Free Garbage
"One man's trash is another man's treasure"
Who knows how you actually arrived on this page, reading information on how to get free garbage? Perhaps it was simple curiosity. Perhaps you have an overwhelming need to get something for free. Or perhaps you're interested in making a political statement.
The fact is, when observing and researching the different ways to get actual, real, tangible items for free, the topic of finding things in the trash came up so often that that any "free" information website would need to at least deal with the subject. This page has some merit because the one case I've read about where someone lived absolutely free, without money, was someone who made use of items that were thrown away. But who would really want to live like that?
"Get items for free! Find them in the garbage." That pitch seems like it would be a dead-end for most people, if not everybody. Of course you can get anything for free out of the garbage. Its stuff people have thrown away, so they obviously don't want it.
The big question is, "can I get anything nice or useful for free from the trash"? Due to the number of affirmative examples, one can't deny that the answer to that question is a resounding YES!
While growing up in Arizona, I spent a lot of time at my cousin's house. He had a neighbor who had made a "retired" career out of finding items in the garbage. I remember going to his house and seeing the treasures that his neighbor had given to his family. His family also suspiciously had a big free bag of Einstein Bagels on a common basis. Despite the wondrous items his neighbor found, I never believed that anyone could convince me that getting things out of the garbage would be a great way to get things for free.
That was long before I became an apartment manager in Berkeley, California, just two blocks south of the University of California (UC Berkeley). The move-out periods between semesters were crazy! People would try to get everything they owned moved out in the small period of time that was available between their last final and the last day of their contract. The City of Berkely has to put out giant trash bins every two blocks to handle the volume of trash that goes out during that week. The trash bin in my apartment complex gets more than its fair share. (I know, I'm the one who has to clean it up).
So whats the deal here? Is there some class that every student at UC Berkeley has to take, which teaches them to religiously create high volumes of garbage at the end of every semester? I can guarantee that if there was such a class, the university would have tree sitters all over campus protesting at how such an anti-green philosophy is ruining our planet.
What percentage of that garbage being thrown away is useful? Anecdotally, I'd say that at least 90% of the items thrown away were used on a regular basis, up until about 10 minutes before they were found in the garbage. These items -- books, clothing, furniture, couches, desks, movies, electronics, and practically anything a college student would have -- were simply things that the college students didn't have the means to move. They didn't have time, money, or transportation to move it, so they just threw it away.
I remember one particular occasion: My wife and I had been planning to buy a combo VCR-DVD player in order to occupy less space than two separate machines. When I was cleaning the dumpster area of our apartment complex I happened to find one. I thought, "no one would throw this away if worked, but I'll try it just in case I get lucky." Sure enough, it worked! I just saved $70 because I was open-minded enough to try it.
Here is another example: One of the websites featured on The Classified Ads page is Freecycle.org. This website was specifically created in order to reduce waste by providing a means by which people can give and get items for free. The fact that such an organization can not only exist, but thrive, is a testament that too many people, and not just college students, actually throw away good, useful items.
I can imagine how this problem of useful items being thrown away began before the internet. Unless a person was part of a large family, member of a church, or some other organization, they could find themselves in a position of needing to get rid of something and not having anyone to give it to. Now we have the internet, and the wonderful services it provides, such as classified ads, Yahoo! and Google groups, social networking sites, forums, chat sites, and a variety of different ways for two people to connect, even if they're perfect strangers. Yet, at the end of every semester, even in a green-conscious town such as Berkeley, California, my complex dumpster gets so full that it takes 2-3 weeks to get it all cleared out.
One cannot write about this topic without at least mentioning the Freegans. A "freegan" is usually one that has taken "dumpster diving" to the level of political protest. By definition, they're in a position to buy things but choose not to because they know they have the option of getting something for free, even if they have to swallow their pride and get it out of the trash. Their anti-consumerism philosophy is enough to motivate their practice. The purpose of ActuallyFree.info is not to promote any kind of political agenda. However, if anyone has enough of a desire to get something for free, they can learn a lot from someone who has made it a regular part of their life by looking for items in the garbage.
Check out the hair on the redhead guy! Huh? Yeah!
Willing to Look in the Trash? Try these tips:
- Find out when your city takes large items. You'll find lots of furniture and TVs.
- Look in a college town at the end of every semester.
- Be very, VERY cautious with dairy, eggs, and other meat products. In fact, anything you eat will be at your own risk!
- Find good dumpster diving spots at Freegan.info.
- Make sure dumpster diving isn't illegal in your state.
- Watch How To Be a Freegan at Howcast.com.
- trashwiki.org/en/Main_Page - a wiki created by and for dumpster divers
- Go to your local library or find resources online for learning simple electronics repairs. That way any of the electronics you find will be useful to you, whether they're broken or not.
Alternatives to Getting Items out of the Trash
If you consider the garbage to be off limits, then there are ways to get items before they're thrown away.
Make use of the internet - The classified ads, Freecycle.org, Yahoo! and Google groups, forums, Social Networking, etc. all provide ways for people to give and get items for free.
Garage sales - Go to garage sales and offer to haul away whatever is left at the end
of the day. You must be willing to haul everything. An article at
WikiHow even suggests making business cards for this so they can call
you when they're done. Then you can keep what you like and take the
rest to good will or have the Salvation Army come pick it up.
Apartment managers - contact and get to know the managers of local apartment buildings, especially ones that have storage space. If you're willing to help them clear out some of the stuff left behind, I highly doubt they'd charge you for it.
"Fresh" Baked Goods - Go to a local bagel or doughnut shop that guarantees "fresh" baked
goods everyday. This means they bake new goods every day even if they
had leftovers the day before. If employees don't take them home then
they just throw them away. It never hurts to ask the manager if you can
take them for free.
Leftover Pizza - Pizza delivery places that can't find the location where the pizza is supposed to be delivered don't save the pizza and sell it the next day. Often their employees take the pizzas home, but if the employees have worked there for a while then they're probably sick of pizza.
Local Mini Mart - Get to be good friends with the late-night workers at the local
mini-mart (Circle K, Seven Eleven, AM/PM, etc.). Sometimes they'll give
you free food, (hot dogs, drinks, pretzels, etc.). They have policies
to throw food away if its been in the heater for a certain period of
time (like a day or so, I'm guessing). They might give it to you
instead. And yes its still edible. If someone wanted to buy it 5
minutes before cleanup time they would have no problem selling it
without legal worries. My brother is actually great at being friends
the way I'm describing here. Every time he goes to the Circle K by our
parents house the cashier won't even let him pay for a soda refill if
he tried. (That's actually another tip. Bring your own cup since
sometimes their inventory is based on the number of cups they have, not
what comes out of the soda fountain)
Contact, and Be Polite - For any type of item that you might want for free, simply find the store that sells it, contact the manager, and be polite. Some will let you take stuff off their hands because its not selling and they need to fill the shelves with items that do sell. Others may not want you bother them again. But you never know unless you try, and the worst that can happen is they'll say, "no".
More Related External Sites
blog.newsweek.com/blogs/freegangirl
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeganism
Other Actually Free info related to this page:
Keywords: scavenger freebies, dumpster diving, freegan movement, active stance against consumerism, free garbage, free food
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