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[Beelzeboss]

I can understand going after stuff like electronics and furniture but food?

Damn guys I hope none of you get sick.

 

[benzy]

Just because the food doesn't have molds on it doesn't mean bacteria haven't already infected the produce. Who knows what that perfectly wrapped up cheeseburger came into contact with.

 

[Darklord]

I guess you know if there are rats and maggots that's probably not a good place to dumpster dive. Are you actively ignoring the posts of people that have done this and say explicitly how often the food is thrown out and they know the exact conditions of the places they dive at?

It is literally impossible to stop rodents or flies(maggots) from getting into trash bins. You can clean them, scrub them, put them in certain areas. If there is a tiny crack, they will get in. I had to deal with dumpsters, even at supermarket stores for years. I was even one of the people that threw the very fruit and veggies out that you would have jumped at. Even the clean bins get rank as fuck and they don't clean them to kill bacteria, they clean them so they don't stink or look dirty.

 

[MThanded]

Wow this thread

 

[Hoo-doo]

I can understand going after stuff like electronics and furniture but food?

Damn guys I hope none of you get sick.

Yeah, I was hoping this thread was about awesome treasure collected from various places.
But actively eating from the trash? Naw, son.

 

[Alucrid]

You do understand that dumpster diving isn't ACTUALLY diving amidst the garbage? The stuff is there, you just have to open the lid of the dumpster and reach for the (more recent) food that's usually on top of it all, that won't get you salmonella or AIDS or anything that you could spread to other people... >_>; Sometimes you have to dig around a little, but it's not like we dumpster divers don't, like, wash ourselves or our clothes ever (not that our clothes ever get dirty). Given that my "disease ridden" ass hasn't caused any problems in my home (when people who are visiting *SHOCKER* sit on the same sofa I have sat on) nor has it ruined the houses of the friends I've visited.

You're just being paranoid and prejudiced about stuff you clearly know nothing about. But then again, people always are negative about unharmful stuff they know shit about simply because they are afraid of what they don't understand, so your & Darklord's behaviour isn't exactly surprising.

You could get salmonella

 

[elrechazado]

It is literally impossible to stop rodents or flies(maggots) from getting into trash bins. You can clean them, scrub them, put them in certain areas. If there is a tiny crack, they will get in. I had to deal with dumpsters, even at supermarket stores for years. I was even one of the people that threw the very fruit and veggies out that you would have jumped at. Even the clean bins get rank as fuck and they don't clean them to kill bacteria, they clean them so they don't stink or look dirty.

I don't know if you know about dumpster culture (I'm an expert)...

Never has a umad gif been more appropriate than for your continued posts in this thread - quite hilarious.

 

[IceCold]

I'd only do this if I was a hobo, but I'm not.

 

[magicstop]

You could get salmonella

. . . from chicken you bought in a store. Bravo.

 

[Alucrid]

Is that trash-phobia or something? Open a trashbin sometimes, you'll be amazed to see there are no rats or flies in most of them.
There are even places in the world where the municipality (or, hell, common sense) forces people to clean bins regularly.

i'd probably just buy a new trash can

. . . from chicken you bought in a store. Bravo.

or from dumpster chicken

any chicken could give you salmonella

 

[roodiculous]

They call them trash dumpsters for a reason.

 

[Valnen]

You know, the fact that so many people are ignorant is probably why this is effective and why some people can effectively eat for free.

I admit, I've never done this. But as someone who's desperately struggling just to pay my SMUD bill and Rent. I can't say I'm not strongly considering it after seeing that documentary trailer.

 

[paparazzo]

I guess there really is a defense force for everything. I just see this as crazy and at best irresponsible for people that aren't homeless.

If you aren't broke, just buy your own damn food.

 

[Imperial Hot]

Woah! I can't believe nobody finished this apple core. It's still perfect!

 

[magicstop]

i'd probably just buy a new trash can




or from dumpster chicken

any chicken could give you salmonella

Bingo. If properly dumpstered, odds from getting salmonella from chicken in a bin is no higher than elsewhere. I've had many a dumpstered chicken and have come out AOK.

 

[Beerman462]

Yeah, I was hoping this thread was about awesome treasure collected from various places.
But actively eating from the trash? Naw, son.

Yeah people on here are literally putting on a bib grabbing a knife and fork and eating out of the trash.....no. They do the same thing you do when you buy it from the store. They inspect the food and clean it even if it's packaged before consuming. Thats how you stay safe. If you buy food from the grocery store and automatically assume it's safe for consumption without inspecting and cleaning it yourself then thats worse then getting it from a dumpster.

