How to Dumpster Dive

my question is, why is it illegal? that doesn't make any sense to me. if I throw it away, that means i don't want it anymore. how is it hurting me is someone comes along and takes what i didn't want anyway?!
the only experience i have with this is my mom went through a phase where she wanted to make mosaics and she would salvage things from the dumpsters of tile and flooring places. . . but, they didn't care, to them, those tiles were trash. my mom turned them into really pretty table tops and trays which she then gave to her co-workers and friends.

remember that techinically Dumpster Diving is illegal in many places....
...never stopped me tho... and just take a walk behind any shopping center and get an idea of the goods discarded by knowing the store fronts...
... its the best form of recycling one can participate in....
...be excellent in your dives...

Also be careful about enviornmental hazards when you're diving, a friend of mine was diving for set pieces for a play she was putting on in Savannah Georgia. Basically going through rubble and garbage of old buildings being taken down- old buildings have old paint, and old paint has delicious lead. Long story short, she got a near lethal dose of lead poisoning. Be careful out there.

It is illegal because the government is protecting you and the person or business you are removing these items from. They don't want you to get hurt. They don't want you to sue the person/business for causing a situation in which you became hurt.

Thanks government ;-)

Unfortunatly the laws are there because there is a popular scam to get hurt while dumpster diving then sue the dumpster owner and courts rule in favor of the person getting hurt always. Then you have theft be store employees who "accidently" throw things away so they can get them out of the dumpster when their shift ends. Most bigger stores replaced their sumpsters with compactors so everything gets squashed.

There's another origin for laws making dumpster diving, taking items waiting at the curbside for the garbage hauler, etc. illegal. In the counterculture era, many hippies trying to minimize working for The Man used this method to furnish apartments, and middle-class or upper-class neighborhoods where hippies roamed looking for free furniture passed laws against it, with the support of garbage haulers who often sold usable items on the side.

It's often illegal because if a person gets hurt while rummaging through your trash they can sue you for damages. Not surprising a person can break into your house and if they injure themselves then they can sue you as well. It's a sue happy society from women who burn themselves when they put a McDonald's coffee cup between their legs while driving or a guy who sits on a toilet seat and claims his million dollar penis is damaged.

The other issue with dumpster diving is mess caused by the divers. I've often seen garbage strewn around the dumpster after these expeditions, which then gets blown around. Of course, I'm sure most "professional" dumpster divers don't do this as it would be an affront to the craft and the motivations behind it :).

FYI I've seen people toss used needles in the garbage.

FYI I've seen people toss used needles in the garbage.

No one doubts that.

Dumpster diving is not illegal where I live - people just don't really want to have a lawsuit on injuries occuring during the act, or having to clean up garbage that's left.

I simply type up a small waiver, that the store owner/manager and I sign (with a witness of their choice) that states (in none to short terms) that any injuries or etc. that I occur during the act are of my own fault, and that I will replace the garbage back in the can. You'd be surprised how nice the people are about it when you tell them you just like to enjoy the hunt of DD.

Dumpster diving is also a VERY good way to recycle - why throw it away when it could be given to someone or used or even sold off to people at garage sales?

Yes, Dumpster Diving is aginst the law in most states,this is because of Identity theft laws.

Although most of the problem comes from many of the slobs that throw things all around and not pick up after themselves.

I agree with Aaron White, you would get a hole lot more cooperation if you had a paper signed by both partys agreeing on how it is to be done.

I also have found that the Police do not bother unless they are called out by the owner of the establishment because of the MESS that was made.

Yes, Dumpster Diving is aginst the law in most states,this is because of Identity theft laws.

Although most of the problem comes from many of the slobs that throw things all around and not pick up after themselves.

I agree with Aaron White, you would get a hole lot more cooperation if you had a paper signed by both partys agreeing on how it is to be done.

I also have found that the Police do not bother unless they are called out by the owner of the establishment because of the MESS that was made.

Please don't dumpster dive... While I agree one man's garbage is another's treasure and I love a good find as much as the next guy - theres so many reasons its dangerous - one to add to the list above is: beg bugs. And they don't just live in bedding!

While you may avoid this in the winter (especially if its below freezing - they die) in the summer they're rampant & becoming more of a problem in the US and Canada every year - and once you have these delightful little blood suckers its going to cost you a fortune to get rid of them.

Just a thought from someone whose been there.

You know, it's kind of funny. Durring the 80's my father was laid off from one of the big companies and if it wern't for having family that were in a better position sending us money just cause they wanted to help and friends that showed my mum about dumpster diving, we would have been homeless and starving. Now my sister are back at it cause it allows us to spend money on other things. We have our favorit grocery stores we go to. We do the back door shopping on Saturday nights then what we didn't find, we go front door shopping. Once I get my computer up and running again, I'm going to try the cans behind a couple of the local clothing stores an sell it on ebay or something. I do this for 3 basic reasons:

Dumpster diving saves me cash that can be better put to use helping my parents with their financial issus.

It can earn me some cash when I can sell the stuff I dont have someone to make use of cheap to people on ebay that might have to do with out if I don't.

last, it keeps good usable foodstuffs out of land fill where it would only rot and make greenhouse gas if I didn't nab it.

Other things to think of:

make sure that you find some way to share the wealth. It's a basic and universal law that what you put out comes back to you. Even if it's just finding a bundle of flowers in the back of a kroger you can clean up and give to brighten someone's day, share the rewards.

Also, what my sister and I do is we have a ratty old broom and a big industrial dust pan on one of those long sticks that we cart around with us in the back of the van to make it a bit easier to clean up when we are done.