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35 Times People Went ‘Dumpster Diving’ And Didn’t Regret It (New Pics)
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. In fact, if you look closely, that massive trash can outside of your apartment building or behind the mall might be holding many items that anyone would consider gems.
We’ve taken a trip to the Dumpster Diving subreddit to see some of the most amazing finds people have discovered while digging through the trash. From groceries for the entire week to brand new sneakers to beautiful furniture, you genuinely never know what you’re going to find when rummaging through garbage. So enjoy viewing the pics on this list, and be sure to upvote the ones that have inspired you to take a peek into your building’s dumpster!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Found This Guy In Dumpster Few Days Ago
RELATED:
#2
Pet Food When I Wasn’t Even Going To Go Out
Start out with just a little back story… we rescue special needs dogs. Some have emotional issues. Some are deaf. There have been neurological issues (a hydro that lived only 9 weeks… we had him 3 days before he crossed the rainbow bridge in his sleep). I sometimes worry about running short on pet food. I would go without long before I would let them do without. I get delivery every few weeks to know I’m staying ahead.
Tonight I was planning on going to the second hand store to get some shorts… pick up mower gas… long day at work… almost didn’t go.
But we did
Almost didn’t swing by the dumpster (it’s one we have gotten a crap ton of Starbucks k-cups and we almost always get something here that will help. Wasn’t going to swing by. But I did.
Peeked in and almost cried. 200+ pounds of dog food. Cat food for my son’s rescue cat. Cat litter for my son’s rescue cat.
Some days I can see the little rays of sunshine.
#3
God I Love Working In Waste Disposal
#4
Found A Brand New Singer Sc220. The Box Said Damaged, But It Works Perfect. Psyched
#5
Found These Letters From 1938 In The Construction Dumpster At A Senior Care Place I Was Working At Doing Remodel Work
#6
60's Armchair Restoration
#7
Dd Gods Were Smiling Down On Me Tonight
#8
Found A Sealed Box At The Dump. Found Inside Brand New Unopened Auto Tracking Telescope
#9
Found At The Dump 19th Century Mahogany Plant Stand
#10
A School Had Thrown These Fossils In The Dumpster. The Claw And Tooth At The Top Are Casts, But Everything Else Is Legit!
#11
Found These Two In The Rubbish Today
#12
Dug This Late 50s Bike In A Dumpster At An Apartment On The Way To Work
#13
West Elm Plates! A Set Of 8. A Distinguished Gentleman, Animal Collection
Manda Hart 3 years ago
I think this series is out of production, because I can't find any of the Distinguished Gentlemen plates available anymore. This is an incredible find.
#14
Found A Box Being Tossed With Some Old Japanese Money And Two Books From The Late 1800's Inside!
#15
Why Just Chuck This??
#16
Just Saved These From The Dump
#17
Got This Awesome Chair From A Curb Today
#18
Found This Bad Boy Near The Trashcans Of My Apartment's Parking Lot. It'd Been Out There A Week And A Half. Even Rained On A Little Bit. Didn't Expect To Power On At All
#19
I Saw A Free Couch On The Side Of The Road So I Dug In The Cushions For Change And Found A $100 Chip For A Local Casino
#20
Free Floor Upgrade
Found 90+ planks of SPC flooring in the common park construction dumpster , perfectly timed! I was just debating upgrading the floor in my bathroom, but didn’t want to spend the $$$ prior to moving. 60 full planks remain after this project, so i’ll be doing my kitchen next!
This dumpster has been a goldmine!
#21
Cool Looking Lamp I Found On A Curb
#22
Shoe Store Recycling Dumpster Boxes Are Great For Shipping, And Today I Got Lucky And Found A Brand New Pair Of Converse!
#23
Pulled This Sweet Solid Wood Desk Off The Curb
#24
Found This Guy With A Bunch Of Letters And Photos From The Early 1900s. The Baby In The Pictures Was Born In 1919, So Probably From Around Then
#25
Well Looks Like I'll Be Making Garden This Summer!
#26
My Friend Found Kitchenaid In A Dumpster
The goodest boi 3 years ago
I have the same one at home, except it has a more rough texture. It should come with 3 attachment pieces.
#27
My First Dive.... Saw A "Store Closing" Sign And Thought. Hmm
I'm hooked I saw these and grabbed them all.
Johnnie Vernoy 3 years ago
As someone who's working a closing bed bath and beyond and had to toss all our displays: I wish I would be there when this person realized these were dummy models with no internal parts lol!
#28
I'm Currently Living In A Small College Town. The Dumpsters Are Gold Mines Right Now
#29
Happy Belated Easter, And Reminder From Jesus That Capitalism Is A Broken System Which Puts Profits Over People!
All from the trash bin of a single local bakery, on a single night... All unexpired. Sad and angry they'd just trash it, instead of donating, brightening some child's day.
