caps with codes on them, which can be entered at mycokerewards.com. If you dive often, these will really add up...

[CluainnFhada]

The vast majority of those socks seem to be the same brand...

[stonewar]

Who the hell is throwing away money!!!

[Woodenbikes]

My daughter has a very nice foreign coin collection from the reject bin at the local coinstar machine. We have found freshly laundered clothing with a load of pocket change. Also, the old "dump the entire desk drawer in the trash" technique gives you a bag of office supplies and spare change.

[hitachi8]

once i found 200$ in a pair of jean .

[Ghost Wolf]

doubt it mirror your money 200$ and you get $002 hhhmmmmm

[hitachi8]

don't care .
no one cares about your opinion anyway .
you are on the internet DUDE >!

[Ghost Wolf]

hm good point never thought of it like that

[wobbler]

Can you believe that it's actually illegal to take things from skips in the UK? It's classed as theft, although I don't know if anyone has ever been done for it and had to spend time in Stalag UK.

[Ryutso]

The instructable on making a gripper seems to have...vanished.

[Creativeman]

Totally awesome! Cman

[yoyology]

Inspired by this instructable, I started casually peeking in dumpsters in areas I frequent.  In one particular computer store's container, I've found one inkjet printer, one fax machine, and three multifunction printers just in the past few days.  My trunk is full and my wife is looking at me very strangely.

Woodenbikes, you've ruined my life! ;-)