Last spring, my friend Karen from Redoux shared her dumpster diving tips.
Did you know she has a degree in dumpster diving?
In fact, she has her dumpster diving MBA.
She’s sharing her tips and tricks to score free stuff because after all, one’s man’s trash is another woman’s treasure.
Take it away Professor Karen …
Le Comprehensive Guide to Dumpster Diving, Part “Un”
I love to restore and refurbish furniture.
If I am lucky enough, I even use pieces I find on the side of the road, Craig’s list Free, or my favorite….DUMPSTERS!
Dumpsters, my friends are not just repositories for stinky garbage and dirty diapers.
They are treasure troves of Architectural Elements, trim, cool moulding, old boards. They are often the secret place people go to get rid of broken chairs, ugly old mirrors, oil Paintings by Aunt Bertha, and any number of salvageable furniture items that may have a scratch, dent, or just be plain ugly. These items end up in various dumpsters because of one reason. People are lazy and don’t want to haul their stuff to the dump and pay the fee.
What is a cheater’s misdeeds can be your gain if you follow these simple rules:
In order to yield the best results from a dumpster dive, you need to keep these rules in mind.
1. Bring work gloves and a flashlight. You might have to dig around a bit for something good, and you don’t know what you might encounter in the process. (sidebar, I have NEVER encountered a live animal, i.e. mouse or rat)
2. Wear old clothes, this goes without saying. (overalls are my personal favorite)
3. Go in the early morning hours, before the garbage trucks come and people start arriving at work for the day. It is slightly embarrassing to explain to people that the nice looking mom in the van is diving for garbage.
My dream to dumpster dive here someday….
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4. Bring a large vehicle. My van has seats that fold and stow, and it doubles as a pick up truck. You don’t want to discover an amazing collection of chairs, only to realize they won’t fit in your economy sized car.
(not my actual car, mine is far yukkier)
***If you don’t know where to begin a good dumpster dive, here are some suggestions. Take a tour around your city. Stick to the Mom and Pop type stores, independent furniture stores, flooring stores, etc. Don’t bother looking behind strip malls. Dumpsters here are always locked and most stores have industrial sized trash compactors that immediately destroy any goods you would hope to score.
5. Look for smaller groupings of businesses that are not necessarily on busy roads. These dumpsters are not locked. This is where people will go to throw out their almost perfectly good items. If there is an unlocked dumpster in your town, and it is in a secluded area, trust me, the trash rule breakers know about it and put their goods there. Often, the good stuff is not just in the dumpster, it is often behind, and next to the dumpster.
6. When running your daily errands, scan the roads, esp. residential neighborhoods for “reno” dumpsters. I have even trained my children to keep their eyes open for these. Reno dumpsters are gold mines for Architectural Salvaged pieces, old doors, cool mouldings and trims. And, if you are lucky, furniture! I always try to find the owner of the dumpster first before beginning my raid. Just to be on the safe side.
7. Once you have made your plans and pinpointed your dumpster locations, head out early. If you live in a city, I recommend you go with a friend. I live in a small city with a low crime rate. I feel comfortable diving on my own. However, I once encountered a man in a dumpster. I pulled up to a dumpster and heard noises. I paused in my car for a moment, and lo and behold a man popped out and waved at me. When coming upon a dumpster in the dark, I highly recommend giving a quick tap to your car horn to alert anyone that might be there of your presence. I don’t recommend joining them in the dump dive. Just say a few angry words under your breath and come back in a few days.
Thanks Karen from
Redoux for sharing your tricks of the trade!
Did I mention Karen turns her finds into fabulousness …
like this privacy screen made from old garage doors.
Want to earn your dumpster diving MBA too?
Take the Dumpster Diving Tips Part 2 course and then move on to
Karen’s Dumpster Diving Tips Part 3 and you’ll be diving into dumpsters with the best of them.
Don’t forget to read my inside scoop on how to score the best estate sale finds?
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Huge fan of Karen’s dumpster diving skillz! And her painting is magnificent, too… Happy Monday, ladies!
xo Heidi
Hey Kelly, what say me and you road trip to California where Karen can give us personalized diving lessons?
Why does that bring to mind the movie – Vacation?
Bliss and Kelly, anytime!!
Oh Karen is just the best! I love her trash finds that she turns from junk to JUNQUE!! And she’s a wonderful friend – I feel like I know her in real life and I hope to someday actually make that a reality!
Thanks for the love friends and especially Kelly!
I should take the ladies of the Garden Club on a field trip to dumpster dive…hey, they may find some great things for the yard!…or maybe a new club…The Dumpster Divas…Great tips!
Wonderful tips! You know, me and my hubs used to that back in Chicago when we both still had the time to do it. We would go Garbage pick up day and drive around the ‘nice’ neighborhoods! Big scores – a working huge organ, little tikes chalkboard, blue & white porcelain bowls we still use today! To avoid embarassment though, we didn’t dumpster-dive in our own neighborhood. 🙂
Love it- You might even meet a new friend (or enemy) that is doing the same thing!!! What fun! xo Diana
I’m not sure I’m quite brave enough to Dumpster dive, but give me a piece of furniture on the side of the road, and I’m all over it.
Apartment complex Dumpsters can be goldmines, and as a trash rule-breaker myself, I will say that the Dumpster near the Goodwill store often gets some “donations.”
Great tips! lol I have friends who have done it. I have not tried it myself 🙂