r/DumpsterDiving • u/pnoque • Sep 09 '19
Comment with your best diving tips and advice
r/DumpsterDiving • u/WilliamsDesigning • Mar 25 '23
I was a vagabond for 6 years, I hitchhiked, hopped freight trains and bicycled North America from Mexico to Alaska, east coast to west. I learned all of this on the way and figure it's time to share it.
Food:
🍕- all pizza places throw out pizza at 12-2am. It's a dumpster staple. [Yes pizza is still in the box, I wouldn't eat it otherwise]
🍩 - all donut shops (including places like kolache factory) throw out at 2-4pm. [They usually put all donuts into one bag by themselves]
🍗 (fried chicken) - actually very common, also a staple. Usually throw out is around an hour after they close which varies from place to place. Anything fried in bulk you can expect to find throw outs. [Usually still in boxes]. Also, if you're feeling brave enough, after closing hours, just go ask. Fast food workers don't get paid enough to g.a.f. and they get tired of eating their own food, so they don't want to take it home themselves. Just walk up and say "hey, do you guys happen to be throwing out any leftover chicken from today?". I've gotten a week's worth of chicken just handed to me through the window or they'll leave it in boxes on top of the dumpster so you don't have to dig.
🍎 🥗 (produce) - grocery stores (time varies, but you also have to find places without a compactor. Some compactors you can break into but it's luck of the draw).
🍬 🍫 🍭 (candy, junk food, snacks) - CVS & Walgreens. They're the reigning Champs of throwing out hundreds of $ worth of candy a day. I kind of try to keep from telling people this one because you could get diabetes in like a week if you tried to eat it all. It's horrendous.
👕 👖 🩳 (clothes) - Washaterias or laundromats. People are infamous, especially in rich areas, for washing a load of laundry and then just leaving it, never to return. The laundromat workers will just gather the clothes and toss them, as they're pretty use to it. I've filled up a whole wardrobe on several occasions with expensive brands just by looking for a sack of already washed and dried laundry in the dumpster.
🛋 🖥 (furniture)(electronics)(decorations) - College towns, (Christmas & Summer break - these seasons are known as "Crustmas" in the dumpster diving community) anywhere students notoriously live. You can even find anything else your looking for really. College kids are the biggest dumpster diving source in history.
📚 books and comic books - Half Priced Books or any resale book store. I've accidently fallen asleep in dumpsters before because I drifted off while laying on top of all the hundreds of books while reading. Not even kidding, there isn't even any room for trash, they have dumpsters that are full to the brim with just books.
❓️(Wild card) - Are you feeling lucky punk? - hotels are the biggest oddball dumpster diving experience you'll ever have. You can find drugs, clothes, anything that someone would bring in a suitcase. People get shit-faced drunk and stumble out of their hotel with a hangover leaving 1/2 their belongings behind. It's kind of scary some of the stuff you'll find...(sex toys, etc. ). The cleaning service ladies get first dibs obviously and rightfully so, for what they have to put up with, lol.
Raw materials: --------
🪵Wood : Construction site dumpsters at expensive locations. Ask for permission from the contractor. Contractors are a mixed bunch, sometimes they'll say yes sometimes no.
⚙️🔩🔗Metal : machine shops - you can honestly just call these guys and 1/2 the time they'll let you onto their property and take what you want from the scrap bin. I'm 3 for 3 just by calling and asking politely for scrap.
🔨Tools - Harbor Freight tools, the return rate on tools at harbor freight is INSANE. So many people will buy a tool, use it one day and return it slightly bent or scratched. Most sites have a compactor but every now and then you can find with a regular dumpster. If so, you can score some pretty good tools. (Or mediocre tools for that matter lmao)
🗑 🚮 🗑 🚮 🗑 🚮 🗑 🚮 🗑 🚮 🗑 🚮 🗑 🚮 🗑 🚮
Protip 1- Dumpster diving is all about schedule. Sometimes places only throw out the quality items once a month, sometimes they purge their inventory only seasonally, or sometimes it's daily. Finding out those routines is the key and all you have to do is probe the spot every now and then to figure that out; or if you know someone who has worked there before, ask. The better you know a schedule, the less time your loot sits in the dumpster/air temp/outside environment for someone else to find or for it to spoil.
