Calling all dumpster diving friends

[sparks767]

Ok I live in eastern Kentucky close to Lexington and I need help I'm new to dumpster diving. Been a couple times and nothing always empty handed trips so I would love to hear from anyone that could help me or givw me advice. Would be great if anyone was from Kentucky but anyone from anywhere willing to help me would be greatly appreciated thank

 

[travelingheathen]

Empty handed? Holy dumpster gods! I've never left a sweet dumpster with nothing to show for it. Maybe dig a little deeper?
It'll be okay the smell washes off or fades... eventually.

 

[Shit Beetle]

I've only recently started diving for sustenance, but restaurants are a good place to start. There's an Italian place down the road that chucks out bags full of frozen garlic bread on the reg. Hotels are cool too, especially after about 1ish because they're chucking fruit and yogurt from the breakfast meal. I've heard good things about Starbucks and Subway in the evening; I've never been to one myself, but I guess that's like carb-central since Subway is always chucking bread and Starbucks throws away any unsold pastries at the end of the day.

If you're looking for shit to pawn, thrift stores will be your best bet. That's been my main focus of dumpster diving up until recently. Also, check in major grocery stores every day to see when the manager's specials start cropping up. I used to buy meat and produce on Thursdays from Meijer ALL THE TIME because Friday was when their next delivery came in so they were pricing shit to get it off the shelves ASAP. While I can't confirm this from firsthand experience, I suspect that anything they don't sell gets booted to the trash when they get their fresh shipment. By checking in each day for the manager's specials you can figure out which days they get fresh shipments and dumpster dive then. That or I'd imagine you could ask an employee when they get their shipments; just make up some bullshit about how you want to buy "only the freshest product" or something like that if you're worried about being sketched out (though those people really don't get paid enough to actually care).

I hope that helps!

 

[Crazy Hobo Johnny]

Wear gloves and use a poking stick. Any clothes in plastic bags inspect them very closely for any bed bugs and cockroaches. If you don't see any bugs, wash the clothes real good just in case.

Carry a backpack to carrying anything you find.

Apartments are great when residents are moving out at the end of the month especially spring and summer time. Colleges in neighborhoods are great after the school year at the end of May and early June. I've found so much in the area near UWM-University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. From laptops, furniture, backpacks, pens, paper, etc.

Grocery stores are another one and I'll include food vending machine companies.

Do respect the No Trespassing signs if observed and if the property is guarded by security and the security officer demands you vacate the property, leave peacefully and thank him (her).

Good Luck!

 

[Anagor]

Colleges in neighborhoods are great after the school year at the end of May and early June. I've found so much in the area near UWM-University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. From laptops, furniture, backpacks, pens, paper, etc.

Good for clothes and shoes as well. When the students are going back home (especially if they are from a foreign country far away, let's say in your case Europe or Asia or alike) they normally leave behind everything not really personally valueable to them. Space in suitcase(s) is limited so they would not squeeze lots of old clothes or shoes in it.

 

[Anagor]

Any clothes in plastic bags inspect them very closely for any bed bugs and cockroaches. If you don't see any bugs, wash the clothes real good just in case.

Yep.

Also, especially if you get clothes from charities' dumpsters, check for durability. There may be a reason they threw it away instead of selling it.

Once I found a pair of jeans my size in such a dumpster and I liked them. Had a few tiny rips here and there and the denim felt quite soft and thin, but I didn't mind.

Well, after two weeks of wear on the streets they were in tatters and I was lucky to find some replacement before they literally fell apart.

 

[saul]

Watchout for dirty needles and clothes infected with bed bugs

 

[Deleted member 20683]

Heck , watch out for anything sharp; wear sturdy shoes pants and gloves. You don’t know; there can be broken glass, all sorts of hazardous waste!

 

[Deleted member 24029]

There's a bit of a slight contradiction between traveling and freeganism (diving/skipping), in so far as the best diving is going to arise from knowing the area well, i.e., what gets tossed where, and when. But everyone posting has mentioned very good techniques that can be applied anywhere on the road...

 

[roughdraft]

find out when the semesters end at local universities and go hammer. you're not incredibly far from quite a few - lexington and louisville i know have a couple, then there's Marshall in Huntington. if you can manage to find yourself in Morgantown about an hour south of Pittsburgh on 79, i think 2 and a half maybe 3 hours NE of Huntington. you would absolutely have a fuckin holiday. i have dumpstered most of my best clothing and gear from there. there are a million students from Jersey, NYC, all parts of new england not to mention many oilrich kids from the middle east who ditch mountains of valuables every year. and that place seriously keeps growing. I wish i could show you just how much it grew in the 5 years i lived there 09 to 14. worth a trip

 

[Anagor]

Heck , watch out for anything sharp; wear sturdy shoes pants and gloves. You don’t know; there can be broken glass, all sorts of hazardous waste!

True.

But actually, I never had this and did not need it cause I never "dived" literally. I just opened containers, dumpsters whatever you call it and looked inside. If I saw something worth it I carefully tried to get it out. Used a stick sometimes to dig around. But never actually climed into a dumpster. If you do that you indeed need protective clothing and gloves and boots and so on.

But yeah, always be careful, especially when it comes to sharp objects (glass, needles) ... you don't want to get Hep C just for some cans of food or alike.