#30
Pulled From A Dumpster A Couple Weeks Ago. Perfect Condition. My Cat Likes It
#31
Found A Working 48 Inch TV And Ps3 On The Side Of The Road!
Wasn't even looking, I came home and saw it next door
#32
My High School Gave Me Permission To Search Their E-Waste Trash And I Found A 24 Inch 2008 Imac In Almost Perfect Condition
#33
Back In 2018, I Found 15 Used Iphones At My Works Electrical Waste Bin
I switched screens and batteries between them and got 6 fully functional phones that i sold for 500£. 30 minutes well spent.
Tyranamar Seuss 3 years ago
If I'm sending electronics to be recycled I'm trusting the recycling place to destroy all the info. I don't like this at all. The recycling companies make money off the parts. This is basically stealing.
#34
Yo Who Throws Away Pac-Man?
Jrog 3 years ago (edited)
Arcade 1Up Pacman Countercade. Modern replica of a Pacman cabinet in tabletop version. About 150$ new, but the second hand market is flooded with those (especially the tabletop version). The screen is LCD -not CRT as the original-, and the electronics on these are way below top-notch quality. Admitting everything works properly, it's not worth much, possibly about 100$ to the right buyer.
#35
Found Three Shoebox Containers Of LEGO In A Roll Off In A Chuck E Cheese Parking Lot
#36
The Dumpster Always Provides
Broke as HELL this month. Didn't know how I was going to afford decent Mother's Day gifts for my mom and grandma, both wonderful women who deserve so much.
These Bogg Bags retail for $90 each and are super popular where I live. Retrieved them with the umbrella in my car while dangling over the side in flip flops.
They cut the strap on one, but I was able to improvise. So relieved I'm able to give them something great and pay my light bill this month.
Manda Hart 3 years ago
Found a month ago ... not retailing on amazon for 2x-3x. If anyone needs a replacement strap/handle for one of these, they can be found also on amazon.
#37
Jackpot
#38
My First Time Was A Great Success! Tons Of Fresh Peppers, As Well As Apples, Lettuce, A Dog Bed, And A Jacket. So Stoked!
#39
My First Dumpster Diving Score. Of The 10 Bowls In The Set, Only 1 Small One Was Broken. Thanks W&s!
#40
Sunbeam Toaster, Circa 1949, Saved From A Dumpster In The Neighborhood
#41
Girlfriend’s Parents Found This On The Side Of The Road
#42
My Wife Has Been Wanting These Chairs. My Dad Is Always Finding Cool Stuff People Are Throwing Away, So I Told Him To Keep An Eye Out. A Few Weeks Later…
Agnes Jekyll 3 years ago
Saw very similar chairs at an estate sale a year ago, and they were going for over 100 each.
#43
Do Curbside Finds Count? My Neighbors Left This Huge Dollhouse With All The Dolls And Furniture Out My Their Trash!!
StumblingThroughLife 3 years ago
I always put out stuff that can still be used at the side/end of my drive near the pavement, when it's getting dark, and it's always gone by morning (I'm just off the corner of a main road). I don't often have time to take them to charity shops, and lately, the high prices they charge for stuff nowadays puts me off a fair bit.
#44
My Pyrex Finds Next To A Thrift Store’s Dumpster
#45
So Much Fruit And Veggies! My Car Actually Had Trouble Accelerating Due To The Weight
#47
Was Going To Buy A New Office Chair At An Auction Last Week, Passed On Them And Found This Today. $1500 Herman Miller Aeron Chair
#48
Curbside Find! This Briefcase Looking Piece Folds Out Into A Table And 4 Chairs!
#49
Glad I Didn’t Skip This “Empty From A Distance” Dumpster!
#50
All New. Worth First Run In With Mall Security
Wintermute 3 years ago
I worked in security for a long time. I stopped policing dumpsters pretty quickly. Shameful what gets tossed out. If it's unsafe for some reason, yeah, I'll roust ya. But 90% of the time I hope somebody gets something good out of it.
#51
Found A Gorgeous Shelf In My Apartment’s Trash Pile Today! It Pays To Check It Frequently!
#52
May Never Need Chips Again
Stopped by DG that we just happened to be passing yesterday…. 4 thirty gallon garbage bags and 5 assorted packages boxes. 240 individual serving packages
#53
God Tier Dive Today For All You Fellow Dnd Players Out There
River Daski 3 years ago
chessex sets without their label papers. probably a parent who didnt like their kid playing.
#54
Alrighty
Sixty+ of them first stop of the night
#55
This Is Probably One Of The Most Beautiful Pieces I Will Ever Find. It Was Sitting With A Bunch Of Furniture Next To A Dumpster
#56
Had To Really Clean This Stuff Up, But Once I Did, Good To Go!