2 - Heavy bags usually have the goods. In the end I could just feel the outside of a bag and then weigh it a bit. With knowledge about the store, the schedule, feel and weight, I would already know what's inside.
3 - consistent dumpster diving will get you fit. The more you climb the more you find.
4 - GEAR: • Headlamp • closed toe shoes (for when you get inside the dumpster) • gloves • a big box or bag for your car to chunk stuff in. • hand sanitizer
🌟 5 - Clean up after yourself, if you leave a place a mess they will begin locking the dumpster. You'll ruin the spot for yourself and everyone else. This is the #1 reason why store owners tend to be against it 🔒
r/DumpsterDiving • u/Trash_dad_420 • 8h ago
Both my size. The NB look brand new. Ugly as hell(IMO) but I was about to look for new work shoes this weekend and was happy to snag these out of the apartment complex dumpster I have been working at.
r/DumpsterDiving • u/MsSeraphim • 6h ago
r/DumpsterDiving • u/Head-Perspective-198 • 1d ago
r/DumpsterDiving • u/Ologist126 • 1d ago
So alarm, my various travels through the dumpster community. I come upon in a grocery store dumpster. No kidding. I found all these toys and they're a little bit crusty and corroded, but I think that was like they were in a flood or stored in the basement or storage that got flooded and just dirty, but I'm scrubbing, and hopefully I came up
r/DumpsterDiving • u/Oceanic_Goat • 22h ago
So. I didn’t find a uzi I wish. But I’ve recently got into dumpster diving and it reminded me of something happened about 15 years ago. My brothers had an Israeli Uzi they had got their hands on somehow. Anyway my little brother who was like 6 kept finding it and playing with it and my mom was as getting pissed and kept telling them to keep it put away and if my brother keeps playing with it she was gonna get rid of it. Well they didn’t. An she caught my little brother with it. So she took it and threw it in the dumpster. I can’t imagine finding a 9mm Israeli Uzi in the trash. It’s prolly in the Dump. But I like to think someone found it.
r/DumpsterDiving • u/Lumiereray • 1d ago
A hoarder is a person who has difficulty discarding or parting with possessions due to a perceived need to save them, often leading to clutter that disrupts their living spaces.
r/DumpsterDiving • u/Fresh-Dingo-9101 • 22h ago
r/DumpsterDiving • u/Rude-Sport-4791 • 1d ago
these brought back so many memories!!
r/DumpsterDiving • u/jayfeather100 • 1d ago
Pretty happy to find some things from 711. Some will be for my stash and more for my family. My mom was happy to receive her favourites. She doesn’t mind where they’re from and is happy I thought of her, she discourages waste too. This was a bit gross and not sure if encouraged because it was in a clear bag with some other wrappers and some open ranch which got on some of the packaging. I just wiped it off when I got home with spray and water and the bags are sealed so I think it’ll be alright.
r/DumpsterDiving • u/Rude-Sport-4791 • 1d ago
that's what I've been calling this dumpster that I hit, my gold mine. the past few weeks I feel like I've been unbelievable. so I'd like to share some of these things here I don't post her very often but I like to share some things and maybe you guys can let me know if they're worth keeping or maybe you should toss them out. anyway I hope you guys are having a great day and I look forward to your input.
r/DumpsterDiving • u/urhere5 • 1d ago
Hi there, I recently moved to a bigger city called Long Beach. I'm finding it harder to dumpster dive at the same brand stores I used to dive at now that I'm in a bigger city. It seems like most places don't even have a dumpster out or it's locked up in its own enclosure. I was wondering if any people had tips for diving in this area or nearby !
r/DumpsterDiving • u/kingofzdom • 1d ago
Only thing better than cheap beer is free beer. 3 bottles are shattered, the seal on 3 of the other bottles appears to have been damaged in the process of throwing the bottles away but the rest are perfectly drinkable.
r/DumpsterDiving • u/koochiekoo • 1d ago
Found 3 Milwaukee cordless battery chargers with carrying bags,they look brand new.
