# Any other dumpster divers / pickers here? What did you find today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 15, 2012, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dumpster-divers-pickers-here-what-did-you-find-today/634828 "2012-09-15T23:18:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cynyc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@cynyc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cynyc)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dumpster-divers-pickers-here-what-did-you-find-today/634828/1 "2012-09-15T23:18:35Z")
I saw that show “Pickers” for the first time this morning. I was like “Wow. That is my life! That is my home.” (And they call us hoarders.) But I don’t have to leave my building. There was a Drop Everything throw out a little while ago–so far I’m up a 14K Movado watch; very vintage Christmas lights; a fruit basket that may or may not be sterling; a sterling chain; and some Lionel train tracks and stuff. I told my trainee, who I knighted as an honorary picker today, “the good stuff–like gold, is always at the very bottom of the bag.” I should care what the neighbors think.😉 ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dumpster-divers-pickers-here-what-did-you-find-today/634828/2 "2012-09-16T01:06:13Z")
went through dumpsters all the time as a kid. Made a lot of money. don’t do it now. ---
**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dumpster-divers-pickers-here-what-did-you-find-today/634828/3 "2012-09-16T02:13:19Z")
I don’t go through Dumpsters themselves, but I walk around the neighborhood the day before trash pickup and collect discarded electronics (either set out by themselves or on top of the trash in a can; I don’t dig through anything); last week I got a boombox and the week before two computers (Pentium 2 and Pentium 4); I take them for the electronic components inside so I don’t care if they work or not (for larger stuff, I return the case after removing the guts). I have been doing this for a majority of my life, since before I was 10 years old. Occasionally I’ll find things that are obviously unusual or rare, like the giant antique VCR from the late 1970s with analog controls (like a tape recorder, with turn-knobs for channels, I must have taken a thousand parts from that alone, including hundreds of transistors) and even vacuum-tube based electronics (yes, I will use tubes if I collect enough, including spares, to make something with them), although it has been a couple years since I found anything with tubes. I sometimes do keep something, like a computer (completely functional except for a missing front cover - including the OS/hard drive, which wasn’t wiped - oops, not that I’d use any information for nefarious purposes, although most computers have them removed) that I saved to use with a chip programmer, as well as the enclosures from various stuff for my own use. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dumpster-divers-pickers-here-what-did-you-find-today/634828/4 "2012-09-16T02:20:50Z")
My wife and I used to get periodicals (magazines, mostly) from the recycling bins. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dumpster-divers-pickers-here-what-did-you-find-today/634828/5 "2012-09-16T03:22:56Z")
remember not to make a mess. don’t smash stuff you don’t want, leave it for others. reuse, recycle, repurpose. ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dumpster-divers-pickers-here-what-did-you-find-today/634828/6 "2012-09-16T03:35:31Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > My wife and I used to get periodicals (magazines, mostly) from the recycling bins. Yep. At some train stations around here, there are piles of perfectly good New York Times crosswords lying around! ---
**Author:** ![cynyc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@cynyc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cynyc)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dumpster-divers-pickers-here-what-did-you-find-today/634828/7 "2012-09-16T04:07:07Z")
I did also leave with a New York mag for the puzzle. 🙂 This is an estate throw-out. I hate to say it but when I see that type of throw out it I do go to the bottom of the bag, because that’s were the literal gold is, if any. I learned that on my own. And yes I hit the gold this evening. Never ever confuse an estate throw out with a bed bug throw out. But bed bug throw-outs are usually like IKEA anyway. If I see IKEA I just turn around and look for a book to read or a crossword puzzle. Since I have those Lionel tracks and stuff I’m doing hourly checks for the trains. 🙂 This is not for the vain. Vanity went out the window about ten years ago but that’s another story. There are 5 vintage cable boxes out there but I don’t see a market. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dumpster-divers-pickers-here-what-did-you-find-today/634828/8 "2012-09-16T04:29:30Z")
