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I never did this but that sounds like something I want to try one day, so where would I go do that. Is it legal?
Apartment complexes on a Friday/Saturday/Sunday. People moving out, can't fit something in their vehicle and leave it at the dumpster/compactor.
It's legal as long as you don't enter the dumpster/compactor, or don't disregard any "do not enter" signs.
When I lived in an apartment complex people would just leave them out there. I got some great wrought iron patio furniture, a shelf, mirror...if I had the time today I'd swing by an apartment complex just to see...but I've moved on.
Not exactly dumpster-diving but more like found left on the curb with the trash bins - I've scored a terra cotta chiminea, two wicker lawn chairs, a 5-foot-tall garden tuteur, and numerous other items. I've also heard that the garbage collectors up in Aspen really score with things that vacationers leave behind. Perks of the job!
My 80 year old brother owns a storage unit building and when people don't pay for a certain number of months and after he goes through the legal process; he empties the unit. He has furnished an entire room in their house from things left behind-right down to the fireplace. He gives stuff to his kids. He and his wife opened a used furniture type store in the office area of his old mechanic shop where they sell stuff left behind. It gives him a place to go everyday and adds about $50,000 each year to use for vacations etc. . ( he adds to the storage stuff by buying things for the store at an auction a couple times a month) Local churches send him people that need help, too; and he gives furniture etc to help them out. He throws a lot of stuff-especially clothes- in a big dumpster out by the road. Puts stuff he thinks someone might be able to use outside the dumpster on the ground and hopes someone who could use it picks it up. He threw out a couple units last weekend and while he was still in his store, he watched 6 people dumpster diving. He does not care if you take stuff-just don't leave a mess on the ground that he has to pick up.
Sleeping lofts used to be a big thing. I would pick up those up, as well as any other wood set out for trash collection (I always asked if in doubt!), take it apart, pull out the hardware and go from there. I made a lot of bookshelves, raised garden beds, compost bins . . .
Wood is now much more expensive, so I see fewer lofts and such, but I picked several sheets of plywood on the curb recently that were painted icky colors but still useable in projects.
And if anyone says anything about "trash picking," I just say, "Hey! I'm going green and recycling!"
Also, Freecycle, if you have one in your area is good, too. I've set out some of my extra projects (no room!) and they were gone in an hour, giving benefit to someone else.
The new fad is repurposing pallets and old wood. We occasionally have pallets out by the dumpster at my work, and people are itching to take them home. I don't get too many things out of the trash, but I occasionally see something with some parts I want. I will take something apart and keep the screws or a large flat piece of plastic or metal I can cut up and repair something else with later.
There was a small shield that protects the wheel on my mower. A rock or something broke the shield and dirt kept clogging up my mower wheel where it wouldn't turn. I grabbed a flat piece of plastic and cut it into the same shape as the old shield and fastened it on the mower. Problem solved. I also made some parts for my shopvac.
You should have set up a shop down the road and sold it all back to them....at triple the price of course.
So, if you get something for FREE, what would triple the price be?
Seriously though, when I did apartment maintenance I would find all kinds of stuff in the dumpsters and in empty apartments.
One thing I always looked for on Mondays was big bags of beer cans. People would even separate them out pretty well...I would collect them and other metal items in my pickup truck and twice each month run to the scrapper...I usually netted around $200 extra each run.
So I went by the dumpster after work the other day and found a Stihl BR 600 Backpack Leaf Blower. I got it to start a couple of times, but due to the torn fuel lines it died right away. I'm going to do a tune up on it this weekend, and hit up the local hardware stores and try and trade it in for a 2-stage snow blower.
I looked on Stihl's web site, and brand new they are $850, I've been looking on ebay and they are going for $300-$480 used.
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So, if you get something for FREE, what would triple the price be?
