Legalities of Dumpster Diving?

It is a sad thing that we are so sue happy these days. I've never thought of suing someone for my stupid.

I actually got to be pretty callous about throwing stuff out. I guess that was because there was SO MUCH STUFF that would be either broken during shipping, or defective from the factory, or recalled and pulled from the shelves as 'hidden defect' (and boy, we'd get at least a list every week of stuff to be pulled and destroyed!) or broken by customers who were negligent and wanted a refund even though it was their fault they had broken something... I had to write it all off to whatever catagory, and to me it was just an obstacle to be dealt with. Every freight day, I'd have about a shopping cart FULL of broken, damaged stuff to write off. Broken gallons of tractor paint and 5 gal. buckets of hydraulic oil were some of the worst to deal with. There is a lot of waste simply in the shipping process!! 5 gal. of hydraulic oil stacked in the middle of a 4ft x 4ft x 7 ft tall pallet of shrink wrapped freight, and the bucket cracks or the lid splits.... and you not only have a ruined bucket of hydraulic oil, you also have OTHER freight that is ruined, too. If people only could see how some stuff is shipped... it's a wonder more stuff isn't ruined.

Go to your local Police Station & ask. In Broken Arrow, OK it is legal to dumpster dive. It is illegal to put your trash in someone else's dumpster. Be polite & never, ever leave a mess.

Never have I gotten into a dumpster - if it can't be reached, it doesn't get 'got'.

I always ask first. A store in our small town recently built a new building, got a new manager, etc., and although I had permission from the old manager, I thought I'd ask. The new man told me no. There are two such stores in town, guess which one gets my money - the one who doesn't mind my getting boxes or whatever from their dumpster.

I guess I wish there could be some way for businesses to allow and encourage the 'recycling' of thing. Waste bothers me -

When we were visiting in New York City, I almost cried at the things put on the curb. Of course, picking from the garbage is not unusual. It's is a common sight to see people dragging along a piece of furniture they found, or a bag of whatever, or someone standing guard on a sofa waiting for reinforcements to help carry it.

Also, they put out food for the homeless there. We were walking along and I saw a large clear plastic bag of various kinds of rolls. The top was loosely tied with one knot. I commented on it and my son in law said, 'just watch'. Sure enough, just a minute later a lady, with a cart, filled with her possessions it seemed, came along. She picked up the bag, turned it over and over, then opened it and every so carefully, she chose two rolls, not touching any other - then retied the bag. and walked on.

My daughter says there are restaurants that put out tables against their store buildings and put out individual servings of any left over soups, desserts, sandwiches, along with plastic silverware and napkins for the homeless.

Just about all stores will say no because of liability if you get hurt. Years ago I started taking stuff out of a K-Mart dumpster and the store manager came running out. They saw me on their surveillance camera and he asked me to leave.

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Ask the mall owner and they say it's up to store policy, ask the store and they say it's up to mall owner's policy, ask the dumpster company and they don't have time to look it up, ask someone else... See, why the question of legalities? However, I did get an answer, if it's on private property, it's trespassing, if the owner wants it to be...

Thanks for all the opinions and replies. Think I'll either get a definite "yes/no" from _somebody_ or pass the possible problems.

I try to clarify this when I can: There is a difference in expiration date and best if used by date.

Expiration date is federally imposted and is an absolute date after which an item can no longer be sold at retail. It is predominately on over-the-counter drugs and baby formula.

Best if used by date is strongly recommended by the federal government, but each manufacturer makes up their own date. It is suspose to be the point at which a product starts to decline from its maximum nutritional value. Eggs are a good example. Items can be good, and nutritious long after the best if used by date.

I have a small canned ham with a use by date of 1/18/05 on a pantry shelf. Still looks (at least the can) fine. I have a package of Jumbo hotdogs with a used by date of 7/12/06. I cannot tell any difference in them than the same brand at a store today. Now if the hotdogs weren't refrigerated, than likely they would have started to have mold on them.

eBay has the policy if an item has a best if used by date, delivery must be made before that date.

Remember William Ruldoph (sp?) the abortion clinic bomber. He lived out in the woods off of dumpster diving and people's gardens on fruit trees for a couple of years. His favorite dumpster was behind a Save-a-Lot store. Typically the police patrol didn't turn off their headlights when they checked in back of that store. One night a deputy turned them off and caught him in the act. (He didn't get to collect the $2M reward as he was acting in the line of duty.)

Here's a few things I have learned about dumpster diving -
it's illegal so wear something that u won't mind being photographed in.
A little bit of make up is nice since u never know when the security video will show up on youtube. Come the next PTA meeting u will be glad that u wore blush/lip gloss/eyeliner.

That said I don't DD like I did back in the day now I curb shop. I don't dig around in cans but have scored good finds that were just on top or leaning up against the can. he idea is to grab & run neatly.
It's common for people to place choice items off to the side of their trash cans with a free sign.
Our city requires a trash bulk pick up ticket which costs $10. It is illegal to take an item that has a bulk ticket sticker. It is also common for people to steal the stickers so it is recommended that u cover it with clear packing tape.
Most people place the item on the curb a few days before their scheduled trash day in hopes that it will be shopped, then if necessary put the ticket on it a few hours before the trash man comes.
It is illegal to convince the trash crew to give u an item off the truck - son once saw the perfect bike rim walked 4 blocks behind the truck pleading with the guy...
I have knocked on a front door of the thrower outer and offered the cost of the bulk pick up ticket if I could take the item - dresser from the early 1900s.
Some people really dislike when u do that (porch swing).
Last good curb shopping score was late Nov. - 20 green plastic hanging baskets. I'm planning on having a plants sale this spring.

