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anyone that caches also dumpster dive?


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since we are all scavengers by trade, does anyone else dumpster dive? its like the biggest most obvious, while the most oblivious cache of all, and its all over the place, generally filled with tons of good swag....

 

You dumpster dive, but don't like micros? I heard some of the best micros were in dumps.

 

*** This post was meant purely as a joke.

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dont worry, i dont take offense easily, especially on an online forum, i used to work the night shift, have been on online forums for some time. im used to getting [/i]<foul language removed by moderator>p/i] on in the beginning. its ok though, you'll love me eventually.

Edited by Motorcycle_Mama
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dont worry, i dont take offense easily, especially on an online forum, i used to work the night shift, have been on online forums for some time. [edited by moderator]. its ok though, you'll love me eventually.

 

That's what Bittsen said. :laughing:

Edited by Keystone
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Well, I'll be the first to take a bullet, and say Yes, I Do.. But, within reason (I.E. I don't go around to dumpsters without permission.) The majority of the computer equipment I own, was either discarded or dumped. (our local land-fill has been converted into a trash/refuse way-station. Garbage put into dumpsters, recyclables into another dumpster, and off to the side, a 'Swap Shack'. an open-faced shack building, where people can put items which have some use to them.. And, because of recent regulations, Televisions, Electronics, and Computers have been accumulating off to the side.. I've since rescued/resurrected/reclaimed several computer systems, components, A 3.3mp digital Camera, several still usable (and blanked) hard drives. I've also rescued a few mountain bikes, string trimmer, leaf blower, battery-backed power supplies, etc..

 

Some items, minor repairs. some, major overhaul, some, beyond hope so stripped down, and items sorted to recycle. (Metal, plastic. Anything with solder, gets returned to the electronics heap.)

 

I did find one USB-GPS-Puck, (Can't remember the maker's name.. near impossible to find a driver. )

 

No-One has discarded any ammo cans (yet). I've seen a few items that would make great cache containers, but never grabbed them..

 

The problem with our society, with all these claims of reuse, recycle, recover, we're still very, VERY Much heavy on disposable.

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I haven't dumpster dived since I lived in a college town. At the end of Spring semester, the campus dumpsters would fill with rugs and furniture. I and various friends would go scrounging. We'd usually wind up giving most of it away. I remember having a pile of rolled-up rugs on the front porch all summer. We'd be sitting on the porch offering them to passersby: "You want a rug? Perfectly good rugs. Take a rug, any rug."

 

What's it got to do with caching? I have no idea.

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well theres no off topic section from what i could see...

 

and besides, its the same action...

 

you sense there is treasure to be found, you go look for it in places you think it might be hidden, you do it stealthily, you collect loot, and leave the place cleaner than you found it, especially if you take anything,

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since we are all scavengers by trade, does anyone else dumpster dive? its like the biggest most obvious, while the most oblivious cache of all, and its all over the place, generally filled with tons of good swag....

Aren't you afraid of getting stuck with used needles, cut with glass and infected with fecal matter, etc? I just don't see how you could survive very long as a regular dumpster diver, haha.

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Well, I'll be the first to take a bullet, and say Yes, I Do.. But, within reason (I.E. I don't go around to dumpsters without permission.) The majority of the computer equipment I own, was either discarded or dumped. (our local land-fill has been converted into a trash/refuse way-station. Garbage put into dumpsters, recyclables into another dumpster, and off to the side, a 'Swap Shack'. an open-faced shack building, where people can put items which have some use to them.. And, because of recent regulations, Televisions, Electronics, and Computers have been accumulating off to the side.. I've since rescued/resurrected/reclaimed several computer systems, components, A 3.3mp digital Camera, several still usable (and blanked) hard drives. I've also rescued a few mountain bikes, string trimmer, leaf blower, battery-backed power supplies, etc..

 

Some items, minor repairs. some, major overhaul, some, beyond hope so stripped down, and items sorted to recycle. (Metal, plastic. Anything with solder, gets returned to the electronics heap.)

 

I did find one USB-GPS-Puck, (Can't remember the maker's name.. near impossible to find a driver. )

 

No-One has discarded any ammo cans (yet). I've seen a few items that would make great cache containers, but never grabbed them..

 

The problem with our society, with all these claims of reuse, recycle, recover, we're still very, VERY Much heavy on disposable.

That actually sounds pretty cool. When my dad retired, he did something sort of similar. He found where you could buy a pallet of stuff that had been returned to various stores, damaged and non working. It was like a grab bag, you didn't know what all would be on the pallet. He'd fix the things up and sell them. He loved to tinker and made some money on the side.

