Tuesday Night Dumpster Dive...Outrageous!

**dolphin** · 02-18-2009, 02:48 PM

Last night after picking up a perscription, I headed to my favorite dumpster that I visit to get boxes and packing materials for shipping purposes (ebay). By doing this I have not had to buy any packing materials or boxes for over 4 years except for tape.

Without further adooo, lol...I got....

8 Diego Sports Tumblers with lids & straws (I removed the lids and straws and now have 8 very nice childrens plastic cups which I needed so badly.
4 Pkgs. of 50 Marbles with bonus Super shooter marble (These will be used for a craft project. I intend to cover a bowling ball with marbles & use it in my garden as a gazing ball.)
4 High School Musical Keychain Backpacks with candy
1 Sky Dancers "Madison" Doll that Lights Up & Flys
1 Big Wheel Hummer SUV Truck 1.24 Scale Goes Forward, Stops & Turns In Reverse.
2 Pkgs. of 8 felt tip markers (High School Musical & Cars)
9 Valentine Lollipops
3 Hanes underwear (my size)
1 Off brand underwear (my size)
1 XL Pink spaghetti strap blouse (my size)
1 Baby pink fleece hat & booties
6 "Brittany" (all different) battery operated talking 12" fashion dolls
3 Emo Girls (Emotional Charged Teenagers) 10" fashion dolls
12 Insulated 12 oz. Kids Drink Bottles (Dora the Explorer)
17 Disney Tap Light Night Lights
1 Microfiber Dishcloth with plastic scrubber on one side.
1 12 oz Pkg. Mini Snicker Candy Bars
52 "Ferrero Rocher" Chocolate Candy Pkgs. (3 to a Pkg.) (This has a 11/08 expiration date on it but the store was selling them up till last night, I have put them in my freezer, goodness, they are delicious!)

There was so much more of the same but it was too dark and I didn't have a flashlight & I needed to leave so left a lot! The waste of that store just makes me sick, especially when I consider how badly I needed toys for gifts at Christmas and that the "Ferrero Rocher" candy is too expensive for me to buy!

Anything that I got that I find I can't use I will either sell at my future yard sale or post on freecycle. I love keeping new products out of the landfill and detest the waste of this particular store. When I called my girlfriend and told her last night about all I got, she was in an outrage at the waste. She's also a fellow dumpster diver.

If I get to go to town this evening, I'm going to check it out again!

**madhen** · 02-18-2009, 02:53 PM

Wow, sounds like you hit the motherlode of dumpsters!!

**Dancing Lotus** · 02-18-2009, 02:57 PM

I can only assume they tried to sell these items on clearance and just couldn't get any takers. The waist is awful, it does seem that there has be a better way.

Well do complain too loud, after all you do benefit from it

**Spirit Deer** · 02-18-2009, 03:09 PM

Cool! It's too bad they don't donate the stuff to Goodwill, but lucky for you they don't.

One of our former contractors has a brother in a metropolitan area who is also a contractor. When the company the brother works for finishes a job, they just dump anything left over. Our contractor gets all the caulk he uses in their company and stuff like huge chunks of rubber roofing and tons of other building materials. What a waste for that company, too. I've always thought if they'd contact Habitat For Humanity or some other charity, someone would love to come pick that stuff up, keep it out of the landfill, and put it to good use.

**NewLeaf** · 02-18-2009, 03:11 PM

I have no idea where to start. I have driven around the back of stores in my town, but there is never anything there. The grocery store dumpster is up on a big concrete ramp right up next to the store. How do I even find a dumpster to raid?

**Debbie-cat** · 02-18-2009, 03:24 PM

Wow! That was a great find. I would be back there every night with a flashlight

**dolphin** · 02-18-2009, 03:35 PM

I did hit a motherload but have gotten many wonderul items from dumpters over the years and I'm so grateful!

I think what makes me so mad is that this "particular" store does not "EVER" donate their unwanted products. They write them off as a loss and toss them in the dumpster. We are a small town and many things are needed or wanted and this store invariabley just tosses! It's a crying shame! I would much rather have just gotten my packing materials (which is all I went after because they are so clean) and known that this store had donated unsold items to a local charity where they would have been much needed and wanted. The only reason I grabed as much as I could was because of the apparent waste. I know that I will be able to pass on their unwanted items. There were no marked down pricing tags on these items and they are not on the recall list, it's just a matter of them getting in new merchandise and not having room for the older (last holiday) merchandise. The store is small and run by a group of very young adults who seem to have no clue as to the value of their discards to someone who has very little.

All of the dolls have a $5.00 price tag on them & the truck & another doll were $10.00 and each cup is between $1.00 & $2.00! In all, I estimate my dumpster dive was valued well over $107.00 in "new with tag" products not including the candy. Gosh, the candy sells for 10 packs for $5.99 so thats a huge find since I got 52 packs!

**JerryG** · 02-18-2009, 03:50 PM

So, is Christmas shopping done this year??

Good job!

**Jayne** · 02-18-2009, 04:00 PM

Wowzers!!..You did great

**madhen** · 02-18-2009, 04:00 PM

If it is something you feel strongly about, maybe you should talk to the store owners? Maybe they are just clueless. If they donate the stuff, they can still claim it as a tax write-off. And perhaps they would be willing to just set aside the packing matl's for you, since they are tossing them anyway?

**starsapphire** · 02-18-2009, 04:03 PM

Wow, good haul for you! I'm envious. I wish I could dumpster dive sometimes but its illegal in my town.

**IntlMom** · 02-18-2009, 04:09 PM

WOW!!

amazing!

**dolphin** · 02-18-2009, 04:45 PM

Originally Posted by madhen

If it is something you feel strongly about, maybe you should talk to the store owners? Maybe they are just clueless. If they donate the stuff, they can still claim it as a tax write-off. And perhaps they would be willing to just set aside the packing matl's for you, since they are tossing them anyway?

Madhen, it IS something I feel strongly about and you may have just given me the incentive that I needed. I recently found out about a local charity that is receiving Walmart donations for childrens clothes and perhaps if I contact that charity and see if they would have a need for toys and candies (not out of date but just "seasonal" ofcourse), I could relieve my anger over all of this waste. Perhaps they would "donate" instead of "tossing". It couldn't hurt to ask!!!!

I've been blessed on so many levels. I was able to give 2 years of my life to charity by offering myself to a local food bank. They had helped me for a few months prior during which both dh and I lost our jobs, without question, and I felt a true NEED to "give back" so I did volunteer for them until my health got so bad I had to stop, That had been one of my goals as a young woman "to give myself to a charitable organization for 1 year) and I have fulfilled it and even more. In that time, I learned so very much about the true needs of our community and they are many and I learned that there are so many "hidden" needs. The needs that some don't speak of. It was so rewarding and am still a part of that "needing" but on a different level.