I started 2 years ago checking dumpsters of retail stores, drug stores, and dollar stores. I got started by one day i stoped at CVS and before i left i went to throw out some stuff i had in the car. OMG! This is when i saw bottles unopened of shampoo, conditioning, cosmetics etc… I was shocked to see all this perfectly good stuff in the trash. So, I started checking it on a regular basis and I still do to this day. I sell what i can, donate some to the homeless. I have made up to $200 a day / $40 per day. I have taken a enjoyment to it, and the excitement of wondering what i may find is a rush!! Check it out in your area.
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I have always been intrigued by the idea but have always been to afraid to do it simply because I have always wondered if I would get in trouble for it.
Have you ever faced any problems when checking dumpsters? What has been your best find?
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I agree. I’m afraid it’s illegal and though it sounds like fun, I would be too embarrassed to be dumpster dive. I saw a man dumpster diving at my local Panera Bread while I was in line to get lunch. You could tell he was down on his luck. I suppose I’ll save that for those in dire need.
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I lived in a wealthy suburb of Indianapolis for a while that had a huge dumpster in the middle of the street due to home remediation. It was for construction debris, but lots of us used it to pitch garbage past our quota. Every family in the neighborhood had a “I found this in the dumpster” story. My brother Tim found a ceramic cooking dish that made heart-shaped cupcakes–saw something similar in the store a week later costing $35. As far as best find ever, my brother Dan found a fully functional keyboard. I personally haven’t dumpster dived since college, and whether or not you get in trouble depends on the business.
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Hi Lori, i am interested in doing that myself but like others have ask, have u ever encountered a problem? You mentioned a drug store, what other kind of businesses do you recommend? Pardon all the questions and thank you.
I’ve got friends who make a comfortable living dumpster diving and recycling they’ll never be millionaires but they put groceries on the table and pay their remt.
DBOOTHE, I have never done any dumpster diving. But I have read articles about it. It is absolutely NOT ILLEGAL! Once the item is in an outside dumpster, the store/company has relinquished the rights to it! The item(s) is/are considered salvage. And they are available to anyone!
But the articles have stressed leaving the dumpster in the same shape that you found it. The stores may spitefully destroy the merchandise if you leave the dumpster area in a messy state.
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City and county laws differ in some areas. Just check them to be sure.
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You need to check your local laws on the dumpster diving. If it is behind a fence or enclosed you aren’t allowed to get in that. It’s considered private property. If it’s open and your local laws don’t prohibit then it is not illegal. Once a store throws things away it is no one’s property at that time. Be respectful and if you can wait til store is closed then you should be ok.
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I would like to know the names of some stores that do this? This post is too vague…
I’m not a diver but ain’t scared to. I thought, I can buy a trailer for my e-bike and go to yard sales, maybe some dumpster diving. A cousin told me heat kills corona, to use a hair dryer and spray water on your face. I dreamt about dumpster diving at the college closing near by to make some cash. What’s the first thing I saw, you got it, a hair dryer!! I have it hanging and it works. Had to tell a feel good story 
about diving in a dumpster. I haven’t got sick but if I do got to try blasting and spraying the face with water to kill the virus. Hope it’s true.
We come from an area of small communities, which the towns will hold a clean up weekend. They will bring in 1/2 dz. or more of the biggest dumpsters and then people can bring their stuff in to get rid of. I’ve made out pretty good. Chain saws, mowers, bike, fishing poles, power tools, cameras, all kings of sporting equipment, and more than anything else vacuum sweepers. Of which if your handy with your hands most can be fixed like new. Example: Chain saw like new only needed a new spark plug, same for a new mower. Vacuums just needed cleaning out a pluged hose or a new belt. This list is endless what you will find, and what we do is hold a yard sale and most of it goes quick earning us more or less $1,000.00 bucks extra a year. Collage town dumpsters are a great dive towards the end of the year too. Been doing this for years because it’s just fun but now that more people are onto it you have to get out there early or the night before to score.
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@dennis.velez posted:
I’m not a diver but ain’t scared to. I thought, I can buy a trailer for my e-bike and go to yard sales, maybe some dumpster diving. A cousin told me heat kills corona, to use a hair dryer and spray water on your face. I dreamt about dumpster diving at the college closing near by to make some cash. What’s the first thing I saw, you got it, a hair dryer!! I have it hanging and it works. Had to tell a feel good story
Heat does NOT kill corona…that is a dangerous myth…people have been burned for no reason…do not pass that on…it is false
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UVA much hotter than nomal sunlight exposure…I read it the other day on FB of all places!~!
In our area, dumpster diving is illegal. Warning signs are posted, and dumpsters are locked. A young woman died while dumpster diving. I would not dumpster dive, simply because I don’t have to. Our area still has food banks and churches giving away food. Still, it can be lucrative. I coupon, so we have a lot of items, which we share with our children and family.
One of our first apartments had many community college students, we were renters too. There was a dumpster nearby us in this complex. At the end of the semesters when their moving day came we picked up rugs, a dresser, couch, dishes, silverware, pots and pans…etc…even window air conditioners. It was a lot of stuff the complex did not have to deal with in disposal.
Now in our house, we frequent a convenience store in a small strip plaza that has collective dumpsters, it has a sign posted to not use their dumpsters for personal dumping, we check it out whenever we go there. We have gotten plant stands, baskets, sturdy plastic bags that contained rice for the Asian restaurant (going to grow potatoes in them), end of sell by dated food still never opened, bird food, night stand, collapsible leaf round table, bookshelf, child’s metal table. But the best find was a ceramic tile table top next to a dumpster at a resort, It had 1 chipped tile, we went to the nearest hardware store, bought a hammer and chisel and removed the tiles, the table top would not fit in our rental car as it was. Had a friend’s husband cut some tiles, we mounted it on out dining room wall, just perfect.
@veronica they are NOT diving for used food. They are looking for new and reusable household items. Some people resell what they find. It is easy to judge when all your money is in your savings. Food banks only allow you to visit once per month and they give you 2-3 days of completely mismatched food that you can’t make meals out of. IDK if you think food banks are actually feeding anyone for entire month? Churches usually limit you to ONE visit total and still it is a box of mismatched food that covers a couple of DAYS. usually OLD OR EXPIRED. Be careful with tithing 10% every week and judging the rest of the people out in the world that can’t afford to feed their families. Not very Christian like. Donate a week’s worth of groceries to a few struggling families!
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Leslie Kay. We tithe as we are Christians. Not judging. We give to a people in our family and friends. We share with our neighbor. Maybe your bias is showing. I didn’t condemn dumpster diving.
My husband used to go out when certain areas near us had bulk garbage pickup and get some items. We got bunk beds for our kids (not mattresses, just the wood parts), computers, lawn furniture and a small pool table and many other items. We got 2 drop leaf tables for a kitchen that needed refinishing - I kept one and my son has the other one in his apartment. We also got chairs for the tables. He never left a mess of the other items in the people’s pile of discards. It is illegal, at least in our area, to dispose of your personal items in dumpsters of a business. It is considered theft of services, because businesses pay for collection. Some of the items that we picked up, we used for a while and then sold at a yard sale. There is absolutely no shame in picking up people’s discards - it is better that someone else can use the items than they all go in landfills.
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