first dumpster dive this month

I consider myself a Freegan, among other things. Freeganism is basically economic veganism, its a method of challenging capitalism by the efforts to consume and buy as little as possible. Its the idea of reuse, reduce and recycle to the extreme in order to improve the social, economic, animal and environmental state of the world. and this involves, among many many things, living off the 'waste' or byproducts of the system. which involves dumpster diving or urban foraging in order to obtain food, clothing, household item, luxuries and enything else you can think of. so every thursday night a few of my friends and i go diving around the town, hitting up places such as grocery store and thrift store dumpsters. don't be fooled, if you know where to look, you can find 100% suitable, clean and useful items including food.tonight was the first dive i participated in this month. this is what we found:
from 2 grocery stores-
-about 7 pre-made lunch meat sub sandwiches, packaged and unopened. before the expirateion date
-1 unopened package of blackberries with a few bruises
-3 unopened celophaned watermelon halves
-1 sack of red potatoes
-about 3 unopened containers of fresh fried chicken, not yet expired.
-fresh pears, apples, green peppers, oranges, grapfruits
-3 unopened plastic containers of organic spinach
-1 opened package of easter assortment candies
-several packages of basil
-1 unopened package of prepared salad
-2 onions
-1 avocado
-a really cool scarf
from a dollar store-
-several cans of air freshener
-an unopened box of cookies (expired but edible)
-several shelves
-sunglasses
-4 boxes of slighty damaged tissues
-3 boxescrayons
-a picture-frame mirror, still in the wrapper
-easter wrapping paper
-plastic buckets
-tape
from a thrift store-( we thound several dozen of each item but took only a few things, there must have been a whole household full of goodies)
-about 10 belts
-2 pairs of shoes
-an old camera
-a box of Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Magic cards
-several luggage bags
-a few purses
-an air-tight jar
-3 champagne glasses
-2 mugs
- old magazines (for collages)
-sunglasses
-reading lamp
-spoons and knives
-2 unopened candles in jars
-a typewriter (to sell on e-bay)
-a pillowcase
Freegan.info

I admire those kind of things. I'm vegan right now but it would be way hard for me to even try freegan. I've never even heard of it till now.

you dont have to be freegan 100% of the time.

i run a landscaping company and have to put up with that crap all the time. you know that is actually illegal right? the ppl that do it where i see it always make messes for me to clean up. with that being said, i love watermelon.

^^^^^WRONG! unless the dumpster is locked or marked 'no trespassing' it is 100% legal. dont' be fooled, its legal, I assure you that i have indeed investigated this.
and a rule of thumb my group goes by is to never leave a mess. what you are dealing with is irresponsible, sloppy scavengers.

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Originally Posted by Billionfold

Eh...

Yeah I'd totally be snappin' pictures if I caught someone in the act of dumpster diving.

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lol so true

haha this is funny. There was a kid in my school that was really poor. His name was Homer. Him and his family would ride around town in a 80s chrysler minivan with a busted out back window repaired with trashbags and tape. They would make a stop at (i swear) like 35 dumpsters around town picking things out of trash. He wore a dallas cowboys shirt for like 4 years.

There aint nothing wrong with a good Dumpster dive,Hell I've found some really nice stuff in the trash...

$3640 Cash...Thank you,not so attentive Harvard Student!!
Many sacks of stash,U.of Colo,Boulder,U.C.,Santa Cruz U.of O Eugene.
Bongs,Pipes,Papers ect
1964 Plymouth Fury,Keys,Regie,Title taped to windshield with this note" If you can make it run,it's yours" 35 bucks later I had a running car!!

Thanks All, The Figment,Freegan Extrodanaire!!!!

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Originally Posted by BizzleLuvin

^^^^^WRONG! unless the dumpster is locked or marked 'no trespassing' it is 100% legal. dont' be fooled, its legal, I assure you that i have indeed investigated this.
and a rule of thumb my group goes by is to never leave a mess. what you are dealing with is irresponsible, sloppy scavengers.

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No Muss,No Fuss!! Good Job!

One more thing...The Student Moving season is almost apon us,Last two weeks of May,At your nearest State Uni.!!

Yeah, I had heard that at most universitys at the beggining of summer you could find alot of paraphenailia in their dumpsters and other goodies, I have thought about dumpster diving. One of my freinds went dumpster diving at a best buy, found 11 ipods, he sold them all on ebay

my aunt carolyne owns a mini storage and when people dont pay after a month your allowed to go into their storages and raid it. Man ive found some kick ass stuff in there. Like cd's, furniture, all kind of stuff.

that's like...I donno. I always see the bums digging in the trash in our town...do you have a job? cause it sounds like you're trying to do something cool and all, but you might be a bit better buying the food..like clean or whatever. that's what most people do.

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Originally Posted by rebgirl420

my aunt carolyne owns a mini storage and when people dont pay after a month your allowed to go into their storages and raid it. Man ive found some kick ass stuff in there. Like cd's, furniture, all kind of stuff.

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a lot different than digging in the garbage though...that's for sure. some people probably have cool shit in storage.

oh yeah, I wouldnt dumpster dive...Im not an enemy of capitalism.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BizzleLuvin

^^^^^WRONG! unless the dumpster is locked or marked 'no trespassing' it is 100% legal. dont' be fooled, its legal, I assure you that i have indeed investigated this.
and a rule of thumb my group goes by is to never leave a mess. what you are dealing with is irresponsible, sloppy scavengers.

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It's legal to go in a dumpster because it's owned by the state.

If you are caught trespassing, that's another story.