 

[elrechazado]

I guess there really is a defense force for everything. I just see this as crazy and at best irresponsible for people that aren't homeless.

If you aren't broke, just buy your own damn food.

I guess there really is a judgement force for everything, especially things that don't affect them.

 

[Good Job Bob]

Has this been posted yet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuD1oDth6es

 

[tokkun]

1) As I said, a big part of the reason why I'm doing this isn't to save money, it's simply because I think these practices of throwing out edible food are absolutely incomprehensible and because, yes, we SHOULD be doing something about it. The fact is, there IS enough food to feed at least most of Earth's human population (if not everyone and then some), but shittons of that is going to waste in western countries who've become so picky and excessive in their needs that shitloads of food is thrown into garbage every day.

Forgive me for quoting myself, but

That's definitely true. There's a wide conception that starvation occurs because there is not enough food in the world, when in fact farmers often destroy perfectly good crops in order to keep prices high. High prices are what cause starvation, not a lack of available food.

If this is really a big part of why you do it, you may wish to rethink things. I can understand the other motivations, such as wanting to save money, but eating food waste rather than purchasing it is not going to do much, if anything, to help the less fortunate. If you are very concerned about world hunger, I would suggest that you instead donate the money you save by dumpster diving to a food relief charity where you could actually make a difference.

 

[Douglas Quaid]

Oh NeoGaf, your stupidity shines brightly yet again.

Dumpster diving is not inherently dangerous or unsanitary, most of the items people choose to eat are individually wrapped or recently expired. People understand what types of food to choose and what types to avoid (meats, cheeses). It is not inherently dirty you fucking tards. How dare people try to use a resource that is being wasted in a culture that doesn't understand sustainability?!

NeoGaf, keep making threads about celebrity gossip and culture, about gadgets and TV shows, about infotainment news articles. Bunch of corporate culture whores.

 

[UltimaKilo]

Oh NeoGaf, your stupidity shines brightly yet again.

Dumpster diving is not inherently dangerous or unsanitary, most of the items people choose to eat are individually wrapped or recently expired. People understand what types of food to choose and what types to avoid (meats, cheeses). It is not inherently dirty you fucking tards. How dare people try to use a resource that is being wasted in a culture that doesn't understand sustainability?!

NeoGaf, keep making threads about celebrity gossip and culture, about gadgets and TV shows, about infotainment news articles. Bunch of corporate culture whores.

Permaban?

 

[Darklord]

I don't know if you know about dumpster culture (I'm an expert)...

Never has a umad gif been more appropriate than for your continued posts in this thread - quite hilarious.

Oh so the dumpster divers only pick the dumpsters that are professionally cleaned each day and sealed to keep disease carriers out(but not humans)? Oh well, if that's the case I take it all back.

It just blew my mind there is actually a culture behind this and especially when they go "Nah man, the trash bin is clean!". Like, do it if you want but don't be completely blind to what you're doing. There is never a trash bin that's clean. You're digging food out of a filthy area.

 

[Starwolf_UK]

Its natural to be scared of things you are unfamiliar with.

I remember one time when a gym re-branded my mother got a load of headed notepaper of the old brand from their skip. Must have been thousands of sheets of A4 paper. To my knowledge, 17 years later that haul has nearly run out...

University students, particularly international ones are quite bad for throwing things out (well its a case of one suitcase back to *country* and so just leave anything that doesn't fit). Then again I really have no need for a cheap kettle or toaster that looks lethal so off to landfill that lot went. If there was a rice cooker though...

What if something was thrown out because the entire batch was infected with some kind of bacteria?

Looks fine, smells fine, not past the date.

What then?

The fact its not past the date would be an alarm signal...and the whole "there is quite a lot of this".

In the UK you won't be getting food. Supermarkers are happy enough to pour bleach and other toxic chemicals on the stuff in the dumpster. Sure the food is fine if its sealed (which rules out quite a fair amount) but getting to it is even more of a problem.

As far as skips go. Thats interesting. Without fail, whenever a skip is hired it will be filled by people who did not hire it and might even have things taken out by random people.

As for my finds, normally just the wastebins in the office and the kitchen and trivial things like taking the recyclables and putting them into the recycling bin (something being in a bin doesn't automatically make it dirty) but I've got a few biscuit tins (ones of which I use to boost the height of my monitor...well more than the books I was using previously), a few of those bags for life (some plastic, one cotton).

