St. Patrick's Day produced a pot of gold for one dumpster diver. TikToker Dumpsterthrivinlady (@dumpsterthrivinlady) showed viewers how her Dollar Store's trash bin overflowed with holiday decor.
@dumpsterthrivinlady "Pot of gold"#dumpster #dumpsterdive #dumpstertiktok #trashpanda #dumpsterdiver #dumpsterthrivinlady #fyp #donate #stpatricksday #schoolsupplies #cleanout #popular ♬ original sound - Dumpsterthrivinlady
Tons of holiday-branded napkins, green tinsel, clover-shaped decor, and other items filled the dumpster to the brim.
"What a waste," she remarks while sorting through the pile. In other words, there were several dollars' worth of stuff in one Dollar Store trash bag.
While she admitted she didn't need any more decorations, many people encouraged her to use them to help others.
"Take and donate to nursing homes. I'm sure they would enjoy [the] deco, and [it would] put a smile on [their] faces," said one.
Another advised, "Donate to a school to use for next [year]."
"Aww man you hit the jackpot with all that St. Patricks day stuff," said a third.
Based on other dumpster dives, the holidays are the perfect time to get many seasonal items for free. One PetSmart post-Christmas haul still had tags and sealed packaging on pet toys, harnesses, and sweaters. Christmas came again for one person who found holiday bowls, ornaments, welcome mats, and games. When it comes to holiday gifting, a good dive may produce some valuable electronics to regift, such as a discarded tablet to reset or a Razor electric mini-bike.
Considering concerns over supply chain delays and shutdowns from tariff wars, dumpster diving and donating may help keep upcoming celebrations going, since as much as 87% of American decorations come from China, per Reuters. Plus, it's another way to save money and consume less.
The Center for Biological Diversity gathered some interesting holiday consumption data. There's 23% more trash in December than in other months of the year, and retailers dump about 25% of returned products, amounting to five billion pounds of items. As for other holidays, 145 million Valentine's Day cards sold each year are unrecyclable, making the level of consumption difficult to justify.
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Big time 💯 Luckily, savvy divers unloading these dumpsters to use, donate, regift, or resell items are helping the environment by reducing landfill load. American landfills saw an average of 146 million tons of trash in 2018, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Unfortunately, many of these holiday decorations aren't biodegradable, so saving them from a trash heap prevents them from breaking down into a toxic product that can contaminate the soil and air on an already overheated and polluted planet. In other words, dumpster diving can help give the planet a cleaner and cooler future.
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