Angel Williams holds what appears to be the first issue of the iconic music magazine Rolling Stone, published in Nov. 1967 and featuring John Lennon on the cover, on April 1, 2022. Williams found the magazine while dumpster diving about a year ago.
Posted on 04/08/2022 11:07:50 PM PDT by nickcarraway
In a Chicago dumpster one year ago, Angel Williams said she found a piece of pop culture history: the very first issue of Rolling Stone magazine, published in Nov. 1967 with a cover image of John Lennon from the film “How I Won the War.”
“I had no idea who this guy was and so I posted it and I had so many people saying, ‘Oh my goodness, that’s John Lennon!’” Williams said. “So when I looked it up, it was worth a nice amount of money, so I kept it.”
If authentic, the magazine could fetch more than $600, according to online auction listings.
The “Rolling Stone” issue is just one of many fascinating finds by Williams through dumpster diving – the activity of salvaging items of value from trash receptacles.
“A lot of people might not look at it as a profession, but I do,” Williams said. “I absolutely enjoy what I do. Not only am I excited about doing it for myself, but I’m also able to give back to others in need from doing what I do.”
Angel Williams holds what appears to be the first issue of the iconic music magazine Rolling Stone, published in Nov. 1967 and featuring John Lennon on the cover, on April 1, 2022. Williams found the magazine while dumpster diving about a year ago. (Evan Garcia / WTTW News) Angel Williams holds what appears to be the first issue of the iconic music magazine Rolling Stone, published in Nov. 1967 and featuring John Lennon on the cover, on April 1, 2022. Williams found the magazine while dumpster diving about a year ago. (Evan Garcia / WTTW News)
Williams was introduced to dumpster diving about 10 years ago by a woman at her church. Since then, the mother of four has parlayed the pastime into a business and mission.
Williams said some items she finds are sold on eBay for profit, others are kept for her family and items in good condition like clothing and books are donated to local organizations and shelters like the Pacific Garden Mission.
On her YouTube channel Mom the Ebayer, Williams broadcasts her dumpster diving adventures via a chest-mounted GoPro to more than 157,000 subscribers. Viewers get a first-person perspective as Williams sifts through garbage to find everything from designer clothing and jewelry to computers and electronics to even $1,000 rolled into a small, unassuming container.
Williams started posting dumpster diving videos about 9 years ago. At the time, she noticed a lack of content normalizing or providing tips for the cost-saving – and sometimes profitable – hobby.
“I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to show people how to take what other people consider trash and make it glamorous,’” Williams said. “And let people know that this is something we all can do, and you don’t have to be embarrassed by doing it.”
Since then, Williams has become a published author, detailing her entrepreneurial journey and sharing dumpster diving tips in “Finding Your Treasure: Our Family’s Mission to Recycle, Reuse, and Give Back Everything—and How You Can Too,” published by Simon & Schuster imprint Simon Element in July 2021.
The act of dumpster diving covers a variety of needs – from people searching for a novel gift to those depending on discarded items as a source of food and clothing.
Angel Williams shows a Tiffany & Co. baby rattle on April 1, 2022. Williams found the item while dumpster diving and plans to give it to her two-year-old son Samuel as a family heirloom. (Evan Garcia / WTTW News) Angel Williams shows a Tiffany & Co. baby rattle on April 1, 2022. Williams found the item while dumpster diving and plans to give it to her two-year-old son Samuel as a family heirloom. (Evan Garcia / WTTW News)
And it may seem a viable option as consumers continue to stretch their wallets for food, gas and rent amid surging prices and inflation. In the year leading through Feb. 28, the consumer price index rose 7.9% – the largest annual increase in 40 years.
Beyond saving money, dumpster diving can have a beneficial environmental impact by diverting waste from landfills. The greenhouse gases emitted from producing, transporting and handling discarded food in the U.S. contributes significantly to climate change, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
People who dumpster dive for food and other goods are sometimes associated with the anti-consumerist “Freeganism” ideology. The website Freegan.info provides information for where and when some businesses discard food in Chicago and other cities.
As for the legality of dumpster diving? It depends on where you live. There’s no federal law against it – a 1988 Supreme Court case ruled garbage placed in public is not protected by unwarranted search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment. However, cities and counties may have their own laws forbidding it.
In Chicago, dumpster divers may need a “private scavenger” license costing $250 through the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protections in order to sift through other’s trash.
Williams said she wasn’t aware of such a license.
“I’ve been stopped several times by the cops and wasn’t asked to show one,” Williams said.
A BACP Dept. spokesperson said several city licenses relate to collecting or disposing garbage and recyclables. Under municipal code, a private scavenger could face a fine of $250 to $500 for operating without a license.
