After my yong tau fu incident, I thought I hit the jackpot, you know, like when we think we have earned enough money and deserve to take a break. So I didn't do much after the YTF incident.
Then on Thursday, I thought, hey I'm going to just open some dumpsters. Mind you, I do this quite casually, I just flip open the big lids of those big blue or green dumpsters. Take a look and press on the plastic bags. I try to be inconspicuous. Most of the time by pressing the plastic bags, it's possible to get some indication of what's inside the bag already. Like, general waste, then I just don't pursue that bag, or clothes, then I'll take the whole bag.
If the dumpster stinks, I'll just walk away.
Basically, I'm just doing this for fun, so I'm not going to put in significant effort to dig through the gross stuff. A lot of the bags are dry and I'm careful not to disturb overly dirty bins.
Anyway, on Thursday, I pulled a bundle of towels. I didn't take a picture of it. Obviously, I have no use for them cos I already have a lot of towels. But I know who to give them to, so...
Then I pulled some dumped food.
Lesson learnt, diving for food isn't worth the trouble. I did this just to prove a point, that I can get free food easily. But I didn't want to eat it, cos I have other food already ready in the fridge. So I had to find someone willing to accept this food. I managed to pass it on to someone else in the freegan community.
Then on Thursday evening, I decided to take a stroll around the area with my wife. I chanced upon a dumpster which contained stuff from someone clearing out their storeroom. There were porcelain plates and bowls, and other useful stuff. I didn't take most of the stuff cos I had nothing to carry the items in. I just took a stroll to have a look. I never expected to get anything. But in that dumpster I found something that I particularly liked.
I picked only this up on Thursday night to bring home despite finding a lot of other stuff.
Then on Friday, I arranged to meet someone to collect a free Epson L800 printer. She had no more use for it and I needed a printer at home, so ... hey it's free, even if it's been used why not? I never bought a printer cos I don't print much stuff and I feel it's a waste of money but... this one is free so I collected it from her place which is pretty near were I stay.
And on Friday evening, I decided to take another walk. Now I don't feel much when I open dumpsters. Initially, I would feel paiseh to open the dumpster and press the bags and take stuff out. Now, it's just another normal action. I'm actually pretty excited when I open a dumpster, cos I never know what I'm going to find. Some folks in the community find LV bags, it's a bit dirty but... hey it's FREE!!!
So on my walk... during the early part of my evening stroll... I found...
Epson L300... what are the chances. From no printer to 2 printers in less than 24 hours.
Anyway, I haven't tested both the printers. The one given to me is supposed to work. The one that I found... that's a different story, anyway, I'll sell it off if it doesn't work.
But there was a problem. It was only the start of my evening stroll and I had to carry a printer? I didn't want to carry it with my hands for my whole journey. I didn't bring any trolley along so...
Oh no... what now...
Oh wait... what's that beside the dumpster...
So I walked around for around 1 hour and here are what I found...
And whole load of bags. When I was walking beside a dumpster, I saw 2 ladies carry down a big plastic bag of bags to dump. And when they put it down beside the dumpster, I just loaded it on the pram.
This was my haul for around 1 hour of walking. It was pretty fun. Never thought I would be enjoying it as much as I do. It also gives me an excuse to go out and take evening walks, and since I don't get much exercise, I think it's at least something.
Anyway, I made my way back home and laid out the stuff and wiped it down and everything. Most of the stuff didn't make it into my house, I kept them in the riser. Only the printer made it in and I wiped it clean.
The pram I brought it down to the dumpster downstairs and left it at the disposal area.
(I kinda regret that now, cos I don't have a trolley to take on my future walks anymore. And this pram had 2 levels to carry stuff, most trolleys only have 1 level.)
Ok, so I'm sure you guys would be wondering what I'm going to be doing with all these.
The bags, I know what I'm going to do with them, I have a way to get rid of all of them so that's fine. The helmet was an interesting find. No, I'm not going to use it... ewww... I don't know what I'm going to be doing with that for now. Same for the tennis racket. I'm sure people from the community would grab it if I were to give it away, but not yet. I want to think if there are better uses which I can benefit from it first.
Hey, I'm practical. I try to take care of myself and the people around me first, then if I have no use for it then I pass it off to the community. To someone who could use it better and not waste it.
Conclusion... I found dumpster diving pretty fun. It's like pulling a jackpot every time I open the lid. Most of the time, there's nothing. Some times there's a consolation prize, then every once in awhile, there's a jackpot which is something that I want or something cool.
But it does take some discipline. There's so much junk and semi-useful stuff. And I have to be disciplined not to just take everything. I've found whole sets of markers, plates, bowls, toys, tricycle for kids, etc etc. And I have to tell myself to just leave them, cos I have no quick way to push the items out of the house. Or, the items are low value and I find it not worth the time and effort to meet and pass it off to someone else. Like I know who will take the markers, but some were in the pack and some had fallen into the dumpster, I needed to pick them up, clean them one by one then arrange to meet the person to pass it on. Not to mention they were the cheapo type of markers. So, just not worth my time.
Collecting food is... questionable, some people like to do it cos they don't like seeing food go to waste. For me, I find it wet and messy, and after I did it on Thursday, I told myself I'm not going to do wet food again, cos after one round, I have to go back and clean up cos my hands are all wet and dirty. When I grab merchandise, my hands just get dirty, something like outfield training in army. Hands are dirty but at least they're not soggy. Maybe if I find canned food or packet instant noodles or dried packed food, I MIGHT take them. Just might, cos... may not be worth my effort. (The YTF incident was dry, all packed nicely in a plastic bag.)
Really, I'm just doing this for fun. I don't need any of the items. I think it's just a cheap thrill to be able to collect free stuff. I am pretty fussy with what I collect. I'm actively trying to find connections to be able to push out the items, people whom I know will be able to make use of the items again, cos there are people in the community who are out to make a quick buck of the giveaways and I don't really want to pass it to them. There are poor people in the community and I'm glad to help them, and then there are leechers who just keep collecting stuff from others.
And for the folks who think I will end up hoarding, until now all the free stuff I got as hand me downs, or stuff I got from dumpsters, only the 2 printers and the dolphin lantern and 2 brand new bags have made it into my house. The other stuff has been passed on or will be passed on soon. The 2 bags I'm probably going to give them away as gifts during Christmas (HAHAHAHA), so, no, I don't think it will get out of hand.
Well, I'll probably dumpster dive on a regular basis, maybe once a day or once every 3 days, I'll take it as an evening walk and see what else I can find. If things are good, maybe I'll continue, else, maybe I'll stop in future, depending on whether I think it's worth doing on a regular basis.
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