#57
Largemouth Bass Mailbox
#58
Thomas The Train Table!!!!
Upstaged75 3 years ago (edited)
Parents are always trying to give these away where I live. Facebook marketplace is full of them. Once the kid is past their "train" stage or gets too big the tables are just taking up space.
#59
6 Pairs Of Nikes, One Pair Of Brand New Keens
#60
Fourth Dorm Visit This Move Out Season
Tonight goes down as a personal best in my dumpster diving career. The dumpsters were beyond packed. Towels, more sneakers, snacks, jeans, dishwashing liquid. Just tons of stuff. I grabbed some gift cards, hoping for a few remaining dollars on the. These card were fully loaded. Looks like I'll be gassing up my car before going to Subway or Panera!
#61
I Love Finding Worthless Junk And Diying The Hell Out Of It
Errrm..wot? 3 years ago
"Kevin, is my dinner served on a hubcap?" "No, it's a metal plate." "Why does it say 'VW' on it?" "Try the salad!"
#62
3.1 Haul. 46 Bags Of Chococlate
#63
I Was Blessed By The Dumpster Gods Last Week, Not Even A Hobby Of Mine, Husband Just Happened To Spot It!
My Name Is August West 3 years ago
The thing about electronics is, I get older and they stay the same age. And he's driving Melba Toast
#64
Great Cheese Heist Of 2022
#65
Someone Ditched A Gorgeous White Leather Couch At The Complex Dumpster
Back leg is broken, but other than that it’s lovely. Put it up on a freecycling FB group, hopefully someone will grab it and keep it out of the dumpster!
#66
Found These In An Alley Next To The Trash Cans. No Way Would I Allow That Fate
#67
I Mean This Is Just The Best
Jane No Dough 3 years ago
Beautiful, they don't make them like that anymore. For good reason unfortunately, as too many fingers or tails got caught inside.
#68
Living Near A College = Free Rent 2x A Year
#69
Another Haul
#70
Found This Vintage Toy In A Dumpster Elevator Bells Still Work
Firstname Lastname 3 years ago
It's been two decades since I've had one, but I remember thoroughly enjoying this thing.
#71
Average Haul From My Honey Hole. I Sometimes Hit It Up 2-3 Times A Day To Get Each Department
#72
Where To Donate? Soldiers? Kids Programs? Nursing Homes? Help
rs_adahl1971 3 years ago
Most soldiers have access to this kind of stuff unless they're in a war zone I think. My son has been overseas twice and both bases have stores that sell American stuff. Donate it to a food bank. Treats like that are far and few between for people utilizing a food bank
#73
My Brother Grabbed This Yamaha Surround Sound From The Dumpster For Me
#74
I Present To You The Useless Fork, From The Dumpster
#75
Found This Awesome Cart At The Senior Care Construction Dumpster! Goes For Over $800 New And Is Still Perfect Functional
#76
Aldi Had Half A Dumpster Full Of Potatoes. Seems Some Got Smashed From A Shipping Issue So They Threw The Whole Pallet Out. I Grabbed As Many As I Could Fit In My Trunk
#77
Been Struggling To Afford Food Lately And Only Finding A Lot Of Empty Dumpsters. Last Night I Was Grateful To Find A Massive Haul Of Snacks And Drinks. And That Protein Powder!
#79
Got That Greens, From Aldeez
klari Carlson 3 years ago
I WOULD NOT pull food from the dumpster, I worked in school food service and we had to dump bleach on anything that was out dated and thrown away in a dumpster.
#80
Last Night's Finds
StumblingThroughLife 3 years ago
Wow! Wish the UK had such access to dumpsters. Most shopping areas and large stores /office buildings, have security fencing around the back of their property to stop 'dumpster-diving'.
#81
I Saw A Construction Dumpster Full Of These New Insulations, So I Filled My Van And Sold Them In Less Than 24 Hours
#82
Snickers Superscore!
#83
The Most Fun I’ve Had Being 30!heres To My First Dive!
#84
Sometimes You Wake Up And Hit The Jackpot. I Snagged This Miniature Donkey Rescue Calendar From My Apt Trash Room This Morning
#85
Local Overpriced Thrift Store Throws Out Tons Of Perfectly Good Items... Snagged This Air Fryer Convection Oven, It Works Just Fine. I Wish I Could Save Everything
River Daski 3 years ago
meanwhile, following blogs like ShiftyThrifting will show that certain thrift stores will put literal GARBAGE on the shelf (for example, a one-use starbucks cup. had a thrifstore price tag on it and everything. blech.)
#86
Got Called To Take This For Scrap Metal Today
#87
Cool Find, Hoping It Cleans Up Well
#88
3 Bins Of Fresh Sweet & Tasty Grapes
#90
Found A Everlast Freestanding Heavy Bag Dumpster Diving At Dicks
Pretty cool find, about 180$ in value.