\<\<\< Me is a dumpster diver. Back when I was living in my car, I used to wait until the restraunts closed and tossed the food away. I wasn’t the only one waiting for dinner. One of my fellow homeless friends told me to call KFC and ask for some double fried chicken around closing time because they couldn’t sell it the next day. I didn’t do that, it felt like stealing, so we would wait for my friend to grab the food and then we (cat and me) would snarf it down happily. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dumpster-divers-pickers-here-what-did-you-find-today/634828/9 "2012-09-16T05:24:00Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > Back when I was living in my car, I used to wait until the restraunts closed and tossed the food away. I wasn’t the only one waiting for dinner. Seems that a great many stores, markets, and any other places with dumpsters these days now keep their dumpsters padlocked shut. Probably worried about liability – someone could get sick. Better to let the homeless people starve, at least that way it’s not the stores’ problem. [EVIL anecdote!]Most supermarkets around here sell whole hot baked chickens. I went shopping for something-or-other on the evening before Thanksgiving a couple of years ago. The store was about to close soon. A worker was collecting the remaining baked chickens and putting them all into a shopping cart. She was taking the cardboard hand-carriers off of them, folding those up, and setting them aside. So I asked her why she was doing that. She said: They save those cardboard hand-carriers to re-use them the next day. But they throw the chickens out. There were about a DOZEN hot baked chickens there, they were going to toss in the dumpster! I exclaimed: You could feed a lot of homeless people (and there are plenty around here) if you would donate that to a homeless shelter or some such place! She answered: Somewhere, sometime, someone got sick eating one of those because it hadn’t been refrigerated right, so somebody sued somebody. Can’t risk that! Too much trouble to refrigerate those chickens right, and too much trouble (or too expensive) for some homeless charity to drive around with a refrigerator truck to pick up the leftover chickens. So – out to the dumpster with them! Something like this happens every evening, I suppose – not just on the day before Thanksgiving! This is a crime against humanity.[/EVIL anecdote!] ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dumpster-divers-pickers-here-what-did-you-find-today/634828/10 "2012-09-16T12:53:58Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > She answered: Somewhere, sometime, someone got sick eating one of those because it hadn’t been refrigerated right, so somebody sued somebody. Can’t risk that! Too much trouble to refrigerate those chickens right, and too much trouble (or too expensive) for some homeless charity to drive around with a refrigerator truck to pick up the leftover chickens. So – out to the dumpster with them! Some states have laws specifically to protect stores/restaurants/etc against this type of lawsuit. Florida passed (expanded on?) a law on 2008. It’s apparently helped increase food donations quite a bit. ([Link](http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-07-09/news/fl-food-rescue-20110709_1_soup-kitchens-leftover-food-feeding-south-florida)). -D/a ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dumpster-divers-pickers-here-what-did-you-find-today/634828/11 "2012-09-16T14:57:50Z")
In may area, it’s completely normal to leave stuff you don’t want out on the front wall for a day before chucking it. I’ve had some great stuff that way, books, furniture. I’ve only tried it for food a few times- the local supermarket has taken to marking all fruit and vegetables down to something like 5-15 pence around 8pm, so I generally try and time it right and get that instead. Incidently, my ex-boss- who was horrible anyway, used to tell us to jump on food items before dumping them, just so people couldn’t eat them. We also had to pour all the milk down the drain when it was at the date, and then _buy milk for the staff room._ There was a daily bakery section as well, and he wouldn’t even let us sell anything from there off cheap, anything unsold was supposed to be thrown out, under threat of firing. Fortunately, he didn’t do the late shift, and the security guard was of the same opinion about that as the rest of the staff… plus he knew exactly where the CCTV dead spots where. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dumpster-divers-pickers-here-what-did-you-find-today/634828/12 "2012-09-16T16:28:42Z")