 

[Deleted member 22934]

At one time, every piece of clothing I owned came from dumsters, trash cans, or donation bins, except my socks and underwear. And mostly from gas stations or truck stops... And right around christmas, the donation bin in a walmart parking lot was over flowing. Stuff was piled all around it and I was living out of my vehicle at the time, so I picked thru alot of it and found a bunch of stuff in my size... I thought that was the coolest thing.

Depends what your looking for. There was a certain gas station that was always throwing out expired snacks. So Id hit that spot pretty often. For food, definately check gas stations... Better yet.

I honestly think the best thing to do, is go inside and just ask somebody. The employees know when and how often stuff gets thrown out. Some people will tell you not to go thru the trash, but for the most part, people will usually try to help you out.

 

[Anagor]

At one time, every piece of clothing I owned came from dumsters, trash cans, or donation bins, except my socks and underwear.

Same here, plus donations sometimes (especially in winter, around Christmas).

Never took much, though. Don't like to carry around stuff and also don't mind wearing super worn out stuff, so I mostly only looked for clothing when it was really needed.

Often, when I found or was given something I didn't really need, I redistributed it to someone who would need/want it.

 

[roguetrader]

OP you just gotta keep going out and searching and eventually you'll find the good spots.... things vary greatly from place to place - a store that's good in one town isn't necessarily good in the next... another thing to consider is that places that are heavily hit by travellers / bums often improve their security and lock the bins / containers or fence them off (they do in Europe anyway) so ideally you want a town that's not blown up by messy fuckers leaving piles of crap by the dumpster !

 

[Anagor]

so ideally you want a town that's not blown up by messy fuckers leaving piles of crap by the dumpster !

Yeah, a few fuckers can ruin it for everyone.

Same with sleeping rough. When I sleep in a doorway, I'm up and leaving quite early (like 6am) and I don't leave anything behind, no trash, not even a cigarette paper. I make sure everything is clean.

Others sleep late so the owner/employee of the shop needs to wake them up, argue with them. Or they leave lots of trash behind, cans, whatever. Sometimes even used needles.

No wonder that shop owners put gates in front of good doorways.

 

[Deleted member 24579]

find out when the semesters end at local universities and go hammer. you're not incredibly far from quite a few - lexington and louisville i know have a couple, then there's Marshall in Huntington. if you can manage to find yourself in Morgantown about an hour south of Pittsburgh on 79, i think 2 and a half maybe 3 hours NE of Huntington. you would absolutely have a fuckin holiday. i have dumpstered most of my best clothing and gear from there. there are a million students from Jersey, NYC, all parts of new england not to mention many oilrich kids from the middle east who ditch mountains of valuables every year. and that place seriously keeps growing. I wish i could show you just how much it grew in the 5 years i lived there 09 to 14. worth a trip

Hey, I'm from WV (Hancock County)! Now in CA. I can attest that university dumpsters can be excellent, especially behind their stores and foodservice areas (I'm usually looking for food). They've been throwing away so much bread and pastries that I've actually been gaining weight!

 

[Shit Beetle]

Hey, I'm from WV (Hancock County)! Now in CA. I can attest that university dumpsters can be excellent, especially behind their stores and foodservice areas (I'm usually looking for food). They've been throwing away so much bread and pastries that I've actually been gaining weight!

I love and agree with this advice, but I'm also pretty annoyed with our society's leniency towards waste. I'm currently working in a restaurant for a seasonal gig, and they throw out BASKETS of perfectly good bread rolls every night! And today they tried to have me dump 7 pre-made parfaits into the trash because they were made in THIS morning and therefore can't be served tomorrow morning. I actually got bitched at by a cook for saving them in a tupperware container for myself. "Everything either goes to a customer or goes in the trash!" Like damn dude; what do you care?

Sorry. I just wanted to bitch haha. But still, it DEFINITELY reaffirms my belief that hotels and restaurants are the best places to get good food scores!

 

[roughdraft]

Hey, I'm from WV (Hancock County)! Now in CA. I can attest that university dumpsters can be excellent, especially behind their stores and foodservice areas (I'm usually looking for food). They've been throwing away so much bread and pastries that I've actually been gaining weight!

good advice

welcome to the forum

and sweet, i have two friends from Weirton!

 

[roughdraft]

"Everything either goes to a customer or goes in the trash!" Like damn dude; what do you care?!

the lack of basic logic and care for fellow man is fucking astounding and infuriating

and the worst is when management or an owner will have the audacity to accuse one of 'stealing' in this situation. ya you paid for the product to be made and it wasnt served and now its going in the trash, that's what you want? insane and unacceptable

it also is a great way to lose decent workers and.or create smalltown drama. id say fuck these fuckin children disguised as business owners. but i wouldn't want to talk about children like that

 

[peacefulmonokai]

I do my divin' in the early morning; I bring gloves, a little head lamp, and I know what dumpsters to hit. Depending on what day it is, I'll bring in Odwalla protein drinks, pizza, fresh sandwiches, and so on.


It's hit or miss according to weekly business cycle: Monday - Weds = low waste. Thurs - Sun = high score. Know at what time the dump trucks come through. For my route, it's early Mon and early Thurs.


The Trader Joes and all those are ideal, but don't discount a plaza with 3 or more businesses located. Often times, the property is owned by one property owner - who is out of the area. Typically, the property owner designates and allocates dumpster bins for each business.

So each bin will have their own designated waste in it. Go through the bins to get an idea of where things are. Employees will typically keep up habit, so if you see a big score on one day, chances are high something similar will be there next time.