One person's trash is another person's treasure. This can be especially true when talking about dumpster diving. At off-campus apartments for Duke University, one person's trash is another person's luxury haul.
Writer Lena Geller wrote about her experience for INDY Week, sharing what it is like living in an apartment building that mostly functions as off-campus housing for Duke University. She says that the end-of-year hauls are astounding.
"Around graduation each year, you can find dozens of vacuums, Keurigs, stainless steel trash cans, mirrors, and enough luxury goods to make a reseller weep with joy. The first time I went down there … I pulled out $395 Balenciaga slides. Nearby were $980 Valentino sneakers — worn, but definitely wearable. More than $1,000 of Lululemon workout clothing tumbled from a bag onto a couch," Geller said.
In her apartment building, the tenants throw all of the discarded belongings into a trash room instead of outside on the curb. But seeing that most of the items in the trash were still in a very usable condition made her upset.
"The sheer volume of valuable, usable things being discarded boggles the brain, particularly when it comes to items like clothing with the tags still on and unopened, unexpired food items," Geller wrote.
After collecting a bunch of appliances, clothes, and other home goods, she totaled the items to around $6,000, not including items she couldn't price. Geller also got interested in comparing how universities managed their on-campus donations.
According to Geller's research, Duke's "Devils Care Donations" placed donation bins around campus before graduation and collected 32,000 pounds this last year. Rice University shared that its "Give a Hoot! Donate Your Loot!" campaign collected 11,000 pounds of goods from students last year, earning a statewide award by collecting items throughout the year, not just at graduation time.
According to Dumpsters.com, 140 million tons of trash end up in a landfill every year, and less than one-fourth of that is organic waste.
If you are looking to save money and items from going to the landfill, dumpster diving may be for you. Dumpster diving is legal on public property in all 50 states.
If you choose to dumpster dive, make sure to wear closed-toe shoes and thick gloves, and bring a grabber stick, flashlight, and sanitizer. If you find too many items for you to keep, consider donating them to a local charity organization.
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