A north London mother has clothing put away for her children's future use after already finding enough for new wardrobes, according to the BBC. She had discarded the garments beside the recycling bins at her local supermarket.
Ralph Lauren, Nike, and The North Face labels turned up in the abandoned clothing.
Here's what to know
She estimated that her finds had saved her hundreds of pounds over six months. Darryl Baker, a 39-year-old freelance journalist and mother of two, asked supermarket staff for permission before taking the clothing, the BBC reported.
"I got my children entire new wardrobes," Baker said.
In addition to donating and selling some finds, Baker kept clothing for herself and recovered pieces for her nephews and nieces. One men's Barbour jacket sold for £30.
An Ikea picture frame — "a perfectly decent" one, Baker said — and children's scooters were among the non-clothing items she spotted.
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More background
Charlotte Bayford, a 44-year-old sales assistant in Essex, plans her searches around students leaving Essex University for the summer, when they discard belongings they do not want to take home.
Bayford furnishes her house with recovered objects, donates finds to charity, and sells valuable pieces. She also collects half-filled toiletries.
"I haven't bought shampoo for eight years," she said. "I'd say that has saved me some money."
In Fort Worth, Texas, Jeff Ferrell, a 72-year-old author and emeritus sociology professor at Texas Christian University, searches for discarded goods by bicycle daily.
His wife also sells finds, including antiques and jewelry, on eBay. He said selling recovered metal earns him around $150 every two weeks.
Between the money saved and the proceeds from selling recovered items, Ferrell estimates that the practice brings his household tens of thousands of dollars in value annually.
What can be done?
Sunjay Versani of Duncan Lewis Solicitors explained that, in the United Kingdom, whether someone can legally keep goods from a bin depends on the circumstances.
Rules also vary across the United States. Ferrell said many cities prohibit dumpster diving, and taking items can carry a risk of trespass charges. In Fort Worth, removing items is permitted only when the bins stand on public land.
London-based stylist and Instagram content creator Millie Diamond searches for fabrics and clothing to refashion and sells some of her finished pieces. She began after discovering vintage clothes in a bin outside a closed business.
Versani emphasized that finding an item in the trash does not automatically mean it is available to take.
"In many cases involving genuinely discarded goods, prosecution is unlikely. But there is no general rule that something is free to take simply because it has been put in a skip or bin," Versani said. "If in doubt, the safest approach is to ask the owner or business for permission."
Where can I learn more?
Discarded goods and secondhand clothing can be useful finds, but they aren't always in good condition. These stories cover damaged children's clothes, surplus fashion, retail dumpster hauls, and Goodwill shopping advice.
• Janie and Jack children's clothes turned up at Salvation Army with hidden holes, upsetting shoppers.
• Vinted shoppers questioned clothing quality as new-with-tags microtrends flooded listings.
• A dumpster diver recovered discarded TJ Maxx Halloween merchandise, questioning why it was dumped early.
• A TJ Maxx dumpster search revealed a destroyed chair alongside brand-new bags and jewelry.
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