Has anyone done any good trash picking lately? A couple months ago, one of my neighbors was moving and rented a big dumpster. I asked her if I could go through it before she had it emptied and she said she would just be throwing out junk, mostly boxes she had been keeping around. Then she gave me a Brita water pitcher because she had gotten a bigger one! She moved out and I happened to walk by the dumpster and saw a blanket hanging out of it. In addition to the blanket, I found 2 cloth shower curtains, a bag of ladies and girls clothes that looked like they had just come out of a drawer, a sheet made out of that T-shirt material, a really nice McDonald's sweatshirt and pins, Tupperware, knick-knacks, a lamp, a throw pillow, some toys, and a quilt (K-Mart variety) that is now on my guest bed! I guess she had a different idea of what junk is!! My husband was of course concerned that the other neighbors might have seen me! However, last month he spotted a big free pile near us and insisted that we hurry over before anyone else got to it!! We got a bunch of McDonald's toys, some men's clothes that will go in the yard sale, an Air Force jacket that I'll be wearing this year to rake leaves, some silverware and Tupperware, and an old chenille bedspread that I'm going to cut up and use for making teddy bears. Other trash finds: 2 oak rocking chairs that needed new rush seats, a meat slicer, a treadmill, a cookie jar that was missing it's top and became a planter, sheets, towels, and an antique picture frame that we are going to put a mirror in for the guest room. I always carry an extra bag with me when I walk the dog for picking up cans and bottles and what other people consider trash. Has anyone else found any good treasures?

-- Cindy in NY (cjpopeck@worldnet.att.net), August 17, 2001

Answers

yes!!!!!

i found a perfectly functioning vacuum cleaner, an ironing board, 100- foot water hose with sprinkler, some lumber, lawnmower that does work, charcoal grill, etc etc etc.

seems like lately people have so much money and credit that they will dispose of what they have to buy something else new.

gene

-- gene ward (gward34847@aol.com), August 18, 2001.

The road going from town to our farm goes right past a County Dumpster site. There are six dumpsters placed there for rural people to dump their "garbage." So, everyday on my way to work, I always glance and if I see something I stop. When we dump our garbage, I always check all the dumpsters just in case there is a great find. Many times when I go to work there may be some piece of furniture and when I go home from work it is gone. I call it D-Mart for Dumpster Mart. And I am sure some of the things I throw away have a use for someone else too. AS the saying goes, "One man's junk is another's treasure."

-- JoAnn in SD (jonehls@excite.com), August 18, 2001.

oh yes, the joys of dumpster diving!!!!!!! Each dumpster location can have it's own "treasures". Used to be the ones behind the local grocery store were particularly rewarding. Wonderful stuff for the taking for livestock feed and even the house. Husband works as a "rich mens" camping resort and you wouldn't believe the stuff people just through out. Really expensive pans because a little something is burned on it. Got several really heirloom type iron skillets, full set of steak knives. etc. etc. etc.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), August 18, 2001.

When I first got married in 79 I got a old couch from the dump with a hole on one side from somone smoking I would guess. Well other than that it looked in good shape. I took it home put stuffed a pillow in it real tight and put a cover over the entire couch. It worked great for about a year then we had saved enough money to buy one and the old one got passed to another young married couple that just moved into base housing. Also when we first got married we would go to the baricks and get soda cans out of the dumpsters. The men are not aloud to cook there so it was just reg trash no food. Anyway we made about 500.00 a month in soda cans haha that is what he got as a LCorp. in the Marine Corp so we had doubled our income. Now I mostly find old furniture to fix up.

-- Teresa (c3ranch@socket.net), August 18, 2001.

Where we live we have a spring clean-up,so myself and three good friends,get the pick-upand go to the rich sections of the nearby towns.We have a blast!!!Tarps,bird-baths,bird feeders,bird houses.carpets,lawn furniture. etc.If we are unsuccessful we go behing the big malls and dumpster dive.We call our selves the dumpster divas.The best things were an abundance of canning jars,a whole box of coca\cola metal signs,and a beautiful long rag runner.One of the girls has a sister who says sam's in the states has good stuff in their dumpsters.

-- teri murphy (dnsmacbeth@aol.com), August 18, 2001.

