Electronics can be big buys for many people, so imagine the excitement of getting one for free when you least expect it.
One Reddit post displays such a find, as the lucky person wrote, "Found this ZZB and a non working RCA tablet together. A quick reset later and now it's good as new."
This isn't the first time a dumpster dive has produced an expensive find for someone. Unsuspecting people have accidentally discovered things peeking out of the trash, such as expensive Wharfedale Denton 2XP speakers worth up to $1500 or an electric mini-bike. Some regularly participate in this activity to save money on food, find items to sell, and help their community by giving things away to the needy.
With inflation, dumpsters have provided an unexpected reprieve for people to find perfectly intact items purposefully thrown out by a retail or grocery store after the holiday season, refrigerator malfunction, or a customer return. Personal items thrown away by accident or in anger can make someone else's day or produce a future heirloom, such as an 18-karat Cartier gold necklace.
Free electronics are great, but freeing the planet from unnecessary waste is even better. Landfills are packed with items and plastics that may take hundreds of years to deteriorate — not without leaching harmful chemicals beforehand.
Deteriorating electronics are even more complicated than plastics as they're made from several components, including metals, plastic, glass, and other mined materials, causing them to sometimes take millions of years to decompose. During this time, the chemicals, such as chromium, mercury, and cadmium they contain can seep into the environment.
When this tablet reaches the end of its life cycle, hopefully, the Redditor will use electronic recycling programs instead of doing what the original person did by trashing it.
As one commenter sarcastically replied, "For a better world.... Let me just throw this fully functional tablet in the dumpster."
Based on the comments, others have also seen good electronics thrown out — well, except for the one looking for them.
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Which of these factors would most effectively motivate you to recycle old clothes and electronics?
Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. |
Giving me money back 💰 A budding dumpster diver said, "This provides me with much-needed inspiration to keep treasure hunting in those dumpsters. You never know when you will strike gold, right?!"
One exasperated person proclaimed, "Seeing things dumped in the trash [in] such GOOD WORKING [condition] & even somewhat broken but still usable … has always baffled … me!"
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