The weirdest thing I saw though was a pair of ladies leggings. For perspective, I share the accommodation with 5 males.

 

[Beerman462]

Oh NeoGaf, your stupidity shines brightly yet again.

Dumpster diving is not inherently dangerous or unsanitary, most of the items people choose to eat are individually wrapped or recently expired. People understand what types of food to choose and what types to avoid (meats, cheeses). It is not inherently dirty you fucking tards. How dare people try to use a resource that is being wasted in a culture that doesn't understand sustainability?!

NeoGaf, keep making threads about celebrity gossip and culture, about gadgets and TV shows, about infotainment news articles. Bunch of corporate culture whores.

 

[lush]

Oh NeoGaf, your stupidity shines brightly yet again.

Dumpster diving is not inherently dangerous or unsanitary, most of the items people choose to eat are individually wrapped or recently expired. People understand what types of food to choose and what types to avoid (meats, cheeses). It is not inherently dirty you fucking tards. How dare people try to use a resource that is being wasted in a culture that doesn't understand sustainability?!

NeoGaf, keep making threads about celebrity gossip and culture, about gadgets and TV shows, about infotainment news articles. Bunch of corporate culture whores.

Posted from my Macbook

 

[magicstop]

I guess there really is a defense force for everything. I just see this as crazy and at best irresponsible for people that aren't homeless.

If you aren't broke, just buy your own damn food.

The problems I have with this statement are
1.) You see this as crazy. That's an entirely subjective, meaningless statement. You can't bring anything to a conversation with that. I mean, I think it's absolutely crazy that people eat factory-farm meat from animals forced to live in conditions so cramped and dank that they stand knee deep in their own shit, piss, and dead. That they have to be pumped full of antibiotics in order to stay alive long enough to make it to slaughter. I think that's crazy as hell. But a lot of people don't.
2.) Irresponsible? In what way is it irresponsible? Diving is taking responsibility, in fact. I need food; I have the responsibility to procure it. And so I do. Problem solved.
3.) No, I won't just go out and buy my own damn food. I mean, I do buy some of my food. But how I engage the world is my own fucking business, and I fail to see how your value judgements should be of any consequence to me, or why you think that they should. If they were judgements with a larger social or environmental implication and concern, that might be different, but my Thursday nights are my own, as is my money.

 

[elrechazado]

Oh so the dumpster divers only pick the dumpsters that are professionally cleaned each day and sealed to keep disease carriers out(but not humans)? Oh well, if that's the case I take it all back.

It just blew my mind there is actually a culture behind this and goes "Nah man, the trash bin is clean!" Like, do it if you want but don't be completely blind to what you're doing. There is never a trash bin that's clean. You're digging food out of a filthy area.

I guess you're right it's gross. Almost as gross as the zuchini I pull out of shit infested dirt in my yard and then eat.

 

[Good Job Bob]

Oh NeoGaf, your stupidity shines brightly yet again.

Dumpster diving is not inherently dangerous or unsanitary, most of the items people choose to eat are individually wrapped or recently expired. People understand what types of food to choose and what types to avoid (meats, cheeses). It is not inherently dirty you fucking tards. How dare people try to use a resource that is being wasted in a culture that doesn't understand sustainability?!

NeoGaf, keep making threads about celebrity gossip and culture, about gadgets and TV shows, about infotainment news articles. Bunch of corporate culture whores.

8/10

Good way to go out, I will remember you.

 

[IceCold]

How much time to these dumpster divers typically spend searching in dumpsters?

 

[soepje]

It´s a bit freaky and intrusive to think people might go through my trash, finding all this gross things i trow away on occasion.. I guess i better start cleaning up my trash, putting it into categories with labels for the poor hobbists..

'You must check this!'
'You might want to check this..'
'You really don´t want to check this!'

 

[Beerman462]

Oh so the dumpster divers only pick the dumpsters that are professionally cleaned each day and sealed to keep disease carriers out(but not humans)? Oh well, if that's the case I take it all back.

It just blew my mind there is actually a culture behind this and especially when they go "Nah man, the trash bin is clean!". Like, do it if you want but don't be completely blind to what you're doing. There is never a trash bin that's clean. You're digging food out of a filthy area.

Do you clean fruits and vegetables when you buy them from the store? If you don't then have I got news for you.

 

[Loofy]

Oh NeoGaf, your stupidity shines brightly yet again.