Funny post. I was a garbage man for several years. It's amazing what people throw out sometimes. Me and one of my buddys that worked there started taking all the power equipment that people threw away (lawn mowers, trimmers, ect... fixing them or using for parts and reselling at the flea market on the weekends. We could make a easy $200.00 a piece a weekend. Just off stuff that came off our routes.

-- Uriah (Uriahdeath2@netscape.net), August 18, 2001.

Just amazing what people will throw out, isn't it? Just downright wastefull. Someone just brought me a florescent lamp, about 3 feet long, with a grow bulb in it, works perfectly. He remembered I had a greenhouse, figured we could use it. He found it in a dumpster. Gave him some nice ripe tomatoes in return. We used to have "large item pickup" day in spring, city has cancelled that. We used to take the pickup truck and tour around. Almost everyone put "still good" stuff to one side, put all the garbage in a separate pile. We brought home 3 truckloads one day, everything from a couch (new, just a wood strut inside broken, took all of 10 minutes to fix), rolls of chicken wire, pieces of panelling, some whole, various pieces of wood, planters, building materials, you name it. My absolute favourite armchair that is down in the basement by the woodstove is from that day, has a big pine frame. The upholstery is battered, but it is the most COMFORTABLE chair I've ever owned. Hubby and I keep a sharp lookout for any pickup days, there have been many things like lawnmowers we've picked up over the years, fixed 'em up and sold for $$$ at lawn sales.

Couple years ago there was a course listed in the college night school courses--"Dumpster Diving". Saw that course running a few times, so there's obviously more than a few people interested in "recycling"!

-Chelsea

-- Chelsea (rmbehr@istar.ca), August 18, 2001.

A COLLEGE course on dumpster diving???? Oh my... I guess as easy as college graduates have it looking for a job where they are neither overqualified nor underqualified, that one course should come in handy. Probably should be required.

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), August 18, 2001.

My parents live in the city next door to a house that has been bought and sold three times in the last 5 years or so, each new owner doing major renovations. My mother keeps an eye on what's headed for the dumpster and salvages what we can use: 32 folding doors (great for making cupboards and closets), 4 regular solid wood doors, lots of wide oak molding (thresholds in our new house), fancy medicine cabinet with wood frame, wooden drawers from a walk-in closet (now slide-out shelves for canned goods), many board feet of discarded lumber, garden trellises, both iron and cedar. etc. I'm always astounded at how much money some people spend to get their vision of "home."

-- Katherine (KyKatherine@Yahoo.com), August 18, 2001.

My Pentium desktop PC and 19" Trinitron monitor I'm using right now were dumpster finds. Two PC's and two monitors were on the top of the heap each carrying a post it note marked "BAD" when I saw them. I took them home and found the monitor from one set and the PC from the other were bad. A quick switch and I have a very nice set up here.

-- Gary in Indiana (gk6854@aol.com), August 18, 2001.

Here in Maine, at my local "dump" you can still go in and pick through what other folks have left behind. We recycle most everything here, but when you take "stuff" to the dump that someone still might get some use out of, we put it in a seperate area so folks can check it out. Works for my town!! We built our 10x10 chicken coop out of scrounged lumber from the dump!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), August 18, 2001.

I used to have my own dumpster diving routes in FL before they started cracking down on it. Now, I am in VA and manage a storage facility. There are all kinds of stuff people throw away.

This week I got a nice bread box. I got 4 very nice thermal blankets last week. We've gotten just about all of our stuff from other people's throw aways.

The enameled topped table in my kitchen was on the side of the road. I love it. It had a shelf built into it by the previous owner. I put wheels on the legs and made an island table out of it. My lamps are out of other peoples garbage. Nice brass lamps.

-- Stephanie Nosacek (pospossum@earthlink.net), August 18, 2001.

My "dumpster diving finds" list could go on for miles......Actually I'm glad there are stupid people out there that have more money than sense! I got 4 cases of peaches from behind the local Kroger...All that was wrong with them is that they weren't perfect enough for display...Only had thumbprint size bruises on them.....Well, they made up into the best peach jam I've ever had! Dumpster diving and trash mongering sure makes for alot of fun for me! The best "dive find" for me was 10 years ago, I found a great looking vacuum in a dumpster...took it home cleaned it up and still couldn't figure out what was wrong with it until I emptied the bagger! Seems its prior owner thought it was broken when it wouldn't pick anything up...DUH!..I used that vaccuum for 10 years...sorry to say it went back to the dumpster it came from a couple months ago......KEEP DIVING! Harmony

-- Harmony Bullington (harmonyfarm57@hotmail.com), August 19, 2001.

