Sometimes that guy hanging out of the Dumpster isn’t homeless but might be a frugal person who doesn’t want good things to go to waste. LOS ANGELES TIMES

“Dumpster diving” is not a new idea. In fact, the term “Dumpster diving” might be the newest part of the whole concept.

The Dempster Brothers patented the idea of the mobile trash bin in the 1930s, combining the word “dump” with their own last name. However, one can assume that the act of rummaging through other people’s discarded materials has been around just as long as mankind itself.

It seems like the only reason looking through trash to find things that can still be useful has gotten a bad rap is because of the kinds of people who have openly and willingly done so.
 
Obviously, rummaging through another’s old things isn’t all bad (think the last garage sale you went to), but diving into a trash bin is usually associated with homeless people and unsavory characters such as thieves. In fact, Charles Manson even released a song titled “Garbage Dump,” which dealt with his experiences in Dumpster diving.

But, in these modern times, Dumpster diving is becoming more and more popular, and for many reasons.

First of all, the price of almost everything is skyrocketing, jobs are getting harder to find and fuel costs are downright ridiculous. Combine this with the fact that the American society, as a whole, is typically wasteful, and you find coordinates on the hardship graph that lead directly to treasures. Dumpster treasures.

“We see furniture items, bicycles and toys pretty often,” said Ric Green, district landfill manager at Waste Management Inc.’s Covel Garden Landfill in San Antonio. “You know there are outfits out there that can take the bikes and rebuild them for charitable causes. It’s hard to see that sometimes. We stand on the side just shaking our heads, wondering how people can be so wasteful.”

It’s not uncommon for families or individuals to furnish their entire homes with stuff found in receptacles and save a few items people don’t want to pick up used, like mattresses, in the process.

A big reason people get into diving is to simply combat waste. Many people who do this have the means and resources to pay for anything or everything they need, but prefer to use stuff that would otherwise be thrown out.

But don’t go waltzing to the landfill.

“We do not allow (going through garbage) here,” Green said. “We have to get on people at our landfill because once stuff comes in here, it has to stay. But I don’t really see all the stuff in the Dumpsters until it gets out here.”

When it comes down to it, the reason to get in a Dumpster and look for free items varies by the individual. While there are common motives that certainly help to make this an appealing option, there are too many factors that could play a role in it on a case-by-case basis.

Just like anything else that people feel passionately about, diving has sprung many organizations in which hundreds, even thousands, of people get involved. Not all of them deal directly with getting into trashcans, but the idea is pretty much the same.

Texas State University has a program dubbed Pack It Up & Pass It On that takes place every summer. The university decided that too many items were going to waste when students were packing up after graduation or when they were moving back home for the summer. This event was started so students could donate what they didn’t need, couldn’t fit into their cars or simply didn’t want anymore.

The San Antonio Express-News reported that local United Way agencies, the San Marcos Housing Authority, schools and the Texas State University Office of Community Relations distribute vouchers that give people access to the Pack It Up & Pass It On event and that in 2007, about 800 families got help from the event.

“It takes the volunteers three days to sort through all of this,” said Kim Porterfield, Texas State’s director of community relations. “Our goal is to get rid of all of it.”

On Craigslist.com, people can list items they don’t want anymore, often for free, so that other people can come pick them up. Freecycle.org is a large organization set up to help people share unwanted items, all for free.

Freegans.info, which is based in New York, is an organization that is set up not only to coordinate events related to recycling goods, but also to provide information on how to live a better, less wasteful life.

Because of organizations such as Freegan.info, New York City seems to be the hotspot for most of the actual organizations and planned diving events, but they happen all over the U.S. and the world. Individuals dive and rummage in their spare time to support themselves and relatives.

San Antonio surely has a large number of Dumpster divers, so think twice about blowing them off as dirty and poor if you see them in the act. Hell, everyone should try this at least once. Even if you don’t find anything useful, it’s definitely a unique experience.

Sam Carroll | 210SA contributor