Posted on 08/18/2022 7:53:03 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The first time Christen Malone picked food out of a dumpster was when her daughter, now 4, was an infant. The baby was a car napper. She would fall asleep and Ms. Malone, a marketing consultant who lives in Beechview and has a cottage in Chautauqua — both were fully furnished for under $2,000 — would pull up behind a Giant Eagle, pick through the trash, throw some produce in the trunk of a luxury car and go on with her day.
Dumpster diving is particularly fruitful in the winter, she says, when milk, eggs and other perishables are kept cool without refrigeration. She marvels at how much food is wasted on a daily basis, discarded for a dent in a box or one bad fruit in a container. In cold weather, Ms. Malone is likely to visit a dumpster every day. In the summer months, a few times a week. According to her “dumpster etiquette,” the best time to go is during store working hours, being mindful of no trespassing signs. She’s not there to break the law. She just wants to score some unloved produce.
Trash shopping was a natural extension of Ms. Malone’s #thriftyyinzer lifestyle, where she buys as little as possible new and is always evangelizing about reusable finds. A Goodwill enthusiast, she also serves on the organization’s executive board.
Ms. Malone calls herself a “sustainable freegan.” So let’s start there.
PG: What does that mean?
A: I kind of break it into two parts. The sustainable portion is really just reusing what I can or using products and food to the last bit, being mindful of unnecessary waste. (And) right now everybody's pinching their pennies. You just want to do more with your money.
And the freegan aspect is kind of taking it to the
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
No problem from this gal concerning Dumpster Diving.
As long as no one gets hurt, ill, or dies....
And No Trespassing is committed. For those who have that sign up, I feel their right to private property is Number One.
We in America are so pampered.....
On a personal basis we do have pieces of furniture that were gladly given to up by previous owners after we inquired about them on their front yards. Our three pooches absolutely LOVE the futon they get to sit on while gazing out the front window...we had the futon mattress from years past rolled up; a neighbor wanted to replace his current futon frame with an updated one. Win-Win!
I’ve scored a few things in dumpsters. Never grabbed anything I’d want to eat. One time at work camp thy were dumping about 40 concrete 24’x36” concrete slabs. They had cut it out of the floor in the office building. I think they were putting new plublimg in. Wasnt my offices. I got my trailer and loaded them up. Makes a great firepit. I think I’ve 🔥 in that thing for at least 11 years now. Worth the dive and haul. Plus they look pretty cool.
I used to love found furniture and etc but now I worry about bedbugs.
I am skeptical.
I live in an urban area, and all food stores and restaurants have locked or barricaded their dumpsters for decades.
Obvious reason - many dumpster divers throw everything they do not want on the pavement in front of the dumpsters.
Before bringing anything in my home I would have it professionally cleaned. Understand that concern.
Merciful Maude. I don’t trust Hotels/Motels anymore.
I don’t care how wealthy some folks are: They bring the damn shit with them.....
Sigh.
Awesome!!
I’d eat it, as long as I wasn’t worried about Covid-19.
Many years ago, I lived across the alley from an apartment complex that rented mostly to college students. At the end of spring semester, the kids would throw away more furniture and kitchen gear than you could believe. I still have a few things from there, in fact I used my aluminum dumpster colander just the other night. There was a guy in the neighborhood who used to scavenge stuff from dumpsters and have a little yard sale every month or so.
I wouldn’t eat food from a dumpster unless I was starving, though. Maybe from a dented but still sealed package, but not anything perishable.
“I’d eat it, as long as I wasn’t worried about Covid-19.”
just slice off the part that had been eaten ...
“Many years ago,...”
______________________
I would imagine if blocks had monthly or semi-annual ‘neighborhood swaps,’ there would be much less pieces of furniture or other household items going to landfills.
It’s such a shame.
Down the street from where I reside at this time someone has placed out on the front curb beautiful chairs.... my head whipped around as we drove by.... LOL
By the time we got back from grocery shopping they were gone.
So glad someone used them!!!
Simply because someone ‘got tired’ of a perfectly good piece of furniture is no reason for it to be destroyed. Sigh.
Next time grab the chairs. The grocery store will be there later.
Don’t worry, the discarding person has been vaxxed and boosted 10 times!
/s
LOL
You have no idea how close I came to doing just that.....
Sigh.
My beloved husband was driving the car and didn’t exactly like the thought of me stuffing the 2 lovely chairs in the back of my Venue.
There were really two very lovely chairs, too.
That’ll teach me.
If they put out others like that I will be picking them up, no matter the time of day or errand I’m on.... it’ll be a ‘surprise’ for my beloved husband.
LOL
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.