My apartment is about 80% full of used stuff. I currently live in a nice sized college town. I moved in when most of the students were moving out for the summer, i found some nice shit.

I plan on gaining all new furniture next semester and giving my current stuff to the good will. i wouldn't dive for food though, but thats just from idealism.:)

In the 'burbs, you could find really nice couches, and tables those rich folk want to throw away. Why buy a new couch, when you get an equally nice one for free if you look.

Climbing into a RUBBISH BIN and TAKING FOOD that, i assume, YOU WILL EAT. That's some repugnant shit dude.

I've always wanted to go diving. What's keeping me from doing it is a fear of not being able to get out of the dumpster. I know its irrational, but it still freaks me out. Last year after spring semester was over my friend found a really nice floor lamp. I think I might go with him this year and check the whole thing out.

I don't see the harm in dumpster diving for old couches, furniture and stuff. That's how I got my first couch was outside a dumpster. Took it home, got it steamcleaned, and it was like new! My buddy is a welder, and he found 3 old BBQ's outside a place once. He took them home, fused the 3 to make one, and he had pretty much a new BBQ.

But food? No way! It's in the garbage for a reason, and even though it might be wrapped up still, it's still in the garbage, sourrounded by bacteria of other rotting things. That's nasty, very nasty.

Food and furniture at least you can wash and have cleaned, but food, bacteria dives itself into that food (wrapped up too) and I don't want to risk getting ill to save $2.99 on a watermelon.

I got a bunch of HPS250 lights that way, no bulbs, so I just went and asked the construction crew where they were and they happily handed them over to me... 6 of them... all wrapped up, and they would have had to pay to dispose of them! wOOt.

I don't desire material possesions enough to dive in dumpsters. I totally support your efforts though, whatever makes you happy (obviously without causing mindless suffering to others)

Where I come from, we call that poor.

And yes, now that you gave it a pretty name like freegan, I will be all over it.

Bizzle is the shizzle. Never let anybody tell ya different. This girly knows how to survive.

edited to say: I'm reminded of Mad Max, or Waterworld.

I watched WW twice in a row. Is that problematic?

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Originally Posted by Mrs. Greenjeans

I watched WW twice in a row. Is that problematic?

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it was problematic that you watched it all the way through the first time... :eek: you weirdo

I kinda thought that too. Hey Therapy! (sung to the tune of the Gin Blossoms "Hey Jealousy")

i jsut realized that i've never told anyone outside my own close friends that i routinely raid dumpsters ,not even my own parents, i guess its a little embarrassing. but i have no qualms about telling everyone here.....

Bizzle, relax.

i just like busting your little girly balls sometimes. I love you dearly, you seriously political hemp baby.

hey bizzle you shouldnt be embarrased
fuck what everyone thinks
i got a job and i got cash
but i like the idea of what you are doing

it must be kind of fun to see what you are going to get

the food situation is good to know for when i become homeless
im going to eat like a king

Here's what it is Bizzy baby, what you're doing is what I've done all my life, but I didn't have a PC reason for doing it.

I was just broke and did what I had to do.

So I get the giggles when I read your post.

But (and this is important) it BY NO MEANS DISCREDITS YOUR MISSION.

I believe in you.

ooooh I just pushed you over da edge! green candy! mmmmmmm
i liked greenjeans response ^^^

thanks guys, for the support. i get bent out of shape when folks dont agree with me.i dont have a job here, but the unversity supplies me with everything i need....and more. a universal freegan slogan is 'tithe what you dive', meaning 'donate what you find'. i can eat several time a day from the cafeteria and i ahve pretty much all that i need, so a lot of what is found goes to the local Food Not Bombs organization and to Freecycle or various campus goods trading networks. yeah, diving can be messy but its mostly good fun with a cause.

But the fucked up part of dumpster diving is many cities are passing laws against taking and using what other's throw away! Talk about asinine!

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Originally Posted by Mrs. Greenjeans

I watched WW twice in a row. Is that problematic?

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I love that movie! Also me and some freinds are gonna probably start dumster diving

idk, seems kind of scuzzy to me, but hell, to each his own.

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Originally Posted by ValkyrieAg

haha this is funny. There was a kid in my school that was really poor. His name was Homer. Him and his family would ride around town in a 80s chrysler minivan with a busted out back window repaired with trashbags and tape. They would make a stop at (i swear) like 35 dumpsters around town picking things out of trash. He wore a dallas cowboys shirt for like 4 years.

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Thats funny huh ?
Your fukd up man . I hope you get to live long enuf to live in Homers shoes for a day . Good lookin out for others B/L .
Crispi :jointsmile:

Come out by me and you will def get a huge bag of day old bread and rolls... the supermarket used to donate it every night but the foodbanks are now refusing it,,,so it goes in the can,,,these are the baked breads 3 and 4$ a pop...

Good on you, just be careful with food. They could have thrown it out due to contamination.

I've raided dumpsters behind art stores and print shops before. Lots of really bitchen things in those nearly every time. Huge rolls of paper just waiting to be picked up...Quarter full tubes of paint, brushes, ink, you name it.

The best time to find other cool stuff is when a store goes out of business or something. Just beware of needles or glass. You wouldn't want to get that kind of surprise...

I'd be a bit skeptical about consuming the food though. I understand a lot of it is just discarded for no real reason other than maybe a few days until the printed expiration dates, but other times there may be another reason...

Man I really didn't mean to type that much. Oh well...

I'd try that once or twice, and if I liked it i'd do it again. But food? That's intense man. You always do intense shit.