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I actively dumpster dive. You'd be amazed at how much good food is thrown away by grocery stores, mainly because they have cosmetic blemishes and the like. I can honestly say we have eaten better since I started, and the money saved has been superb. Here's a couple pics of some of my hauls...apart from the cookies, I have done far better in the produce department:

 

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I actively dumpster dive. You'd be amazed at how much good food is thrown away by grocery stores, mainly because they have cosmetic blemishes and the like

Meh. I dumpster dive behind the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. You won't believe what they throw away.

 

2651_money_factory-8_04700300.jpg

 

 

 

Disclaimer : Before Secret Service agents comes kick down my door, this is obviously a joke. Image from a National Geographic article.

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dont worry, i dont take offense easily, especially on an online forum, i used to work the night shift, have been on online forums for some time. [edited by moderator]. its ok though, you'll love me eventually.

 

That's what Bittsen said. :laughing:

 

Yup and you all love me now, doncha?

 

 

I haven't officially gone dumpster diving in many decades but I did pull a pair of geocache containers out of the garbage once. They are one gallon sized containers used for salad dressing.

 

When I was a kid I used to dumpster dive behind a hardware/variety store. One time I found hundreds of strings of Christmas lights and another time I found a whole pallet of Pepsi that had fallen. About 15% of the bottles were broken but the rest ended up in the refrigerator. My dad had the entire back of the old station wagon loaded with the stuff. It was draggin tail.

 

Nowadays many stores go to great lengths to make sure that people don't reclaim the garbage. It's sad in many ways.

Edited by Keystone
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meh its illegal in a lot of cities, just means those that brave the law get even better finds, since less people want to do such a thing, honestly, is a cop really going to take someone pulling carrots and flowers out of a dumpster to jail? no, youll get a warning, thats all..

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Worked at a dump for one day year's back,Was just filling in for the other guy that couldn't work the gate that day.Someone threw out an old floor lamp,nice cast iron,needed a wire and shade,and a couple other item's.Had by the gateshack and another came through and bought them from me.Made a few buck's that day.Im glad I worked there only one day as I would have collected more than my share of good stuff people toss out.I still dumpster dive when I see something that can be fixed and used yet.Well It's time to go geocaching,I'm going after 3 before I get to the lake to repair a pontoon boat,and cut a tree for the cabin firepit.Then come home and cut the lawn.Then mabe I can relax!!

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Haven't done that in years, but not the dumpster, per se. In NYC I knew which days people were moving in/out so I would drive around to see what was being disposed of on the curb: beaureaus, couches, etc all in good shape just either didn't want them anymore or didn't fit into a cramped, NYC Apt. My loft was huge, so I took what i deemed nice and filled it with treasures! The best hauls were from the Upper East Side. Not up for that challenge anymore so took up caching instead! :laughing:!

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I dive by appointment!

 

I got to know a lot of IT-types during the 28 years that I ran my consulting business, so when I retired I put out the word to my friends that I wanted their old computers and peripherals.

 

When a corporate or government entity gets rid of old computers they, for a number of legal (tax) and/or policy reasons usually throw them away rather than sell or donate them. I have my friends call me and tell me what day their old stuff will land in the dumpster. As soon as they put it in I take it out!

 

Most of these machines are around two years old, and in computer-years that's nothing.

 

They're willing to give them to me because I promise to format all drives and reload them with Linux, so there's no risk of internal information getting out, and I promise not to sell anything I receive, that all of it that is usable will be given to a worthy recipient.

 

The stuff I can't use goes to anyone who wants it via a great website where folks give or receive stuff that would otherwise go in a dump. If you aren't already using it check out your local FreeCycle network at http://www.freecycle.org

 

I refurbish them, load them with Linux, OpenOffice and AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition so all software licenses are free, and give them to kids and to adult disaster victims who could not otherwise afford them.

 

My disaster relief volunteerism introduces me to an unfortunately large number of people who have lost their home to fire, flood, etc. and you would not believe (at least it came as a total surprise to me when I started doing disaster relief work) how many people have no insurance. :P

 

A used computer can be a godsend to folks trying to rebuild their lives, and dumpster-diving allows me to give away around 25 computers a month.