Lots, and lots of good 'stuff' out there! I have a friend whose "occupation" is that of a 'picker', she knows of all the dumpsites and bulk trash days for 30 miles and spends all of her afternoons and evenings picking up "junk". She then sells her finds on ebay, or to dealers that she has established relationships with over the years. Her personal best was a George Nelson chair that she sold for $3000. Her best week was $4500 (incl. the chair) She averages about $700 a week. I need a bumper sticker that reads "I brake for trash heaps"

-- Kathy (catfish201@hotmail.com), August 19, 2001.

Just kind of makes you sick what some people throw out! However, that is the kind of world we live in now - if you don't want it, don't need it, got a bigger/better one etc, just throw it away. So wasteful!! No wonder our garbage dumps are filling up so fast. But if the world wasn't that way, we wouldn't be finding all these diamonds in the rough!!

-- Michael W. Smith in North-West Pennsylvania (kirklbb@penn.com), August 19, 2001.

We found about 12, 12 foot long 2 by 10's (torn out of a deck - no evidence of treating) 2 blocks from our house. Lot's of cold frames.

-- rick K (rick_122@hotmail.com), August 19, 2001.

One of my favorite pastimes! A few yrs ago, during spring clean-up, I visited the centrally located site at the city garage. I picked up a few little items and I spotted an Inboard/Outboard marine engine. It was a 4 cyl, OMC and looked in pretty good shape. We, I brought it home, thinking if nothing else it might have some core value.

It wasn't real high on the priority list so it was just sitting there. I was visiting a buddy one day and he mentioned his boat engine just bit the wrench and he was having a hard time finding one for less than $1000. I asked what kind is it etc and I sez, "ya know, I think I might have one." He came out and sure nuff, it was exactly what he needed and he was thrilled to pay me $300 for it and he's still running it today.

The best bottom feeding score I ever had was when a buddies aunt was getting her roof redone for the sale of their house. They'd accepted an offer, the roofers were coming in a week, and they had to get rid of the 10 panel hot water solar system---right now. I had to hire a guy to help me and we had the system down in two days, complete with controls, circulating pumps, heat exchangers etc. They were so happy to get it done so quickly they even paid me $200.

-- john (natlivent@pcpros.net), August 19, 2001.

Another good source for "free stuff' are apartment complexes. When I moved into one years ago, the superintendent happened to mention that they had a couple of storage rooms full of stuff that people left behind. It seemed that it was cheaper to leave it behind rather than pay to have it transported somewhere else. There were beds, sofas, lamps, kitchen appliances, the list ran on and on.

-- j.r. guerra (jrguerra@boultinghousesimpson.com), August 20, 2001.

We've found many great things others call "trash". One of our best was a 4 wheeled battery operated riding toy that only needed a new battery ($24). The thing sells for $100. Daughter picks up all kinds of toys in excellent condition, only needs cleaning. We've gotten dozens of canning jars, two oak dining room chairs, a weed- wacker needing the plastic sting, a vacuum cleaner only needing a new bag. Some of my favorite things have been "found" treasures.

Wishing you enough.

-- Trevilians (aka Dianne in Mass) (Trevilians@mediaone.net), August 20, 2001.

My husband and I eat very well. Some dumpster finds... A case of NY Style Eclairs, A case of Sunny Delight (one bottle had leaked and got the others' labels wet), two boxes of Cascade detergent, a Case of Oreo Cookies, three bushels of mishapen apples, fifty pounds of potatoes and onions. A lot of supermarkets have compacters but the ones that don't throw out funny looking produce, and pre-packaged items that have gone past the "Sell By Date". The sell by date is not an experation date and we have never found the pre-packaged stuff to go "bad". Dumpters have also yielded unlimited Xmas Cards, decorations, a toilet, a sink, an antique light fixture. Keep consuming America and Keep throwing it out!

-- L.A. in FL (Moonie91@yahoo.com), January 01, 2002.

My best find was a fully functional Space Invaders arcade game. Keep on picking

-- Jeremy (dauthiwizard7@aol.com), April 20, 2002.