|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 2:05 pm
Okay, im in college now, and can drive(and am paying for all my classes out of pocket). I really wanna try freeganism, and doin a little dumpster diving. biggrin
Thing is im a coward. xD
*sadness* any "pros" with tips?
There's a computer repair shop near the walmart, so I think I can look in their dumpster, who knows? A friend gave me a flash drive she thought didn't work(when she plugged it in her computer it wouldn't work) but when I tested it on mine, i ran a diagnostics thing and got it working!(she's getting it back, i keep forgetting to bring it to RPG club, lol) Perhaps I'll find some snazzy stuff that I can fix up? My dad is thinking of getting a removable hard drive(the plug in ones). I might even find spare parts for my laptop! biggrin
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 6:53 am
Back when I was in high school the lead singer in my old band used to dumpster dive at hostess and bring us expired but still good boxes of junk food. Then they caught him and started locking the dumpster. For something packaged like that or for goods, ok. But I wouldn't do it with anything too perishable like produce.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 11:45 am
My Grandad found my first ever violin in a skip. It was missing a couple of pegs and a bridge, but hey! Free violin! heart
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2011 6:05 am
Could I? Sure. Would I? Nope. Though it does sicken me how much edible food people throw away, I'd rather be able to buy what I want than live like a hobo gonk
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 11:18 am
I love digging through dumpsters to find little treasures. My friend and I used to dig through the school dumpsters all the time! But this was for things like chairs, books and unused school supplies.
Now food? I'm not sure. I probably wouldn't mind trying it out. But i'm not sure I could depend on this lifestyle for my entire diet.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 8:32 am
Oh yes yes. Many MANY grocery stores around here have a nasty habit of throwing away perfectly good food&beer that is still packaged, unopened. Midnight runs to Trader Joes often are very fruitful. xp
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 10:18 pm
heart I LOVE FREE FOOD. heart
I've dumpstered huge bags of bagels from Noah's, boxes of SEALED, near-fresh food [overstock or something?] and more blueberry scones than I could eat myself. Most of this stuff is in a bag, separated from the bugs and dumpster juices. There's no way to tell, by taste or otherwise, that it had ever been in the trash.. If that's eating like a "hobo", then the hobos have it pretty good.
Basic tips: travel at night, bring a bike or a wagon instead of a car.. some things to consider bringing include rubber gloves, clothes you don't mind getting funky, plastic bags for separating/carrying the goods.. if you don't find anything promising on the first run, check back a few times throughout the week.
A lot of the large-scale chain grocery stores have compacters, so steer clear of those. Also you're more likely to get hassled by employees/cops with those $$$ hungry stores (depending on the nature of locale, they may consider it 'stealing'.. even though that's RIDICULOUS) But the smaller, more friendly shops are worth checking out... they usually have better food, anyway.
Also, protip: check out college campuses after the dorms clear out. you'd be shocked and amazed at some of the stuff the students throw out..
~~also: please clean up the area when you're done. unfortunately messy scavengers can ruin a good spot for the rest of us sad
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 7:27 pm
Stuff from garbage, yes.
Food from garbage, no way.
Food growing wild along the sidewalk, totally razz
I'm on the lookout for wild berry bushes right now, actually.
My uncle used to work for a place that trucked bread products around, they pulled things a few days before the exp date, so we got all kinds of Eat-It-Fast bread products (including non-frozen toaster waffles, they come like bread, soft, they were SOGOOD)
My boyfriend worked for M&M Meats for about a year, we got severely outdated food from that sometimes, the owners were so effing cheap they left things in the freezer in the back for literally years sometimes refusing to let anyone take it home yet, but since it was frozen some of it would still be fine. I had to remind him to look at the dates though because he brought home some 3-years-expired (frozen) cream sauce and that is just way too iffy for me. A month, sure, a year, no. We also got freezerburnt chicken and anything that got cut or broken open, and a lot of ice cream the one time the freezer broke for an unsafe amount of hours (4 or something, still fine just not good enough to sell)
I have actually grabbed twigs from someone's tree-cutting-garbage pile twice since we moved, to put in my planters for my plants to climb. Even common things can be useful somehow.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 6:20 am
Yeah...I'll usually try just about anything, but I don't know about this. I'm already having trouble attempting to be a vegan. (It's like quitting a bad habit or obsession, very difficult.) I have dumpster dived before when I was younger though! You wouldn't believe all the awesome stuff I found! Then again I was younger, of course plasticine was awesome. biggrin We also go around town during spring cleaning and see what's good. Lessens what gets put into the dump. But as some people already said, I draw the line at food.
