Dumpster diving has become a go-to strategy for budget-friendly and environmentally conscious individuals — and the finds speak for themselves — but every now and then, an item stops people in their tracks.
Such was the case in a recent Reddit post, shared on the r/DumpsterDiving subreddit by a user who found a vintage gaming console in nearly perfect condition.
"I found a PlayStation with original controllers and 2 extra ones with all the cords included. There was also a power adapter for a PlayStation 2 included. It turns on," the user said on the original post, sharing a picture of the console.
While finds like these are exciting when discovered by dumpster divers, they point to a larger issue that is increasingly becoming a problem: e-waste, the fastest-growing stream of waste in the world.
The average American is thought to produce nearly 50 pounds of e-waste per year — to put things in perspective, that would be the equivalent in weight of throwing out more than 15 PlayStations per year.
When disposed of incorrectly, electronics can be incredibly harmful to both the environment and human health. Pregnant women and children especially are at risk from the toxic substances that can leak into the soil and affect air quality, causing various health problems.
Dumpster diving can be an effective, individual antidote to some of the problems of e-waste, and it's legal when done under the correct conditions in all 50 states. Checking in with local and state law will help avoid issues along the way, and diving can be a great way to reuse what would otherwise be trash.
The best way to avoid e-waste, though, is to exhaust the options of disposing of electronics before throwing them in the trash. Many stores allow users to trade in their old electronics, both reducing e-waste and letting users make a bit of cash.
Commenters on the post expressed both sadness and jealousy for the find, showing that there is indeed a market for old electronics and that simply throwing them in the trash is never the option.
"That's extremely sad," one user commented on the post. "I don't understand why a perfectly good machine would be tossed."
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Definitely 😠"I am so jealous," another said, expressing the nostalgia associated with the console. "That PS1 looks exactly like the one from my childhood down to all four controller colors."
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