DUMPSTER DIVING GARBAGE PICKING READ & SEE WHAT IS FOUND HERE UPDATED 2012

[Monty]

Re: DUMPSTER DIVING GARBAGE PICKING READ & SEE WHAT IS FOUND HERE UPDATE 2008

This thread is like many that seem perpetual. I just remembered that my Dad after he retired bought a house cheap becuse it backed up to a large apartment complex. People don't like to live next to apartment complexes in this part of the country for some reason. Anyway he used to dumpster dive at the apartments and started out collecting aluminum cans. He found enough cans to make his house payment each month. He also found a lot of really nice discarded furniture, etc. What he didn't want to keep he would set it out by the curb with a for sale sign and someone would steal it overnight, so nothing to haul off. The homeless and bums got to raiding the apartment complexes all over town and it got so bad the apartment owner's association got together and put up signs that no dumpster diving was allowed and violaters would be prosecuted. At first the signs were ignored but after several arrests for trespassing, dumpster diving has almost become a thing of the past. I urged Dad to go to the manager and see if he could get parmission but he never did. But I have noticed the trash pick up guys cull the dumpsters before they load them on the trucks a lot of the time. I'll bet they clean up. Monty

 

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[davest]

Re: DUMPSTER DIVING GARBAGE PICKING READ & SEE WHAT IS FOUND HERE UPDATE 2008

and to think I just got a job in a condo complex where in the first week I got 8 extension cords with both ends and all work, two vacuum cleaners that work, and some other odds and ends. Look out world, here I come.

 

[DPBOB]

Re: DUMPSTER DIVING GARBAGE PICKING READ & SEE WHAT IS FOUND HERE UPDATE 2008

and to think I just got a job in a condo complex where in the first week I got 8 extension cords with both ends and all work, two vacuum cleaners that work, and some other odds and ends. Look out world, here I come.

Keep us posted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DPBOB]

Re: DUMPSTER DIVING GARBAGE PICKING READ & SEE WHAT IS FOUND HERE UPDATE 2008

 

[Shortstack]

Re: DUMPSTER DIVING GARBAGE PICKING READ & SEE WHAT IS FOUND HERE UPDATE 2008

My best, 1962 Fender Telecaster with case that I sold to a dealer for a grand and he didnt even play it. Just opened the case and handed me the money! Lots of yard tractors and mowers, stereo speakers. Garbage pick up week is a beautiful thing! My brother refers to us as the second hand yuppies.
Zootman

I know this is an old string, but had to add this info. That 1962 Telecaster MIGHT have been worth 10 to 20 TIMES the $1000 you got. There's a place in Nashville, TN called Gruhn Guitars that sell, repair / restore, and buy antique and collectible stringed instruments; especially guitars, fiddles, banjos, mandolins, and base fiddles. I watched a series of programs about the shop on the DIY network and those Telecasters and Stratocasters by Fender can be quite valuable. Their website is http://www.gruhn.com/ Check them out for future reference. You never know when this info might come in handy.

 

[stoneseeker2003]

Re: DUMPSTER DIVING GARBAGE PICKING READ & SEE WHAT IS FOUND HERE UPDATE 2008

Ok... we are moving in the next two weeks. Only going a mile, but I hate packing.

So ,as we're throwing stuff IN the dumpster,we are checking to see what the other tenants are tossing! Couple Apts moving out!
Lol, I swear it never ends. At this dumpster,"Good Stuff", is left out, at the back so it can be taken.
I'd rather give it away then see it go to the dump.
Thanks for this Topic.

Had to get out of the Apt this afternoon,coz it's full of packed stuff, and feeling real small(claustrophobic)!
Thought I'd walk 2 blocks to the school, and walk the parking lot(eyeballing).
Found 2 pennies and a metric socket, woo hoo!!! I was excited!
I saw something that looked like the back of a battery powered toy, so I picked it up. it was a game! " Game stop", used sticker still on it. Got home , called my oldest son, who came over to check it out. It's a Game Boy Adv. game: Zelda. He tried it and it worked!

