Before you turn your nose up and say "you gotta be kidding" hear me out. Americans throw away a lot of stuff. Years ago when I was painting for a living we painted a lot of new housing. A lot of apartments and condos. I took to going in after the plumbers were done roughing and gathering any old copper laying around. An 8 unit apartment building had 2 bathrooms, a kitchen and laundry room in each apartment. They would cut off what extra pipe was sticking out of the drywall and leave it lay. I'd throw it all in a 5 gallon bucket and take it home. People used to laugh at me and I'd ask them "if you're walking down the street and you see a $10 bill do you pass it up because it's not a $20?". Made them think and besides I'd have $100 worth of scrap surprisingly fast. Skip to present. I'm on disability and haven't painted in almost 15 years so the opportunities aren't there like they used to be but there is a lot to be found in dumpsters. I never even considered it until last fall. I like to go to the park and read. There's a power substation out there and I noticed some work being done out there one day. I got curious and went to the dumpster when they were gone for the day. Copper wire bonanza! I loaded it up and brought it home. 5-6 foot lengths of cable. Each with 19 wires in them. Took some work and I got real good at stripping wire but I now have 42 pounds of what they call "bare bright". The highest being paid for it locally right now is $3.36 per pound. $140 worth of trash and I still have to strip at least 10 pounds of lower grade at about $3 per pound. This whole scenario got me more curious so I started doing a bit of research. For starters dumpster diving is legal in all 50 states. You'd be surprised how many people do it. Hell, there's even blogs about it, what they've found, where to find stuff etc. I also started talking to people locally. A guy told me he had a few friends that do it. One hits a KFC after closing. Seems they just box up what didn't sell and throw it away. No, I haven't resorted to diving for food but when you look at it it's exactly what they charge an arm and a leg for and it's free. He also told me of a guy that knows the delivery schedule of a Family Dollar near him. Apparently if they have slightly damaged goods (in the box) it gets tossed. He pulls it out and sells it at half price. Just so happens there's a Family Dollar a block from my house. I check those dumpsters pretty often. Nothing great so far but did get some real nice Tupperware. Set must have been mismatched or something. Brand new with lids and free. I saw the same stuff in the store for $10 and there was way more than what I saw on the shelves. So I went by today and noticed a new industrial dumpster there. Something going on so I took a peek. Must be doing some new construction in the back room and a lot of good, reusable wood in there. Just need to knock out some nails and it's ready to repurpose. Have you priced wood lately? Expensive! My wheels are turning but I think I'll make a raised bed for the garden with it. Free wood to help me grow fresh veggies. Hell, most of my garden already is in 5 gallon buckets from my painting days. Got those buckets free too. There's also a countertop about 10 feet long that even has a drawer in it. If I can manage to get it out it's coming home with me. I figure it would make a good outdoor work bench and who cares how the weather abuses it. It's free. Now I don't literally climb into dumpsters. Not in my health. I could probably get in but I'd never get out. That would be an interesting phone call to make. I have a grabber from when I broke my hip. Helps me get to stuff. Sometimes I just can't get to it but oh well. Never look a gift horse in the mouth right? So I guess you might say dumpster diving is a new hobby. I'll have ya'll over for dinner some time. KFC!
Well I got the countertop complete with working drawer and back splash. It was a lot of work but worth it. A lot of good wood as well. Enough to make a 2x4 raised bed, supports for the countertop and some leftover. The countertop will go next to my shed. I'm thinking of building a more proper outdoor cooking area with brick (which my neighbor will give me) cinder blocks and rebar. I figure I might have to invest $20. I see setups like this all the time on Man, Fire, Food. In addition to this I actually pulled some food out of there. Cooking some right now as a matter of fact. Sealed bags of a rice pilaf and bean mix. Probably 20 bags and if it's nasty no big deal. If it's decent I'll doctor it up to make it tastier. I also figured out that it's not from Family Dollar. It's from the Christian center next door. At the beginning of the pandemic they were giving food away. I was at Family Dollar and when I came out they said they were giving food out for 15 minutes and what they couldn't give would be thrown out. So I took a bag of free food. Pretty good actually. Some frozen pulled pork, a pound of cheddar cheese and some canned goods. Wonder if that's why the rice pilaf is in there. It states right on the package that it was donated and not for resale. Time to give it a shot.
So I got the wood and got my countertop. Great. I noticed a few boxes that were taped shut so I managed to dig one out. It was kind of heavy. Full of ceramic coffee cups. The other some nice glasses. I figured I could have a yard sale sometime and maybe get a half a buck or so for each and there were probably 50 or so. I showed the coffee cups to my wife. Her grandfather was a salesman for the Don company that sells to restaurants. She said they were restaurant quality cups. Nice and designed to last as it were. The bottoms read Shenango China so I did a bit of research. Shenango was around for quite some time out of Pennsylvania. They closed for good in 1991 and now the stuff is rather sought after. Even the more common patterns of coffee cups will fetch at least $2-3. So I went back to the ole dumpster. Dug deeper and I'll be damned I now have more cups, various plates, serving trays and saucers. This stuff is all new and was (still is actually) individually wrapped in paper. I'm glad it was close as I would fill up the car, bring it home then go back for more. I have no room in the house or shed for it so I now have I figure at least 300 pieces in my back yard by the shed. When I was working at the coin shop I got to know people that deal in other things as well. A local guy named Ernie is very knowledgeable in a lot of stuff and will sell damn near anything. A nice guy and I know him well so tomorrow I'm going to bring a few pieces to him. I figure he'll do a bit more research and maybe we can make a deal. On top of this I heard on the radio today that vintage dishes are rather hot right now. People looking at there dishware more during the pandemic. Honestly I figure I can make $500 or so when all is said and done. All because I spotted some wood in a dumpster.
