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

Step 11 The Five Stages of Grieving applied to Climate Change

Coming to terms with the reality of climate change and the implications of the loss of the old climate is like coming to terms with the loss of a loved one and we see evidence that different people are in each of the five steps of grieving for the old climate.

1) Denial (Today is colder than normal here, therefore, The Scientists are wrong! wrong! wrong!)
2) Anger (Al Gore's son was caught speeding. So global climate change is a hoax.)
3) Depression (There is nothing we can do, the Chinese coal plants will drown us all.)
4) Bargaining (Maybe I can just buy some carbon offsets and someone will plant a tree for me.)
5) Acceptance (The greenhouse effect and climate change are now part of my reality and I will interact with that reality as best as I can in a constructive manner. My legacy will be about proper behavior in the face of the facts.)

Be part of the solution.
It is not too late to change.

Comments

[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!

[jet_ski]

This is awesome. You have inspired me to put more effort into dumpster diving. Recycling here is not so easy, we don't have big recycling bins to dump cardboard etc, but we have our own personal recycling bins at home so maybe I'll go for aluminium cans and plastic bottles.

[BrittlesSkittles]

How ironic.
I am watching law and order and about 5 seconds before I reached this step one of the main characters mentioned the 5 stages of grief..xDD
anywho, amazing instructable! Very handy.

[StarborneWorks]

As a veteran skip-raider and general womble, I'd like to say this is one of the most comprehensive guides to the meat of dumpster diving I've yet to see. Major kudos! I'll be linking this on my journal, I'm sure! :) If I was going to be extremely picky, I'd say the good old "stick with a hook on the end" could do with a mention, as well as possible investment in kevlar gloves. There's also the edge of scavenging tactics too. Knowing the stock days of various stores so when the largest amounts will be thrown out, hitting up apartment blocks at the end of the month when leases expire, same for end-of-term at student residences and school breaks for equipment upgrades.

[the.strange.duck]

I love your dumpster dipping instructable!!!! I can't believe what you find in the dumpster! It is so cool! I washed that wallet and now I am using because my mom has a cool one. I am also using that bag that you gave me. Thanks.