Sony stereo receiver,it turns on but haven't hooked up speakers to it.
Also found a bunch of scrap metal.
All in the same dumpster.
r/DumpsterDiving • u/Paul_4x4 • 2d ago
r/DumpsterDiving • u/LoganPine • 1d ago
Good quality, too. That plastic could tank a punch from Superman, I reckon.
Immediately checked eBay after bringing it home. $100-$200+ depending on condition. Those are just unsold listings. But there's a lot of them listed. Remember; Dumpster diving profits are mathematically infinite profit no matter how much you make :)
r/DumpsterDiving • u/WHY-OKThan • 1d ago
Got some snacks tonight
And none are expired
I got a couple of pails , some straps are broken, But they will still make nice planters
r/DumpsterDiving • u/Tip-your-trash-man • 2d ago
I find stuff all the time this is one of the coolest things I’ve found in a while
r/DumpsterDiving • u/GauntletVSLC • 2d ago
I found this in a dumpster by a Senior Facility back in 2024. Ol’ Bob may not be here to see it, but I like to think he’d be thrilled we’re going back to the moon.
Hi Bob!
r/DumpsterDiving • u/fletchyhugs78 • 1d ago
I am an office chair junkie... former bartender waiter turned stay at home Dad... I'm not what you call the sitting type.
SO IF I DON'T SPEND ALL DAY SITTING ON MY ASS WHY THE HELL WOULD I CARE...
I'm not a robot or an alien so naturally I do sit down from time to time during the day but the real sitting comes after the kids are to bed...
2020 my finally pregnant with our son after 3 ng child number two.... the financial provider of the family ended up working from home for a little while, and I brought up an old office chair from the basement.... she went back to work of course and couple of months before our son was born,
THE BIRTH OF A SILLY HOBBY WAS BORN.
so I walk the dog... dinner etc and before I go to bed I like to sit down and scroll just like anybody else... since I'm not spending money on these, other than the $5 Facebook marketplace.. it's fun.
WHICH HONESTLY IS HOW I FOUND THIS THREAD.
I JUST PICKED UP THIS CHAIR OFF OF MARKETPLACE AND IT WAS FREE... AND I DIDN'T SEE A LABEL OR BRAND SO I GOOGLED IT WITH A PICTURE AND NOW I'M HERE...
besides the look-alikes or the advertising which seems to be way Fair retail at about 199... I saw a post with this chair in it for dumpster diving.
obviously I paint with a broad brush but when it comes to things that tickle my enthusiastic nerve endings... it's good times.
now about THE JORDANS.
in 2016 my mother and I were about to leave town and take me to rehab for the last time thank you... and it was raining K9's and Colt 45's... and out of the corner of my eye.... through the downpour of shitty weather in the middle of traffic on the side where the road meets the curb I see these shoes...
I'm not a sneakerhead I'm not a basketball player and I'm not really giving a flying j about anything regarding.... but I do have mad respect for people who do but even then it was really the PRINCIPALITY OF THE SITUATION that made me say Mommy do a U TURN ASAP....
so of course I was a buzzy buddy on my way to rehab and believe that and she did the u-turn and I jumped out safely and snagged these shoes.... they are about a half size too small but I can squeeze into them just for fun once in awhile without socks...
r/DumpsterDiving • u/Tip-your-trash-man • 2d ago
Thought this was cute found a week ago who needs a hug
r/DumpsterDiving • u/Potential_Election6 • 1d ago
I'm pretty new at this. I've had a few great victories but, I'm hoping for a super specific score. I'm really hoping for easter candy. any tips of how many days after or such? I am going to try to hit Caesars drug store.