 

Edit to add: As some have noted in previous posts, removing items from dumpsters is illegal, at least here in Alabama, so be aware that there IS some risk involved. You can't burn your resources by telling the cops "Billy Bob at Tesco Insurance said he had to throw them away but that he would leave the lock off the dumpster for me" if you ever want Billy Bob to call you again!

Edited by TheAlabamaRambler
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I dumpster dive every night at work. I work in a high rise office building in NYC and I work the 4pm - 12am shift when the cleaners are throwing out the building garbage. You would be amazed at what is thrown out. I have more office supplies (all brand new) than I can ever use. Office furniture, computers, electronics, etc. I especially keep a look out for Ink/ Toner cartridges for printers/ copiers. Many companies get new copiers and throw out everything from the old one. As we all know printer catridges are expensive. Toner cartridges for laser jet printers and copiers are even more expensive and can cost upwards of $100 each. I have a toner reseller that I sell them to for a fraction of what they sell for and we are both happy. It didn't cost me anything to grab them. Then when there is construction for a new tenant moving in (it is amazing how they will completely demo a perfectly good office space to start brand new), when the construction is over, most times all of the left over supplies (lumber, insulation, etc.) ends up in a roll off container. Most times I can grab the stuff before I have to get myself dirty jumping in to the dumpster.

Edited by slukster
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I dive by appointment!

 

I got to know a lot of IT-types during the 28 years that I ran my consulting business, so when I retired I put out the word to my friends that I wanted their old computers and peripherals.

 

When a corporate or government entity gets rid of old computers they, for a number of legal (tax) and/or policy reasons usually throw them away rather than sell or donate them. I have my friends call me and tell me what day their old stuff will land in the dumpster. As soon as they put it in I take it out!

 

Most of these machines are around two years old, and in computer-years that's nothing.

 

They're willing to give them to me because I promise to format all drives and reload them with Linux, so there's no risk of internal information getting out, and I promise not to sell anything I receive, that all of it that is usable will be given to a worthy recipient.

 

The stuff I can't use goes to anyone who wants it via a great website where folks give or receive stuff that would otherwise go in a dump. If you aren't already using it check out your local FreeCycle network at http://www.freecycle.org

 

I refurbish them, load them with Linux, OpenOffice and AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition so all software licenses are free, and give them to kids and to adult disaster victims who could not otherwise afford them.

 

My disaster relief volunteerism introduces me to an unfortunately large number of people who have lost their home to fire, flood, etc. and you would not believe (at least it came as a total surprise to me when I started doing disaster relief work) how many people have no insurance. :D

 

A used computer can be a godsend to folks trying to rebuild their lives, and dumpster-diving allows me to give away around 25 computers a month.

 

This is really cool. It would be nice if you could find some way to get them shipped to places that really need them, like sub-saharan Africa. There are a lot of places there that would love to have a computer that is only two years old. If you think that having Linux on it would be a barrier, when I visited a library in Tanzania their IT guy was in the process of converting all of their public access computers to Linux because he was getting tired of having to rebuild Windows on them after someone downloaded a malware.

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What does this have to do with geocaching?

 

+1

 

meh its illegal in a lot of cities, just means those that brave the law get even better finds, since less people want to do such a thing, honestly, is a cop really going to take someone pulling carrots and flowers out of a dumpster to jail? no, youll get a warning, thats all..

 

"Brave" the law? I think you meant to type "break the law".

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I dumpster dive frequently. I have a workshop full of other peoples junk, and I have to keep it full to have the inventory needed to make things. If ten pieces of junk is needed to make something good you must have at least 150 items to choose from. But you also need a lot of steel pipes and good assortment of wheels.

 

Latest build: A bicycle trailer custom made for a bouldering crash pad. Made from parts of an ironing board and wheels from a rollator that looked like it had seen use in a high speed chase.

 

In the works: A cargo bicycle with the cargo racks made from thin wall steel pipes found in a dumpster.

 

It´s illegal in sweden to take things from most dumpsters. Sweden is one of the best countries in the world when it comes to recycling, and everything has a value. The local recycling center has cameras and guards to watch the precious gods.

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I personally haven't done it since college, about 10-ish years ago; but as I mentioned in the other thread, I'm sure that there are some who just love it.

 

I don't think I'd place a cache by a dumpster though. I think that for the most part cachers aren't dumpster divers and wouldn't get it, and probably just complain that the cache was by a dumpster.

 

Also, I prefer non-urban hides these days (although I've definitely found my share of urban hides, and hidden some as well).

 

But, I'd have no problem with someone else placing a cache this way, to each their own as long as the guidelines are followed. :D

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