I do know some restaurants that instead of throwing food out, leave them out in designated areas for people to just go and take if they want them.
We also used to know this guy in town who was freegan, lived to be like seventy. He picked everything up off the ground if it was safe, even his cigarettes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 5:54 pm
dont pick it out of the trash if they own a dog that may puke or go potty indoors lol.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 5:59 pm
neon light diamond heart I LOVE FREE FOOD. heart I've dumpstered huge bags of bagels from Noah's, boxes of SEALED, near-fresh food [overstock or something?] and more blueberry scones than I could eat myself. Most of this stuff is in a bag, separated from the bugs and dumpster juices. There's no way to tell, by taste or otherwise, that it had ever been in the trash.. If that's eating like a "hobo", then the hobos have it pretty good. Basic tips: travel at night, bring a bike or a wagon instead of a car.. some things to consider bringing include rubber gloves, clothes you don't mind getting funky, plastic bags for separating/carrying the goods.. if you don't find anything promising on the first run, check back a few times throughout the week. A lot of the large-scale chain grocery stores have compacters, so steer clear of those. Also you're more likely to get hassled by employees/cops with those $$$ hungry stores (depending on the nature of locale, they may consider it 'stealing'.. even though that's RIDICULOUS) But the smaller, more friendly shops are worth checking out... they usually have better food, anyway. Also, protip: check out college campuses after the dorms clear out. you'd be shocked and amazed at some of the stuff the students throw out.. ~~also: please clean up the area when you're done. unfortunately messy scavengers can ruin a good spot for the rest of us sad i find things that are different like this to be interesting, since you actually have had success doing this rather than just in theory. I suppose it might be possible to live entirely for free if someone figured it out right, including regular baths or cloth washings as well, but if i ever had the temptation to try this id be soooo embarressed i prolly wouldnt do it unless i was with someone else who was showing me how lol. Though i do prefer healthy food. So what made you try this out anyways?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 6:02 pm
Wompus Oh yes yes. Many MANY grocery stores around here have a nasty habit of throwing away perfectly good food&beer that is still packaged, unopened. Midnight runs to Trader Joes often are very fruitful. xp free beer? what if its recalled for contamination or something? XD i dont get why theyd throw it away unless they planned on keeping it or they were giving it purposely to sum1 lol
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 7:17 pm
As far as taking food out of dumpsters at grocery stores i should inform you guy's that when we throw stuff out its for good reason usually beer and soda in the garbage is usually there because its expired or it was recalled for a contamination reason. Frozen food even if the box or bag is fine is thrown out usually because it sat out at room temp for too long or was allowed to thaw out and is no longer considered safe food. Dairy products anything approaching the expiration date is marked down and then on the day of expiration it gets tossed. Standard dry items from the grocery isles get thrown out if the package is damaged or if a can top isn't sealed or if the outside of the container is messed up in some way (tiny dents are usually fine but big dents or tops that are popped up indicate there may be something seriously wrong with the item)
I work in a grocery store and those are just some of the things that get thrown away. As a rule of thumb for those of you who may get foods out of the garbage remember that just because it's still in the package and sealed doesn't mean its safe. We get recall notices like once a week for various things from metal shavings in beer can's due to a machine not being maintained properly to e-coli in the peanut butter. As far as produce that stuff gets tossed whenever its too close to its expiration date or start's wilting or gets slimy depending on the veg and it goes into the same trash as everything else so it can easily become contaminated too.
If you're gonna consume stuff out of the trash make sure you clean it well, even the outsides of your canned goods and such. Keep up to date on recalls and look up products to see if there are any recalls on them. Tip and shake any and all containers to see if there are leaks and use good judgement.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 7:28 pm
I would never get food out of the dumpster. Now, I have taken the expired-by-a-day-or-two bread and baked goods from a store. I got them donated because we were feeding them to 'animals.' (Humans are animals.) xd
Now, I love to dumpster dive near universities at the end of the year. Students cannot take all the stuff they bought in the past nine months and hauling it down to the Goodwill takes effort so into the trash it goes. You can get all kinds of perfectly good clothes, furniture and books that you can sell on half.com. If you have the chance, you should try it!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 8:18 am
We have dumpster dived off and on for years. Everything from food to guitars, binoculars, power tools, furniture has come to our house, or someone else's, courtesy of the dumpster. We've never had any problems with anything.
As for expiration dates----remember that an expiration date is a relatively new addition to marketing. We lived without expiration dates until the '80's without mass deaths from bad food. If it smells bad, don't eat it. Simple!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
