As the holiday season approaches in an increasingly tumultuous economy, retailers are bracing for weak sales, and cable news pundits are recommending a halt to gift-giving.
At the same time, a high-profile dumpster diver uncovered a wealth of perfectly good, giftable items behind a Five Below store.
What's happening?
TikTok user dumpsterdivingmama (@dumpsterdivingmama) has 3.3 million followers, along with a sizable following on Facebook, where she goes by the name Tiffany Roach.
A prolific and committed dumpster diver, Roach recently shared a haul she had uncovered in the trash at Five Below.
While Roach's excursions often depict seemingly edible food or designer goodies, this particular discovery was hard to watch because it primarily involved children's toys, notebooks, and sports gear — all things that would fit in perfectly under a tree or in a stocking.
@dumpsterdivingmama NICE 5BELOW SCORE!! #DUMPSTERDIVINGMAMA #DUMPSTERDIVER #dumpsterdiversoftexas #dumpsterdiving ♬ original sound - ᴅᴜᴍᴘꜱᴛᴇʀᴅɪᴠɪɴɢᴍᴀᴍᴀ
At the beginning of the clip, she filmed herself reaching into an almost offensively clean blue dumpster, sifting through pristine notebooks and untouched toys, games, and baubles.
"Stop it," Roach exclaimed as she withdrew a brand-new Beetlejuice jigsaw puzzle. "I might have to climb in."
She did.
As she continued digging, Roach uncovered Hello Kitty merchandise, sealed LOL Surprise toys, and stacks of undated planners.
Commenters on the Facebook post were horrified.
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Heck yes 👍 "The racket bags could be donated to a school," one observed.
"Dream garbage," another lamented.
"Not a trash can, but a store," a third said.
"What a rich trash can," another agreed.
Why is this retail waste concerning?
Unnecessary waste takes a lot of forms — but unlike food, toys and notebooks don't need to be deemed safe for consumption before they're donated.
Dumpsters are the last stop for retail excess before it's taken to a landfill, and American landfills are overflowing with barely or never-used items just like these.
Putting aside the fact that much of this waste could have been donated to those in need, landfills are a significant contributor to planet-warming pollution.
Needless consumption is already generating immense amounts of waste, and products that are never even used are exacerbating the issue and damaging the environment.
Is Five Below doing anything about this?
Notably, Roach's Facebook post caption stated that "for once," Five Below "didn't destroy" the items before trashing them.
She was alluding to the controversial, common retail practice of intentionally destroying unsold goods to prevent them from being used or donated.
Five Below has been caught doing exactly that in the past.
On its website, Five Below mentioned donating unsold goods but provided no concrete details, nor did the retailer address reducing retail waste.
What's being done about retail waste more broadly?
On the consumer side, dumpster divers like Roach are diverting items from landfills, and in the current economic climate, the practice is likely to become more popular.
Although dumpster diving is technically legal in all 50 states, trespassing isn't, and it's important to be mindful of private or restricted areas.
This Five Below score involved entering a dumpster, which waste management professionals advise against for several reasons, including fall risks, potentially sharp debris, the risk of entrapment, and the possible presence of dangerous trash compactors.
As a seasoned diver, Roach forwent protection — but for safety's sake, work gloves, durable clothing, a flashlight, and hand sanitizer are strongly recommended to reduce the risk of injury, cuts, or general contamination.
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