#91
Found This Guy And Couldn’t Leave Him Behind - Cat For Scale
#93
How About A 1k Lounger From The Same Neighborhood Last Week. Sold In 1 Day ($360)
#94
A Dream Find, Fun Flavours Like Mint Latte, Coconut Milk , Along With The Classic!! I Didnt Take Them All
#95
Found These Lights *next To* The Dumpster!
#96
Is This How It Begins? Visiting Vegas And Found This Brand New Belt Was On Top Of The Trash Bin In Caesars Palace (No One Else Was In There). Fits Me Perfectly!
#97
Fridge Unit Broke At Aldeez. Huge Dumpster Filled To The Top With Sealed Cases Of Product. I Took All I Could Carry!
#98
Found A Broken Kobalt Shovel Leaning Against A Dumpster. They Have A Lifetime, No-Questions-Asked Warranty
#100
Found In A Box Of Mugs Being Thrown Out!
Terry Tobias 3 years ago
Back when you could get free stuff from fast food places. I have Garfield mugs from McDonalds and Care Bear glasses from Pizza Hut that I still use.
#101
Been Hoping For A Haul Like This
#102
This Made Me So Sad. Book Store Throws Out A Dumpster Filled With Books Every Week. They Don't Bother To Recycle Them
#104
Detergent, Energy Drinks, Books, And A Tiny Gnome
#107
Me Again With Another Great Find ! This Mirror Is Huge. It’s Missing A Few Of The Surrounding Mini Mirrors But I’m 100% Ok With It. I’m In Love
#108
Finally! On My Fourth Attempt I Found Something Good. This Is Approximately $750 Retail Worth Of Makeup And Perfume
#109
What To Do With A Thousand Eggs?
#110
This Right Here Is Why I Stay Diving Lol
#111
A Dumpster Rescue From Work
#112
Haul From Last Night! Hundreds Of Contact Lenses, Some Are Even My Prescription
RedBadgerCan'tSwim 3 years ago
I would definitely check to make sure these weren't a safety recall.
#113
Do Better Dunkin
Samantha Mannion 3 years ago
I managed dunkins for years!!! Used to donate our donuts to salvation army every night for their breakfast at the shelter. I don't remember why but something happened rules changed and we were no longer allowed to donate them. Only choice we had was to throw them out because they are unedible by that point...hard as rocks. I hated throwing out all those donuts....eventually we had a guy that would come pick up the donut bags every night to put outside for the deer and animals by his house. Idk how healthy it is for them but at least they were getting used for something....
#114
First Finds From College Season
#118
Chain Thrift Store Had These Vhs Tapes In A "Garbage Cart" Just Minutes From Being Compacted. Glad I Was Donating At That Very Moment
#119
Ymca Dumpsters Hit Different
#121
I Live Around Rich Uni Students. The Semester Ended And They’re All Moving Out/Around Right Now
#123
It's A Christmas Miracle! The Store's Entire Stock Of Ice Cream Was Tossed
Premislaus de Colo 3 years ago
If this was i high temperature I would leave it as it is. Melting and then refridgerating is a great way to get Salmonellosis
#124
Not In A Dumpster, But On The Side Of The Road I Found A Welder
#125
Second Major Wtf Find To Date
Add New Image
What do you think ?
River Daski 3 years ago
i'm so suspect of some of the food posts on here. having worked in a grocery store, it's true that a lot of very good food gets thrown away, but it's also very true that contaminated food gets tossed out unaltered (see: the posts of the broken aldi's fridge). stores are required to throw away food that has gone out of temperature (re: the broken fridge) because it's no longer safe. dumpster divers going for food are putting their health in danger, and if they're donating it, all those hungry people as well. and the makeup too! that can also be contaminated. society NEEDS to work on making food providers donate IMMEDIATELY upon unavailability for sale; it's the safest way people will be able to use what cant be purchased.
possessedcat101 (she/her) 3 years ago
We never throw usable things out at home. If we don't donate we have special "buy nothing" groups.
River Daski 3 years ago
i'm so suspect of some of the food posts on here. having worked in a grocery store, it's true that a lot of very good food gets thrown away, but it's also very true that contaminated food gets tossed out unaltered (see: the posts of the broken aldi's fridge). stores are required to throw away food that has gone out of temperature (re: the broken fridge) because it's no longer safe. dumpster divers going for food are putting their health in danger, and if they're donating it, all those hungry people as well. and the makeup too! that can also be contaminated. society NEEDS to work on making food providers donate IMMEDIATELY upon unavailability for sale; it's the safest way people will be able to use what cant be purchased.
possessedcat101 (she/her) 3 years ago
We never throw usable things out at home. If we don't donate we have special "buy nothing" groups.
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