Do u know about freecycle ?

~~ pelenaka ~~

I already posted about "freecycle," Craigslist FREE, etc..etc...why not post what you want? Also, curb retrieval is a great way to get appliances, often in good working order, extra items of all kinds, and one day, I saw a week's worth of dry split firewood on the side of the road. I stopped my car and loaded it all in (PT Cruiser, so it all fit LOL).

We were asked by a neighbor, if we would allow them to place all their unwanted furniture and belongings on our property, by the street (back where we used to live, not here). We were told to choose first and got some great outdoor furniture, and other items. Every item was picked up (quality and in good condition).

My DD lived in New York for a year, while there found the neatest stuff on the sidewalks for FREE. Her favorite score was the Winter accessory bag... A large bag was placed with other stuff for free; inside there were brand new matching sets of leather gloves, hats, scarves, etc.... Most had tags and were never worn! Many were high end expensive gloves. She gave me a few pair DD found coats, boots, electronics, etc... She said people were constantly moving in/out of apts via sublets, easiest way to get rid of or find stuff---THE CURBs

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remember the 1/2 price dented cans .. no more of that either cause of liabilities. smaller stores are your bet. its pretty much a if you get hurt i'll point out the no tresspass sign an your SOL

the FIRST place i shop is a mennonite store called grocery depot they sell whole brand new containers of advil for 50 cents brand new nyquil 50 cents one a day mens vitamins name brand 50 cents and as for cans they are 35 cents to 75 cents older cake mix some expired but its still good 80 cents NEW beef sticks (slim jims) 25 cents !!!

ive spent alot of money in that store and it was worth EVERY cent

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We have a branch of a large chain hardware store that told us that their official policy is anti-diving. However, they have been known to not only leave choice items sitting on top instead of in, they have actually called our program at the college to let us know when they put stuff out. Got more than $1,000 worth of bulbs that way last year. Didn't sell, can't keep them. We put them to good use and brought the store manager some veggies in exchange.

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I wish I knew how to locate scratch and dent stores. We had one near here and it was great at first - then got pretty expensive, then closed down.

I'm thinking we might have to go to a larger city, but just don't know where to look.

New York curb shopping - I daydream about that sometimes.

Around here, if you want to get rid of something usable, put it at the end of your driveway and it will be gone pretty quickly. I've even gotten rid of excess tomato and pepper plants this way--wanted someone to take them before they grew too spindly and became worthless. And I've told the story before when my brother was helping to clear out a bunch of metal junk that my late uncle had left behind--an old rusted tiller, empty 5 gal. freon canisters, just all sorts of metal junk. The heavy trash pickup was supposed to be the next day, so my brother hauled it all to the end of the driveway. When he finished, he went back inside and was at the kitchen sink washing his hands, and he looked up and out the window over the sink, and there was a pickup and a couple of guys loading all that junk up. Just that quick.

Unfortunately, the craigslist and freecycle around here are mostly people wanting stuff--NEW stuff, to be brought to them at their convenience. But that's a whole nuther rant.

Our trash pickup will take almost anything , but when we have something we think someone might want, we always put it out a few days ahead of the trash pickup. Our pickup is on Tuesday and we try to have it out by Sat or Sun - and it's usually gone before trash pickup.

We had a treadmill we simply had no room for and put it out, almost immediately a truck stopped and a lady asked about it. Her husband was just recuperating from heart surgery and the dr. suggested a treadmill, but they couldn't afford one.

Waste really does bother me - and I'm always so glad when people can use things I no longer need or want.

The supreme court ruling had nothing to do with fed or any state congress.
The ruling stems from 1984 arrest of drug dealings were the police used curbside trast as evidence. Look at the wiki site.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_v._Greenwood

I'll let Albany know. We are always looking or alternative tourism venues.

Another great source or it use to be back in the day is dumpsters located on colledge campuses. Come the end of the school year many students purge rather than pack.

I know there's a joke in there somewhere -

Truly, though, I spent two weeks trying to figure out a way to get stuff home. The bad part was, we had our big behemoth of a pick up parked in NJ at daughter's in laws. I kept thinking, there's got to be a way to get that truck into NYC and make the rounds.

Then the reality of actually driving around in NY traffic hit and I decided guess not - but I still wish -

We put a couple used recliners out front with 'take me' and they were gone in a couple hours.Just because it wasnt new... they looked good and if you need better than what you have or dont have,it goes quick.

thats the norm here,just put a free sign,folks will gobble it up.

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UMMMM, the parking lots are NOT public property...

They are property that the public is allowed access to. If you have a restraining order on you from the owner of a strip mall/ mall business, you would find this out, in a hurry (not from personal experience).

Dumpster diving is not much different (IMO) from stopping and picking flowers from someon's yard "cuz they'll just die soon, anyway"

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Roger