35 Times People Went 'Dumpster Diving' And Didn't Regret It (New Pics)

While the term dumpster diving might sound a bit extreme, if you’ve never tried it yourself, we promise that it does not have to be unsanitary or a waste of time. It’s not simply swimming through rubbish, it can actually be a great way to find free food, great furniture or items that seem to have only ended up in the trash by accident. And if anyone can change your mind on the matter, it’s the Dumpster Diving subreddit. This group, which is dedicated to “fun with garbage,” shares “advice, information, and first-hand accounts about finding cool stuff in, or making cool stuff out of, trash.”

And clearly, many people have gotten on board with the community’s message, as it has amassed an impressive 241k members since its creation in 2009. The group even has a thread featuring members’ best dumpster diving tips and tricks, including: have realistic expectations, take a small step ladder, close all dumpster lids and doors when done, don’t dumpster dive at thrift stores, have an answer for when people ask what you’re doing, and, of course, safety comes first!  

If the idea of dumpster diving is foreign to you and you have a hard time getting past the idea of literally hopping into trash, allow us to explain some of the reasons why it’s becoming a growing trend and might even be the most environmentally friendly way of “shopping” nowadays. First, let’s understand why people do this. According to GreenMatters, it’s pretty standard practice for businesses to throw out unsold merchandise and food to make more room on shelves or to avoid having to put luxury brands on sale. This means that oftentimes, what’s in the trash isn’t actually trash.

I used to work at a coffee shop where we weren’t allowed to take home any of the sandwiches, soups, or pastries after closing time because the company assumed if we could, it would discourage us from selling them. So every evening, we had to find whatever was reaching its sell by date and simply throw it in the trash. This was incredibly wasteful, and it was painful knowing that that food could have gone to people in need, but that was this store’s, and many other companies’, policy.   

When it comes to food waste, RTS reports that the United States throws about 120 billion pounds of perfectly good food in the trash each year, or about 40% of the entire US food supply. Apparently, food takes up more space in US landfills than anything else, making up 22% of municipal solid waste, and the amount of food wasted in the US is worth approximately $218 billion. There’s no question that many of us should be cutting back on our consumption and waste production, and one way to do so is by pulling perfectly good food that’s been tossed out of the trash. As you can see from the pictures on this list, a little digging around in a dumpster might allow you to find lots of delicious items for free, that would have otherwise taken up space in a landfill.  

Even if you don’t need many items for yourself, dumpster diving can actually be quite the lucrative hobby. One Buffalo, New York-based couple told Business Insider that they make around $3,000 a month through their dumpster diving side hustle. Erin and Dave Sheffield shared that they began rummaging through garbage more than a decade ago and got the idea to start selling items they find in dumpsters of large depot stores. “Especially in the time we live in, you kind of have to realize that if you don't take that thing out of the trash, that's going to a landfill," Erin shared. "But also, you can actually make money." Some of the most valuable items they’ve been able to resell are a Prada purse and a truck-load of college textbooks.

The Sheffields say that the best food items they find in dumpsters are usually taken home with them or given away to friends and family members, but they also shared that there will always be more valuable items that they can’t manage to save. “We can't possibly come close to even touching the amount of good stuff that's thrown away every day," Erin told Insider. "Even if we went out from sun-up to sundown, and went to every place we could think of, we still wouldn't get close to what is being thrown away in our city." You hear that, pandas? That means there’s plenty waiting out there for you too! 

Aside from just finding great items for themselves and for others, dumpster diving can also be great for the environment, as it takes a small burden off of our already full, or nearly full, landfills. Countries like the United States are already dumping their waste in foreign countries because they have nowhere to put it all, and China, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia have had to enact bans on importing waste from other nations. Much of the waste in landfills is being burned as well, which is also a problem because it releases toxic gasses into the atmosphere, such as nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxides. Every little bit helps when reducing waste, and dumpster diving can certainly make a difference.