Dumpster diving is not inherently dangerous or unsanitary, most of the items people choose to eat are individually wrapped or recently expired. People understand what types of food to choose and what types to avoid (meats, cheeses). It is not inherently dirty you fucking tards. How dare people try to use a resource that is being wasted in a culture that doesn't understand sustainability?!

You must have not seen the documentary. They were grilling steaks taken from dumpsters. I even saw some ground beef.

 

[CrushDance]

Thread is going into overdrive. Yikes.

 

[Broder Salsa]

It´s a bit freaky and intrusive to think people might go through my trash, finding all this gross things i trow away on occasion.. I guess i better start cleaning up my trash, putting it into categories with labels for the poor hobbists..

'You must check this!'
'You might want to check this..'
'You really don´t want to check this!'

I doubt anyone are going through your garbage. It's the supermarket dumpsters and what not that gets the attention as there's often big quantities of fine food thrown out, private persons usually do not really throw wrapped/sealed up food that is still perfectly fine out.

Oh NeoGaf, your stupidity shines brightly yet again.

Dumpster diving is not inherently dangerous or unsanitary, most of the items people choose to eat are individually wrapped or recently expired. People understand what types of food to choose and what types to avoid (meats, cheeses). It is not inherently dirty you fucking tards. How dare people try to use a resource that is being wasted in a culture that doesn't understand sustainability?!

NeoGaf, keep making threads about celebrity gossip and culture, about gadgets and TV shows, about infotainment news articles. Bunch of corporate culture whores.

Even if this leads to a ban it was worth it. 9/10

 

[Sonki.]

I dumpster dive all the time. people who are throwing a fit about this - don't know SHIT.

Sometimes I don't have to spend money on groceries at all. You'd be surprised to see how much good food is thrown out.

 

[Darryl]

It is literally impossible to stop rodents or flies(maggots) from getting into trash bins. You can clean them, scrub them, put them in certain areas. If there is a tiny crack, they will get in. I had to deal with dumpsters, even at supermarket stores for years. I was even one of the people that threw the very fruit and veggies out that you would have jumped at. Even the clean bins get rank as fuck and they don't clean them to kill bacteria, they clean them so they don't stink or look dirty.

i think that's the hardest part people have with this, they visualize like a half-eaten cheeseburger sitting in a pile of rot or something.

it's usually like 10-20 pounds of completely sealed still-frozen near-expiration steak or hamburger meat sitting on top of boxes or among other boxed foods, and it's usually only been in there for an hour max.

 

[Darklord]

Do you clean fruits and vegetables when you buy them from the store? If you don't then have I got news for you.

Yes, I do. And yes, I know they are covered in pesticides and "shit infested dirt" but they haven't got salmonella or e-coli or god knows what the hell is festering in a trash bin.

 

[way more]

The Portlandia sketch on this phenomenon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuD1oDth6es


Chalk this up there with "I don't shower/use toothpaste/wash my hair/ use deodorant/wash my clothes/go to a barber;etc. And people tell me I look/smell great!"

 

[roodiculous]

Trash diving at its best.

 

[magicstop]

How much time to these dumpster divers typically spend searching in dumpsters?

I spend an hour or so a week. On bad weeks where I strike out on 2 or 3 bins, I usually just call it a night and make up for it at the grocery.
Then again, you might want to think about how many work hours you spent fueling your weekly grocery budget. It's so easy to not count time worked as time spent procuring essentials, but I'm willing to bet that your labor + your shopping trips wind up costing you a lot more time than I spend.

It´s a bit freaky and intrusive to think people might go through my trash, finding all this gross things i trow away on occasion.. I guess i better start cleaning up my trash, putting it into categories with labels for the poor hobbists..

'You must check this!'
'You might want to check this..'
'You really don´t want to check this!'

I've never done any diving in a residential setting. Grocery stores only. That's what dumpster diving refers to, as far as I've ever heard it or known it. Residential diving would be a waste of time, most likely.

 

[Famassu]

Unrealistic expectations? Because I don't get my food out of a trash bin?

The food that you buy close to the store's closing time and the food that I get 1-2 hours later from the dumpster really isn't any different at all. It doesn't suddenly carry all the diseases of the world (or even a single disease ). The package might have some dirt on it but that can be easily wiped off.

Hahhahaha. Food in a dumpster. Yeah, that wouldn't attracted rodents or flies!