Just getting out, was worth getting wet(it was misting). Happy Hunting!

 

[stanjam]

Re: DUMPSTER DIVING GARBAGE PICKING READ & SEE WHAT IS FOUND HERE UPDATE 2008

One of my students has been having a problem with someone dumping occasional garbage onto their property. Used appliances and such. Well, they just made a mistake and dumped an old "non-working" computer on their land.

Well, I teach computer and internet security. My student is now in the process of getting all the information off the hard drive in order to find out who the criminal is. He is unsure whether to confront the person or just notify the police. I told him to let the cops handle it, just make sure he has good chain of evidence documentation and record everything he does with the computer.

It is funny, most people toss out their computer if it stops functioning. Normally al that is wrong is a blown power supply, graphics card or motherboard. People do not realize that all the information on the hard drive is still there, even if they have "reformatted" the hard drive. Only a DoD level scrub will remove information. I hope they get this guy!

By the way, if your town has a recycling center, check it out! I have another student who has quite the collection of used computers and laptops. He just finds out what is wrong with the system, replaces the broken part and whala! New computer! Amazing the nice computers people just discard. With just a little knowledge you can have a real nice home network and media set up spending very little money!

 

[taropatch]

Re: DUMPSTER DIVING GARBAGE PICKING READ & SEE WHAT IS FOUND HERE UPDATE 2008

I agree that this should be a "subforum" because of the thread's popularity and volume. When you think about it, some of you divers have had more success combing through trash than metal detecting. Rescuing a Ming Dynasty vase, covered with rotten Chinese takeout leftovers is a lot more fun than pinpointing a few cladded coins with your DXR.

My best find brings me back to the 80's when I lived in an apartment in the big city. In the dumpster behind I pulled out an old violin case one day. Opening it up, I found a beautifully toned violin -- dark and rich, but it had a slight crack running down the middle. I held it for a couple of years, then took it to a couple of violin repairmen to have it repaired and appraised. Turn-of-the-century copy from Europe dated around 1890, worth about $800. The horsehair bow with nickel handle came with it. While in the repair shop, it caught the eye of a violinist with the City Symphony who played it and expressed interest to the shop owner that she wanted to buy it. Upon hearing the news, I declined and to this day the instrument still remains in our possession. If you have seen the movie, "Red Violin", which recounts the life of a violin from its birth through the hands of the luthier and through the centuries passing from owner to owner, I often wonder who made my violin, who played it, and the stories it could tell of the places it has been.

 

[boogeyman]

Re: DUMPSTER DIVING GARBAGE PICKING READ & SEE WHAT IS FOUND HERE UPDATE 2008

AWSOME! TOTALLY AWSOME!!

 

[DPBOB]

Re: DUMPSTER DIVING GARBAGE PICKING READ & SEE WHAT IS FOUND HERE UPDATE 2008

I agree AWESOME STORIES

 

[Silver Fox]

Re: DUMPSTER DIVING GARBAGE PICKING READ & SEE WHAT IS FOUND HERE UPDATE 2008

I HAVE A WHOLE BUNCH OF GREAT FINDS FROM OTHER PEOPLES TRASH .INCLUDING 10 -12 MORGAN DOLLARS 20 OR SO 1/2 DOLLARS NOT TO MENTION ALL THE OTHER SPENDABLE MONEY.

I THINK I COULD WRITE A BOOK ABOUT IT ALL.... 30 - 35 YEARS OF JUNKING OPPS.. TREASURE HUNTING

ANY GOOD STORIES OF GOOD FINDS OF THE STUFF THAT PEOPLE THROW OUT.

I'D LIKE TO HERE SOME......

On Tuesdays at around 3:30pm the buildings' janitors bring the bagged garbage, including recyclables out for the Sanitation Dept pickup early the next morning. Not everything can be bagged so it's placed on top of the bags and tied-up newspaper piles. I go out to see what's been placed outside of the bags.