::Snip:: Fortunately, he didn’t do the late shift, and the security guard was of the same opinion about that as the rest of the staff… plus he knew exactly where the CCTV dead spots where. [/QUOTE] ::/Snip:: GOOD for him. Any YOU of course! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dumpster-divers-pickers-here-what-did-you-find-today/634828/13 "2012-09-16T17:09:49Z")
How do you know where and when to pick? I always assumed if I went dumpster diving all I’d find are a bunch of broken pieces of furniture and electronics, at best. ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dumpster-divers-pickers-here-what-did-you-find-today/634828/14 "2012-09-16T18:35:03Z")
I get to do a lot of early morning dumpster checking in student areas. I recently found a very nice, solid little teak table. About right for the bedside, but I use it as a mini-desk for my laptop when I work at home. Someone on my paper route–I picture her as a tiny Asian student based on her clothing choices, brands and sizes–leaves big bags of clothes and shoes out every couple of months. They’re a perfect fit for my daughter, who has never ever owned a store-bought high-end brand name ANYthing. She’s gotten practically a whole wardrobe, including a couple of gorgeous coats. Recently found two coffeemakers, toaster, and blender. Most of it went to my son. The same person threw out a gym bag full of purses–among them were two Coach purses, along with several other name-brand types. I can’t even remember how many, many blankets and quilts I find every year. And bicycles! I just bought a Ford Escape, which means I can be Bicycle Rescue Woman! I love curb shopping. 🙂 Wesley, I have the best luck around move-out time near the off-campus apartments. On-campus probably would be even better, but I don’t get down there much. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dumpster-divers-pickers-here-what-did-you-find-today/634828/15 "2012-09-16T18:49:18Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > remember not to make a mess. > > don’t smash stuff you don’t want, leave it for others. > > reuse, recycle, repurpose. this. huzzah! ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dumpster-divers-pickers-here-what-did-you-find-today/634828/16 "2012-09-16T20:49:39Z")
> [@papergirl](#): > > Wesley, I have the best luck around move-out time near the off-campus apartments. On-campus probably would be even better, but I don’t get down there much. that reminds me, back in college my roommate and I got in on some of that. He got a chair, we got a shelf system, a lamp and a few other things. I found a mini fridge but didn’t have my car at the time to bring it back. ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dumpster-divers-pickers-here-what-did-you-find-today/634828/17 "2012-09-16T21:06:17Z")
I’m keeping my eyes open for a minifridge, a microwave, and a few other goodies. I used to find 12-15 coats every year, but when the recession hit that dwindled. Now I’m finding a few, so I guess people feel safer financially. ---
**Author:** ![cynyc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@cynyc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cynyc)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dumpster-divers-pickers-here-what-did-you-find-today/634828/18 "2012-09-16T23:59:45Z")
I have a whole 30 secs to myself. This turned into a different story. Very fast forward verily: Disposer of said items is a Vietnam veteran. When I found that out I tried to return the Movado. He didn’t want it. But, awwwww, he was a Vet. Got to run. Oh, I never leave a mess. In fact I leave it better than when I found it. Gotta run, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![NadaHappyCamper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/278dde/32.png) [@NadaHappyCamper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NadaHappyCamper)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dumpster-divers-pickers-here-what-did-you-find-today/634828/19 "2012-09-17T00:24:18Z")
The most valuable,and expensive thing i ever received from climbing around a dumpster was 4 broken ribs and a partially collapsed lung.Won’t do that again any time soon.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![cynyc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@cynyc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cynyc)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dumpster-divers-pickers-here-what-did-you-find-today/634828/20 "2012-09-17T22:39:57Z")
I have never been in a dumpster. Just saying. You gotta get there before it hits the dumpster–less scratches and shit. 😉 > [@NadaHappyCamper](#): > > The most valuable,and expensive thing i ever received from climbing around a dumpster was 4 broken ribs and a partially collapsed lung.Won’t do that again any time soon.:smack: