I have never dumpster dive. I just have heard too many horror stories, I just don't think I could. (Anything from bugs, rodents, dead people, sharp things, guns, gross food, puke, and or being trapped in 1) Nope not for me. It's not worth it in my eyes. But kudos to those who do it. Just be safe. But I have cleaned up parks and little wooded areas. I know technically it's not the same thing, but it does give the advocacy of cleaning up trash and seeing just the nature. It does feel good to clean up that foot print and it's a work out. And gross!
My husband used to do it, for food. After a few months the shop started pouring chemicals on the food in the bin to stop people taking it. Absolutely disgraceful.
Back in the early 80’s my family would get food from the dumpsters. Back in those days they would box up the food that is still good and left it on the side of the dumpsters for people to pick up. It sad now that they make sure the food is damage and people who need it can not have it. My husbands aunt use to work for places like Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. They would damage clothing so they can write it off as a lost. She would put a 1 inch cut in the bottom back of the shirts then give them to us. I would just stitch the cut up.
Kinda crazy that the disgusting part of this wasn’t people going into dumpsters, but what they actually found in them. 😔 There need to be serious corporate changes so thank you shedding light on this. I had no idea the scale of waste happening.
all that rotten warm wrapped meat that could have been frozen within safe amount of time. after, donate it to a shelter or food bank of sorts. some stuff is discontinued or rotten, but a lot isn't.
Capitalism SO BADLY wants us to believe there isn't enough to go around when there is, SO MANY TIMES OVER, and this is the tragedy of our economic system. The waste and the false scarcity. All for profits and enforcing poverty on the have-nots.
@@flyingbird9633 my daughter is doing a school report. I go out and see first hand the waste, some of which I am able to donate, but there is always something I find that has already gone out of temp and so many places I can't get to. It's very upsetting, especially with meat since a life was wasted.
I worked in a dollar store and sometimes we had to throw away food and items with a warning that they're not safe to eat or use. You don't know that when you go in the dumpster. If there's a recall on canned spaghetti sauce because they realised that batch was contaminated with whatever and the store is told to throw it away, you have no way to know just by looking at the can... like i'm on board for clothing, shoes, accessories, some types of furniture, but anything that might be a health and safety risk, no way. No way in hell. No matter how it looks.
My mother's friend has been doing this for years now as a hobby. Every year she gets something for herself (dresses, rings, a holiday) so there is money to be made. One thing to note is that she uses these special gloves and only searches the top of the dumpster. This is due to the danger of dirty (drug) needles or other sharp objects. The tiktoks you showed, not everyone uses gloves, which is worrying because surprise suprise, dumpsters aren't clean so a small cut can be more dangerous than one might think😅
My jaw is on the ground. I'M SO ANGRY!! I knew places were wasteful and throwing their products out, but I had NO idea it was this bad. This is absolutely disgusting. I'm near tears. This doesn't make any sense, there are so many other ways they could get rid of product like reducing the price, donating, giving it away, literally anything would be better than purposely destroying it and then throwing it out. I don't have the confidence to dumpster dive and I'd be too afraid of rats or mice, but more power to those who are doing it!
It makes me wonder why they bought so many dang betta fish in the first place? I can understand from a cold numbers perspective why they weren’t donated - no reputable charity would want them and the store would not be able to claim tax advantages. But that still leaves the question of how the store buyer so royally effed up? It’s also possible that all of those particular fish came from a diseased harvest. In which case the only responsible thing to do would be to dispose of them because they couldn’t be ethically sold nor donated to anyone.
I work at an auto store, and we throw a very small amount of stock out each week, when we do disposals. ..Disposals are damaged products that customers return that can’t be repaired, marked down, etc. They have always had to be destroyed before we throw them out, for safety - so that someone doesn’t pull it out and use it. Auto parts can be genuinely dangerous if they’re faulty/damaged etc. For me, i would be very picky about what goods I took from a dumpster, but I probably would take them.
The Coach bag was mind blowing to me! Nothing that could have expired or been dangerous there! The fish situation is traumatic. Even if they had some kind of disease surely there was a better method than simply treating a living creature like trash. Your toilet paper connect story really made me laugh. We had the same situation - down to our last roll and not having luck sourcing a reasonable restock. My mom qualified for senior citizen shopping hours at our local market and she had to fight people from grabbing it from her! Insane!
We do also occasionally find used needles, broken glass, and, unfortunately, deceased animals. Those are some dangers that new divers might not anticipate or be prepared for.
It comes down to money. They don't want their products given away or discounted because if people know this will happen to the surplus they will be less willing to pay full price for it. Lots of brands have a luxury/exclusive vibe about their brand. If less well off people can get their hands on these goods discounted in a thrift store because the company gave away the excess, it damages the brand's image and therefore sales. So they don't do it, they prefer to send brand new useable stuff to landfill, to maximize their profits in the long term. Money makes the world go round unfortunately
I always had food to eat, but I grew up poor. When I was 10 or 11 my dad & I were dumpster diving and I was tired and wanted to go home but dad said said “one more” so we went and he checked one more dumpster and while he was checking it I found $148 on the ground!! I’ll never forget the amount. You can imagine how happy that would make a child 🥰 I bought us aluminum foil to cook with and drinking water at the dollar tree and then we went home. I can’t remember what I spent the rest of the money on lol
When I worked retail, years ago, we would destroy items before placing them in the dumpster. These were items returned by customers typically that couldn’t be restocked.
Where I am from (third world), there are communities of people who live on trash, and then there are those who post the stuff they're giving away. It encourages personal responsibility by sharing to those genuinely reuse it. At the same time, companies lose customers they never had. I'm glad you covered this topic as it sheds a light on companies that aren't being penalised for wastefulness. Sometimes, it is us who drives the demand or overproduction of a product. That's why I prefer to buy from companies that have good products they can't throw. I also have adopted instead of buying at pet stores because I was aware they murder the milled pups and kittens they couldn't sell past a certain age. 😢
You knocked this video out of the park. My stomach is turning at all of it, and to be honest, it makes me not want to buy anything else ever again. Fault is absolutely the corporations., there’s only so much that we can do one in individual basis. I’ll give you an example, for me as a single woman, I can’t control the average serving size or packaging size of produce at the grocery store , so I have to buy the whole pack of whatever the item is. The fact that I am only one person means that realistically, I cannot eat that large of a bag of kale in enough time before it goes bad (just an example)
Never been dumpster diving myself but when I was a kid, we had some friends who found a bunk bed in a dumpster and gave it to us. I slept on it until I graduated high school. It makes me so angry to see perfectly good food, clothing and other goods thrown out rather than donated and makes me not want to buy from these brands. If they would donate them rather than dump them, I'd go out of my way to buy from them.
I feel like everything has an expiration date when it comes to food. But in clips like this it's definitely an odd site. Thanks for covering this, pretty interesting topic.
Love this so much! I had friends who did dumpster diving back in college and donated food and items to “free pantries” on our city and a volunteer group even did a monthly big free “food not bombs” dinner for low income or unhoused people. It’s amazing how much is wasted.
This year I’ve made a concerted effort to only go in and shop for things that I am actually going to use, but I can’t lie seeing perfectly good items in the garbage headed directly into landfills(not that I didn’t know this was happening at some level) is sickening. Here on RUclips there are so many videos talking about how we need to consume less but maybe that means that needs to be produced as consumers that’s not under our control. Lord help the coming generations
When I was in college, the final week of school, was literally dumpster diving week when people would literally go dumpster diving for stuff because other students (like international or ones traveling by plane) bought a lot during the year and couldn’t bring many things back dumped them and others who lived closer or drove would then go around finding new items to take home.
This is so interesting! We have food drives in our area where grocery stores donate expired food/supplies. Big trucks pick up all the items and then deliver them to all the different food distribution locations where anyone can go get a box full of food/items once a week. All of the foods(meats and produce) that cannot be consumed are donated then to local pig farmers. Guess I just assumed that’s what most places did… 😮😢
I actually started with public school dumpsters and like to go in the morning. It has made SO MUCH possible for our family! There is still absolutely a stigma attached, but it is WONDERFUL to see people opening up to the idea and realizing just how extreme the waste is!
My first job (20 years ago!!! 😱) was at Walgreens. After any of the holidays we would mark down the candy for 1-2 days and anything that didn’t sell in that time had to be thrown out. Perfectly good candy that was still wrapped and nowhere close to expired was thrown into the dumpster. We weren’t allowed to take it because that would have been considered “stealing”. It broke my heart every time I had to do that. Still think about it so many years later
If it was in a big bag and mini products inside were independently wrapped; Could the big bag still be marked as loss for taxes . If the small wrapped candies can't be scanned/counted separately, would store throw it all out as loss? (if the weight of big bag doesn't matter)
I started watching Thrift Kingdom on RUclips and I tell you, this is going to be what radicalizes me. The best and worst videos are the ones where they're pulling tons of perfectly usable stuff out of the bins. One memorable video had a man dumpster diving in the Amazon return center and he spend half an hour pulling out boxes and boxes of new shoes.
These corporations that allow all that waste infuriate me! Not only are they wasting perfectly good products (like food!), but they're also increasing the price of what they sell even though so many people are greatly impacted by the cost of living crisis all for a larger profit. ARGH!!
those weren't goldfish but Siamese Fighting Fish, commonly referred to as "Betta's". They can survive in very little water and are shipped this way. They can breathe underwater but also "gulp" oxygen from the air when they poke above the surface. It IS heartbreaking and disgusting what this pet store did. Makes one wonder how many other shipments of betta's that were dumped and WEREN"T rescued.
When I was a young adult in the 2000’s brand name was everything. Always thought I had to have it. Thank goodness for social media now. Cause name brands are crap! Just paying for the name not quality especially today.
My husband used to dumpster dive when we were in college. He usually did it after college move out because students would throw all sorts of stuff away. We got t shirts, brand new tools, ironing board, etc
Loving your content. As a person with a bachelor's in environmental studies I say this with all of my education and heart: it is absolutely deplorable the amount of waste we create in the United States and I'm ashamed at what we let big corporations get away with, especially throwing away animals. I also want to point out that you do infinitely more for the world to have the mindset of "I'm going to do everything I can as the individual to be sustainable" rather than the mindset of "why should I do better if the world doesn't." I hear that often and it breaks my heart. There is a quote I love and try to live my life by that goes "I cannot do all the good that the world needs. But the world needs all the good that I can do" by Jana Stanfield. It has guided me to make so many better choices in life and I feel I'm mentally happier in the long run despite the dire situation we are in with wastefulness as a global whole. There is a documentary called Bin Raders about the freeganisim movement. I found it interesting. You may as well.
The luxury bag companies also do that .I have heard unsold bags are burnt .Why then increase prices ? Also I have heard Amazon burn stuff unsold .Not sure of this is true .
This is just unconscionable! All of these companies should be fined, why not donate all these stuff when so many people are starving in the world, so many children don't have anything but the clothes on their backs, all of these toys would make them so happy, is just sad and my heart is just broken when I saw the little goldfish, is a sin what these company did, why not donate it to a school as you said, is just disheartening.
This was so triggering (like excellent job on the video lol) but watching all of the good stuff just thrown out!!! I’m doing a no buy year & I was like hmmmm dumpster diving 🤔🤔🤔🤑
When I worked in retail many years ago, we had a staff shop where staff members could buy food/flowers past their 'display until' date and clothes/other items that were damaged or out of season, for a discounted price. We had 5 charities to call to ask them to collect surplus foods but sometimes none of them could come. One time I was asked to go to help get rid of some food. The food still seemed fine. I was told that everything had to be destroyed (slashed with a knife 🔪) and then we had to pour blue dye all over it. When I asked why we couldn't just put it strsight in the bins, I was told that it was to prevent people from taking it from the bins 😲 I just though: "If people want to take it from the bins, LET THEM!!"
This is weird. I’ve worked for 4 major retailers in the states and all had hardcore trash policies and NOTHING is thrown in the trash. Even defective or ruined product is shipped to corporate to be disposed of. Stuff in the trash is a fireable offense as it’s a loss prevention policy violation (theft). I can’t speak to TJ Maxx, but other brands… idk. This seems very fishy.
nothing fishy at all, except maybe the poor fish being thrown into the dumpster. All you have to do is start viewing a few of the dumpster diving channels and you'll see just how much good food and good, usable items are tossed daily. It's absolutely disgusting the amount of unnecessary waste going to the landfills. I applaud the people that are out there daily, rescuing all the food and usable items from the landfill. Many that do this are on a mission to save as much as possible from the landfill and while they use some of the things themselves, they also stock little pantries and donate to animal shelters, and other places that can use the items. Some take things like toys and baby equipment home, and set it on their curb to allow people the opportunity to take it for themselves.
Hii. So, I have a part answer for you for this. I work in the waste industry in Aus. A LOT of these companies throw out these items for such ridiculous reasons.. JB Hifi throws out electronics because the outer boxes were water damaged.. but all of the items were perfectly fine. Its simply a matter of being able to claim it back on insurance.. If they donate it instead of throw it out and claiming it on insurance they are out on costs.. Its the same for frozen food items and other food items. they cant get anything back on costs from donating it, so they throw it out. From an ethical standpoint its really disgusting. The landfill space on items that don't need to be there is mind blowing.
I think the focus for sure needs to be placed on large corporations. We need legislation that won’t allow waste on this scale, unless the waste is posing some form of health risk like recalls on food and medical supplies.
I used to work in a charity as a volunteer .Mind you it's a well known one .One year they discarded all furniture which was very good and replaced with new ones .Imagine this is a charity .Since then I refuse to give any money to charity .
This is a topic since years. I honestly considered dumpster diving and donating because it is so awful to waste all that perfectly fine stuff when on the other hand people are struggling to buy the most needed things - let alone the impact on the environment!!! Unfortunately in Germany it is illegal to do this and furthermore most of the dumpster are locked up very heavily so you seldom get the chance to catch anything. Politicians considered to make dumpster diving legal but the problem is that as long as something is on your property no one is allowed to take it. When your put it onto the street or the sidewalk it‘s because then it is openly derelicted. Even when we order bulky waste and we pile the things up in our driveway nobody except the waste people are allowed to pick it up. It‘s a shame that the world works like this and I can’t only applaud each and every person going dumpster diving 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Caitlin those fish are “Siamese Fighters”, as an avid seawater, freshwater & pond owner in days gone by this really hit home. I cried when one of our fish died but to see these poor (expensive) Siamese Fighters in virtually drink cups with little water & no food is disgusting. We have Oz Harvest & Foodbank as you know in Australia, why not give the darn food away to be eaten by those in need? Same with unwanted apparel, give it to charity stop the waste. I have seen a few people dumpster dive on RUclips they call themselves “freegans”, why buy when you can find what you need for free. Provided yr not breaking any law, council bylaws etc.Interesting vlog TVM. 😘💐
This is something that’s been happening for decades for food in particular as far as I am aware. This is how the Manson’s family lived in the 70s. They did it mainly for survival for obvious reasons but as for larger companies I am not too sure when that started.
Omg Caitlin 😢 I love your content so much now I really look forward every turn to watch all and I enjoy, in my country collect paper box and do this is so normal, also feeling children and resale on market… world reality showed here by your videos and being clarified by what you’ve said along way…. It’s truly sad that company’s don’t donate and help people in need and rather seeing them going through difficult times than let them come to shops in end of day to give all for free.:: would be much easier and would save a lot of waste… 😮majority of high brands designers burn the stock, you should talk about this next… it’s super interesting and majority of people don’t know about! You are so interesting and you sound so intelligent when you talk, if one day you come to Monaco let me know would love to meet you♥️💫❤️🥰✨😘
Great listening I love thrifting and I would dumpster dive if I could get myself out of the dumpster ha it's a crying shame what companies waste even with thrifting I find new items quite a few times and food I look for half price and dented boxes that can't go on the shelves at the market your shirt is pretty
I wonder why the staff don't get given these. If I worked for that TJ Maxx, I'm sure I could find a friend who would want a Coach bag for nothing! Also, we live a world of Facebook, Insta and other social media sites that a pet store can put out a message saying 'free gold fish' - people would have come and got them - throwing them away is cruel and gross!!!