Hey, if you are into wood, I can hook you up with some premium product man! I have friend build a 10 million dollar house near by and he knew I was into woodworking so he called me over and said that I could have all the scrap wood I wanted. And by scrap, I mean some long pieces both thin and wide and some of it cut into 3/4 tongue and groove flooring pieces. The interesting part is that this wood was dredged up from the bottom of Lake Superior. It was from logging boats back in the 1800's that sank and the wood was preserved by the icy cold water. We are moving in the next year and I am ready to chuck all of it.
Mr. Nation the wood you described goes for big money. I'd look into it if I were you. Probably some real good money there.
Now back to that dumpster which is now gone. I've been washing, tabulating and organizing dishes for days. Slow going as I've not been feeling real hot. Had a minor pancreas attack two Sundays ago. Not worthy of a hospital visit but a pain (literally) nonetheless and slows me down. Over 160 plates. Now I'm into cups, saucers and glasses. Over 100 pieces to go. I contacted replacements.com about some and although they are interested I'm putting that on the back burner. At this point I think the bulk will be listed on Craigslist to move it fast. I also pulled a lot of black hair care products. Wigs still priced as well as hair extensions made from real hair. A half dozen new handbags as well. All for sale folks so step right up. I still think I can possibly get $500 our of this dumpster which would ultimately pay for my gardening. In addition to things for sale I got a roughly 5-1/2 by 3 foot file cabinet that's about 18 inches deep. Some see scrap metal. I see a raised bed. The neighbor helped me get that. Also a few nice plastic bins (more raised beds) and some five gallon buckets. I'll be more successful than Oliver Wendel Douglas when all is said and done.
Made my first $20 on dishes yesterday. Sold them to my phlebotomist. She drew my blood Friday and I'm there so often we're on a first name basis. Mentioned the dishes to her and she said she wanted some. That buys dirt for the raised beds. Actually planted some bok choy in a bin that I got from that dumpster yesterday. Today I started some indoor seeds in styrofoam bowls that came from the dumpster as well.
you can buy bok choy, eat it, and replant those roots too. also green onions, celery, probably other veggies
More wood. That's todays theme. So I went for a look see where I got the original wood, dishes etc. from. There's a car dealership at the other end of the tiny strip mall. I noticed some wood tucked back in a corner by the building so I took a peek. Good stuff. As a matter of fact so good I figured I better ask them about it. So I went back the next day and asked about it. They told me to call them in an hour or so when the owner would be there. I called and the owner said take it if I wanted. Been working on that for the past few days. 2x4 and 2x6. Most are 16 foot long. Some have a few screws but no biggie. I can get those out. Also 8 4x8 sheets of 3/4 inch particle board. As soon as the sun comes up I'm going to try and get that on top of the car and haul it home. Only a block away. I figure eventually I'll make more raised beds and some shelves for underneath my outdoor countertop area. Hell, I'm considering putting a roof over the countertop area now. Maybe a bigger greenhouse? Got a lot of wood to use up.
My neighborhood has a lot of extremely retired people. Whenever one of them moves on, their kids swoop in that toss most everything they own to the curb. The kids take the cash from the sale of the house and dump all of the stuff their parents spent a lifetime collecting. Some of the stuff is amazing. I love the jigsaw puzzles, the lamps, the garden equipment, the umbrellas, and a thousand other freebies. It's like Christmas for scavengers.
These are the type of neighborhoods I need to find. It's funny. As I talk to more people the more I find that are "scavengers" like me. As I mentioned earlier I was working on hauling wood home as of late. It's tough getting 4x8 sheets with my car. I have to put them on the roof and take one at a time. My physical condition makes that painstaking and if the wind is too high forget it. It's always windy here so I managed to get 5 until yesterday. My neighbor came home from work yesterday and he had the last three in his pickup. He stopped by and picked them up on his way home from work. He was going to help me the past few Sundays but his son had been over with their new grandson so he got sidetracked. He was all apologetic like he owed me something. A real nice guy. Hell, he's taking my lawnmower (which was free - long story) to get repairs along with his this week. I haven't been capable of cutting my own lawn for a few years now. His kid or wife have been doing it (I do pay them). Really looking forward to cutting my own lawn. I don't care if it takes a few days to do it which I figure it will. But back to dumpster diving. A new dumpster back behind the Christian center. I pulled some 14-23 inch pieces of 2x12 boards out yesterday. I think they're remodeling in there. I could here them working and there's a lot of old carpeting in the dumpster. It's covering up more wood but it's too heavy for me to move. Still, the 2x12s will be used to reinforce my raised bed. I hope to start work on that today but it's raining now and I don't want to be cutting wood in the rain. The raised bed will be 6x3-1/2 feet to fit the area I'll put it in. All free except the dirt!