I've found audio and video equipment of all kinds and ages.
Non-working laptops that still get you $40-$50.
A Marshall portable guitar amp that I got $100 for on craigslist.
3 brand-newly framed large lithographs.
A huge, framed Audubon poster that THE NEW YORK TIMES is selling copies of for $2,200 (photo below).
Historical papers dating from the early 1800s belonging to a famous family which a Sotheby's rep appraised at
$3,000-$4,000. These included a hand-written diary dated 1881 from a young man who left on a boat from Boston
to Turkey to join an archaeological expedition which ended up founding a famous archaeological foundation. Also
thousands of slides of anthropological nature, films from the 1940s, all kinds of goodies.
Some household things
Prints, lithographs, a pochoir. I've had conversations with some of the artists.

You name it, it gets discarded. And sometimes I find it.

Silver Fox

 

[stoneseeker2003]

Re: DUMPSTER DIVING GARBAGE PICKING READ & SEE WHAT IS FOUND HERE UPDATE 2008

Silver Fox, I love the Audubon poster, great find!!
I know people throw away treasures, nice that we get to find them too!!

 

[Silver Fox]

Re: DUMPSTER DIVING GARBAGE PICKING READ & SEE WHAT IS FOUND HERE UPDATE 2008

Silver Fox, I love the Audubon poster, great find!!
I know people throw away treasures, nice that we get to find them too!!

It's a 23-year-old poster and I don't know how long it's been framed but it still has the thin protective transparent film covering the surface. You can see on the lower right-hand corner where I peeled it a little 'cause I couldn't believe it still had the film. The frame is unbelievably solid with with ribs inside the frame which you can feel on the thinner back. How could someone throw something like this away? Well, I'm glad they did and that I came along at the right time.

SF

 

[boogeyman]

Re: DUMPSTER DIVING GARBAGE PICKING READ & SEE WHAT IS FOUND HERE UPDATE 2008

Excellent find Silver Fox! I'm totally amazed on an almost daily basis what people feel is trash. All the better for us!

Like Grandpa said "If it's free it's for me!)

 

[whitesid]

Re: DUMPSTER DIVING GARBAGE PICKING READ & SEE WHAT IS FOUND HERE UPDATE 2008

i found a mettler toledo scale in the dumpster a while ago, it works perfectly

 

[scdetector]

Re: DUMPSTER DIVING GARBAGE PICKING READ & SEE WHAT IS FOUND HERE UPDATE 2008

Last year there was someone dumped a ton of trash on a dirt road beside my house,it was a mess, so I decided to go through it to find a name or address, found 2 working caller ID units, several hundred tie straps,a few good books and some birthday cards some opened,some not with there" name and address" so I started opening and reading them, one had a $10.00 WalMart gift card and another with some kind words and a crisp $100 bill, I kept the $100 + gift card, forgot the kind words and called the cops.I never saw the people but they had to clean up the mess and pay a fine.Always look inside birthday cards!!

 

[boogeyman]

Re: DUMPSTER DIVING GARBAGE PICKING READ & SEE WHAT IS FOUND HERE UPDATE 2008

HA! there is justice in this world!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DPBOB]

Re: DUMPSTER DIVING GARBAGE PICKING READ & SEE WHAT IS FOUND HERE UPDATE 2008

Always look inside birthday cards!!

I've done the same. Over the years I probably have found a couple of hundred in cards...You never know......

 

[GL]

Re: DUMPSTER DIVING GARBAGE PICKING READ & SEE WHAT IS FOUND HERE UPDATE 2008

I found a Remington Nylon 66 rifle once.
Winnie The Pooh 1st edition with a school library stamp and card holder in back.

I'm holding Alice In Wonderland I found in a house that was being gutted for sale.
I think it's from the 20s.

 

[scrounger d detector collector]

Re: DUMPSTER DIVING GARBAGE PICKING READ & SEE WHAT IS FOUND HERE UPDATE 2008

lately...craftsman portable miter box. chopsaw. last week nice patriotic usa knit hat [wife loves it]. 20 pc glass or porcelin angel collection. 10 cans sealed edible food. not asmuch around since i moved from the city,but keep lookin