Treasure from another person’s garbage. Tips and finds

A few weeks ago I wrote about how to give away stuff you don’t want anymore. The other side of that is finding free stuff. It can be fun and rewarding to go scavenging for treasure. You never know what you may come across. Currently, I stick to non-bagged residential “garbage.” Foraging for stuff behind stores, known as dumpster diving or skipping, is more involved.

Below are some reasons, tips and suggestions, as well as photos of recent finds.

Why pick up garbage? You can …

• find free stuff that you need.
• discover treasure.
• prevent useful things from being trucked to landfill or incinerators.
• find gifts for family, friends or strangers.
• give new life to an item that needs some simple fixing.
• rescue cans, bottles and papers that belong in recycling.

There is an excellent photo series at Instructibles called Dumpster Dipping (for a small planet or just for fun). The author describes it as:

“… 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, … It is also possible to undo your entire carbon footprint through the recycling of other people’s former stuff.”

Tips

• Go around your immediate neighbourhood. Nearby finds are easier to carry back.
• Garbage day offers the best selection, and the last chance to save stuff from landfill.
• Look for houses that are throwing away a large amount of stuff – after a Spring cleaning or someone moving out. The first of a month is a good time to find stuff left behind by former tenants.
• I don’t bother opening up bags, unless they are located beside a lot of nice unbagged items, and look like they may contain useful stuff.

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