However, whether a lone dumpster diver is considered a “private scavenger” could be open to interpretation. The city defines a “private scavenger” as “any person engaged in the removal and disposal of recyclable material, or construction and demolition debris, or grease, fats and oils, or table refuse or animal or vegetative matter usually known as garbage, or other wastes, from any premises where the removal and disposal of such matter is not provided for by the city” under Municipal Code Section 4-6-130. (4-6-130 Private scavenger.)
Angel Williams looks through a garbage can in Chicago’s Roscoe Village neighborhood on April 1, 2022. In 2021, Williams wrote and published a book on her entrepreneurial journey as a dumpster diver. (Evan Garcia / WTTW News) Angel Williams looks through a garbage can in Chicago’s Roscoe Village neighborhood on April 1, 2022. In 2021, Williams wrote and published a book on her entrepreneurial journey as a dumpster diver. (Evan Garcia / WTTW News)
While dumpster diving, Williams stressed the importance of staying safe from potentially harmful objects by using gloves and an extended picker tool. Some dumpster divers have been trapped, seriously injured or even killed while scavenging.
Williams also emphasized the importance of a smiling face and kind demeanor while partaking in an activity some might find invasive.
“When you come out here and you look nice and you’re kindly speaking, people are more open to you looking in their cans,” Williams said. “But if you come out here with an attitude, oh, you’ll be in a world of trouble.”
Williams said dumpster diving provides her family a supplemental income while allowing her to stay at home longer with her kids compared to a conventional job. She said the online community she’s built for nearly a decade is like an extended global family of dumpster divers.
“I’ve been able to have some great connections with people all over the world, who are also following suit, so I can’t ask for anything more,” Williams said. “Don’t knock it until you try it!”
Angel Williams holds what appears to be the first issue of the iconic music magazine Rolling Stone, published in Nov. 1967 and featuring John Lennon on the cover, on April 1, 2022. Williams found the magazine while dumpster diving about a year ago.
LOL
Glamorous Garbage draws
More than Flies!
Ping
I had an uncle that was a driller on big oil rigs. He was very unassuming. On his days off he (and me) would go up to the local dumps and scavenge for metal and anything else we might find useful. (Lots of hard hats and boots from oil workers that lasted a week, got paid and left!)
I thought he must have been pretty hard up.
As we were putting stuff away in his huge garage with all of the shelves and boxes he said he was waiting for copper to get to x amount of dollars, and aluminum to y, etc. Then he said how he divided it up into about 50 pounds a box.
I tried to make a quick inventory of the 100’s of boxes he had stored. I guessed he had $40k worth of metal.
And then when the other workers told me how much he made as a top driller I was amazed. But - he liked to do it, and he made some money too. He really liked exploring for the old dumps from the various ghost towns where he would do it just like gold mining (which he did too).
Wade along in the creeks looking for old garbage, and then follow it up to the “mother lode” of the old garbage dump! He had all sorts of old bottles, buttons, etc.
I knew of a guy, about ten years ago, who did dumpster diving at the end of each month to take advantage of apartment dwellers who threw out stuff rather than take stuff with them when they moved.
He said he made an additional couple of thousand doing that.
Report hell.
I was helping your feeb pal with his question.
Nasty bastard didn’t even thank me.
I’ve certainly shopped at Goodwill, et al. I’d dumpster dive, if I saw something I liked.
I saw that as well yesterday - just SMH /LOL and thinking . . . I knew it was only a matter of time before “bumblestunner” got upset enough at the disrespect around here to finally bring in an Admin Moderator.
Back on topic:
Take Moms to the dollar store so she stays outta the dumpsters. Those things are FILTHY.
The jackass suggested asking a moderator.
Too damned bad if it made him look like a tard.
Nukkas be disrespeckin. Better axt somebody.
Amirite, Bumpkin?
Hey, wait. Did you just talk about somebody without pinging them? Isn't that against the rules of The World According To Humblegunner?
That's your second infraction in one day and it's going on your permanent record.
#StraightenUpAndFlyRight
Oh noes, not the permanent record.
Trivia Question:
Who gets stitches and winds up in ditches?
s _ _ t c h _ s
(would you like to buy a vowel?)
You can spin things all you want, but you know the truth.
Fact is you just don’t like it and your feeb pal got his
ass handed to him with sprinkles and a bow on it.
Does her home have bed bugs
Yes, you're right. You told on him real good. It's always the best policy to notify the authorities rather than to mete out vigilante justice. We are, after all, a civil society with rules and laws and stuff.
#NotTheOutlawThatYouPretendToBe
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