I can take pictures of the places I visit to show you that what I said is true. There are absolutely no rodents, mainly because at least here in Finland we haven't let that become a huge problem (there are rats, of course, but they aren't the kind of problem they are in other parts of the world). Of course if there WERE maggots & shit, I'd probably avoid those dumpsters. But you're being too simple-minded. You foolishly act like EVERY DUMPSTER in the world is a Rat Paradise filled with maggots & you can get every disease in the world by just looking at the dumpster. That simply isn't the case and you just make yourself look dumb when you try to insist it is.

And even when there are a few flies flying about, that matters not for packaged foods. Just like bacteria can't infect them, neither can the flies do anything to food that is inside plastic containers & has some serious wrappings. Not to even mention that there are no flies in the Fall, Winter or Spring in Finland, it's too cold.

 

[Huff]

Bingo. If properly dumpstered, odds from getting salmonella from chicken in a bin is no higher than elsewhere. I've had many a dumpstered chicken and have come out AOK.

what does properly dumpstered mean? and why should i assume that people throwing away food are going to do it properly?

 

[elrechazado]

Yes, I do. And yes, I know they are covered in pesticides and "shit infested dirt" but they haven't got salmonella or e-coli or god knows what the hell is festering in a trash bin.

I assume you'll be linking to peer reviewed studies showing the prevalence of salmonella on food that is in dumpsters as compared to non dumpster foods. I assume those studies also contain numbers that show the elevated "god knows what" levels.

 

[Carcetti]

You must have not seen the documentary. They were grilling steaks taken from dumpsters.

There's documentaries and 'documentaries'. I'm mildly bacteriophobic so I wouldn't dumpster dive even if I was starving but even I know enough about that scene to say that people in this thread are being quite childish and ignorant.

If there's a plastic wrapped food package that's thrown out to the garbage and a diver picks it up an hour later, he's not gonna die from some random black plague. This has been going on for years and I've never heard of anyone here who's gotten seriously sick from this. You don't think media would've picked that up? 'crazy hippies die from eating garbage' is too good a headline to avoid.

 

[demon]

Dumpster diving is awesome, I do it all the time. I also wash my hair in the toilet.

 

[magicstop]

Oh NeoGaf, your stupidity shines brightly yet again.

Dumpster diving is not inherently dangerous or unsanitary, most of the items people choose to eat are individually wrapped or recently expired. People understand what types of food to choose and what types to avoid (meats, cheeses). It is not inherently dirty you fucking tards. How dare people try to use a resource that is being wasted in a culture that doesn't understand sustainability?!

NeoGaf, keep making threads about celebrity gossip and culture, about gadgets and TV shows, about infotainment news articles. Bunch of corporate culture whores.

Oh, and post of the year. Cheers.

Dumpster diving is awesome, I do it all the time. I also wash my hair in the toilet.

Really? I mean, really? You sat there, you read this thread, you scratched your duff a bit, and THIS is what you came up with? FFS . . .

 

[Shahadan]

Dumpster diving is awesome, I do it all the time. I also wash my hair in the toilet.

And you're funny !

 

[storafötter]

If this is really a big part of why you do it, you may wish to rethink things. I can understand the other motivations, such as wanting to save money, but eating food waste rather than purchasing it is not going to do much, if anything, to help the less fortunate. If you are very concerned about world hunger, I would suggest that you instead donate the money you save by dumpster diving to a food relief charity where you could actually make a difference.

I am sorry but if you spend less and create less demand for products should make a difference. See yourself in the situation where you buy the food instead, but end up throwing it (which happens also unconscious due to forgetting about it). More food is wasted in that process than if you ate from what was considered "waste" already. Of course the stores have orders going on constantly and you will not affect them directly if you are only one person. However many people are already doing this so it does not create additional waste than what was going to be thrown already and you are not creating more waste since you didn't buy it (if I made any sense).

Oh, and post of the year. Cheers.

I agree, but even if this thread just proves me why I should not have faith in people it still gives a lot of hope with posters like you and others.

 

[DragonSworne]

It's not so much the food being the dirty part, but it's the method of getting to that food. You have to potentially go through baby diapers, smelly liquid, and other god knows what.

Brushing after ever meal if hard enough, now I have to take showers before hand?

 

[Beerman462]

Yes, I do. And yes, I know they are covered in pesticides and "shit infested dirt" but they haven't got salmonella or e-coli or god knows what the hell is festering in a trash bin.

Salmonella facts

How can salmonella infections be prevented?
Pay attention to cleanliness.
Make sure that all food is thoroughly cooked.