Mermaid Mama Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 Ever done it? I have. Cool video: http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/03/15/ride-along-on-a-freegan-dumpster-diving-and-save-some-cash/?icid=main|main|dl3|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.walletpop.com%2Fblog%2F2010%2F03%2F15%2Fride-along-on-a-freegan-dumpster-diving-and-save-some-cash%2F Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomtoCandJ Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 I have but not for food, found some nice furniture "dumpster diving" like a tv stand, a tv, and some chairs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 Ever done it?I have. Cool video: http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/03/15/ride-along-on-a-freegan-dumpster-diving-and-save-some-cash/?icid=main|main|dl3|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.walletpop.com%2Fblog%2F2010%2F03%2F15%2Fride-along-on-a-freegan-dumpster-diving-and-save-some-cash%2F Are you in that video?! My inlaws have scored very nicely inedible things (like furniture and stuff) from the side of the road, even though they are fairly "well-to-do", but not food. Dh has "tendancies", lol, but, again, not food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 I stayed with an unschooling family who got most of their groceries this way. I accompanied them to the dumpster, dived with them, and ate the food. I then filed this away in my mind as a workable way to get food. I have never done it, though, mainly because dumpsters smell. Picking up stuff from the side of the road is totally different. Generally I don't want to go curbside browsing. I don't like to browse because I don't want to end up bringing home something I didn't need but grabbed solely because of the opportunity to get it for free. I hate clutter. But I have been accompanying my trash-happy friends once a year when the nicest neighborhood in town has it's week of free large item trash pickup. It's like a holiday for them, a town tradition. Last year I scored a nifty old-fashioned travel trunk that promptly replaced my coffee table. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denise in Florida Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 I lOVED it! Thank you for the link. I have been trying to explain Freegans to some of my friends. I will forward this link to them. I haven't tried diving for food but my dh and I did a lot of diving for furniture, tools, books, etc when we were in college (many, many years ago :001_smile:) The college my dd18 attends has a Freegan table in the cafeteria. People can leave their unfinished/unwanted food on the table for their fellow students. DD said the first week (before the table was set up) the freegans would just wait at the trash cans and ask people who still had food on their trays if they were "going to eat that". DD can't eat wheat and doesn't eat big portions so she usually leaves her roll and half of the entree on the table for others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Atl Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 Not far from that point. It's amazing what people throw away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prairie~Phlox Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 We live in a college town and do see and sometimes take stuff that is getting thrown out, but the law cracks down on things around here, so for that reason, I would not dumpster dive all the time. Usually the stuff we find we've seen the students walking it to the dumpster and go right away to take it. I got a decent shelf this way once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicole M Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 Whoa. I knew we threw away a lot of stuff in this country, but I didn't realize how much food was tossed. That is sad. So I take it these dumpsters are behind grocery stores. Too bad I can't stay up past 9pm, or I'd check it out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 Last fall we had a wind storm that took out power lines. After x amount of hours the grocery store had to throw out every single refrigerated item even if it wasn't even close to spoiling. (I can't remember how many hours it was) I have a neighbor who works at the grocery store and he called me to let me know that free things would be going into the dumpster. The men dumping let us pick stuff before it was actually dumped. What a waste. But I can also see why the health department had requirements like that. Here, restaurants used to give their left-over food to the homeless shelters. Then a homeless person sued a restaurant for "bad food". All restaurants now dump their leftovers because they don't want to risk being sued again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catalinakel Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 Yes....nearly thirty years ago during my homeless hippie phase. It was unbelievable the amount of food thrown out. A bunch of us would make huge pots of soup in the park in Seattle to feed real homeless people(my homelessness was self imposed and very short term). The ironic thing was that during this time also, congress was actually served a lunch created using only food that had a been thrown out. Now I am thinking Whole foods is not too far away......thanks for sharing. I have never seen that website, and am a chronic saver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 No, and honestly I would rather work an hour and have the $20 to buy my groceries than spend the hour digging in garbage for them. I don't think any less of someone else for doing it, I just am not willing to do it myself. When I used to work in a bakery for a large grocery chain, we did donate usable items to the local shelters/missions etc. Bakery items, produce, and non-perishable grocery was all donated. The store would call the police on people dumpster diving because it was a liability to them, chancing that someone would get injured in the dumpster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 Two of my brothers do it. I just can't quite bring myself to--my brain knows the food is OK, my gut just can't take it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 I don't, but I very much appreciate the stuff my aunt finds at the tip (dump) for me. A brand new tent, a wooden toy oven, two sets of drawers... After two pregnancies, my gag reflex is too touchy for me to go to the tip myself, but I call her with lists of things. :) Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomtoCandJ Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 We usually get second dibs on whatever comes into our local dump station, if Mr. Spikes (they guy who keeps an eye on things) doesn't need/want it, and his brother in-law (who is dd's Georgia papa) doesn't need it but he knows we do he will bring it home for us :) or Mr. Spikes will let us get it out if we make it there before Mr. Edd. The latest bring home was a 27 inch RCA tv that had absolutely nothing wrong with it besides it wasn't the latest and greatest and needed a converter box to get free tv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad 4 Boys Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 www.dumpsterworld.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionfamily1999 Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 Wow. I've heard the "joke" that the US is the only place in the world where our homeless are actually overweight. Seeing this, I can understand why. I have to say, she's eating better than we are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mermaid Mama Posted March 17, 2010 Author Share Posted March 17, 2010 No, and honestly I would rather work an hour and have the $20 to buy my groceries than spend the hour digging in garbage for them. But the ORGANIC groceries this woman was getting would have cost a whole lot more than $20. That's why I thought it was so interesting. It was ORGANIC FOOD!!! Blows my mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mermaid Mama Posted March 17, 2010 Author Share Posted March 17, 2010 www.dumpsterworld.com Cool..... I'm off to the park with the boy but will check this out when he naps. Thanks for the link. I'm just one of those people who hates waste and I'm very frugal. Even if I won the lottery I would still shop at thrift stores. I love getting $100+ jeans for $3.50. I even pick up good stuff on the side of the road for my friends who are professional yard sellers. I hate to see it end up in a land fill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted January 27, 2023 Share Posted January 27, 2023 Weird zombie thread. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gstharr Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 I'm not a diver, but I regularly do a curb crawl through the apartment area of my town. When my 12th grader was 6-8 y.o, he had fleet of naybe 10 Mattel Power Wheels that were curb finds. Almost all of these $400 electric rides just needed a $30 battery. As for me, there is artwork and furniture from curb finds around the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.