That’s so sad to see …. They are Beta fighting fish. I’ve had 2 and both lived to be over 2 years old. I’ve walked into our local PetSmart and I’ve watched them put them in the containers. We live in a smaller town and there’s no way that they are selling that many fish!
This really makes the “efforts” of these companies to be more environmentally friendly and the way they flaunt it to be rather ironic as they are dumping tons of merchandise themselves
I used to work at a gas station and My boss would yell at me and my coworkers if we "allowed" people to look through the trashcans we had at the gas pumps. We weren't. We would be busy taking care of customers and or cleaning or calling things in just random stuff of our job and we were by ourselves 98 % of the time. So we had no control. If we caught someone going through the trash we would tell them they aren't allowed to do that and if we turned around guess what.... they were doing it again. They were looking for pop bottles because or recycling. some of the states you got money for recycling. But it's dangerous to look through trash, you never know what people are throwing away. Then also people wouldn't clean up afterwards- so then we had to go back over to that area and re clean that area. We have seen used needles from injections thrown away. 1 time someone saw a box of kittens next to the trash can that someone left - came back later after cops were called - said they "accidentally" left them there. Sure, okay. Who accidentally leave s a litter of kittens in a box at a gas station? for a month or so it kept happening like once a week the bags would be heavy, for 1 bag at 1 pump, 1 day a week, the same day the same morning, it was a Monday morning, and I worked Monday mornings cause I did the schedules Monday mornings. But 1 week I was on vacation and that Monday they caught the guy. But we knew why the bag was heavy - cat litter! these were 50 lb bags so I was emptying them like half cause I noticed it had sand in it or something and it smelled horrible. It was cat litter. The bag ripped once on someone else. It was aweful and they caught the guy the week I was gone and they told him he isn't allowed to do that because our bags are so big that if we don't see him throwing that away it can be bad and that's just gross and do that at your house. like what??!!! Then 1 time - someone threw away DEER ANTLERS!! In our trashcans! That's not safe!!!! Tore our bags. I'm on blood thinnners and I worked there, I had no idea that someone had thrown something like that away till I saw them sticking out of the hole opening and immediately removed them, I was so cut up. And then people were complaining like why would someone throw those away? Don't ask me, I'm not a hunter. I went out to the back of my area where I had the trash and the bag was gone. So I think the guy that asked me about the antlers took them. At 1 time we had pallets up by our Dumpster behind our gas station Kiosk, in the middle of the day, people stole them. They thought they were for trash. I said they weren't - didn't listen. But I called my managers to have someone come out and get them cause customers repeatedly were coming up to us asking about them. I got in trouble cause some customer stole the wooden pallets. I said "NO!" to them because I had called them to retrieve them and warned them that people thought they were trash. So even stuff like that can happen. I heard in this 1 dumpster video of a woman being shut in a dumpster and then into the trash can, crushed, killed. It was horrible. And with food safety... some food you cannot eat after it's been thawed out for who knows how long. I saw frozen food in those dumpsters and who knows how long that's been in there and if those people bring it home and refreeze. idk. I'm not sure about food. But I saw once with stores for clothing that markers will be drawn over them or box cutter slices on them - purposely damaging the items. There's not just a waste on food but also materials. I just think with inflation on food there still shouldn't be all this food waste. I just shake my head at how high food prices are.
On top of the massive waste, these employees indiscriminately throw hazardous waste into the dumpsters. It's a huge problem all together. I'm able to donate a ton of nonperishable food and vitamins, but I'm always wondering why the businesses don't just donate it themselves instead of wasting it, especially if they don't want people in their dumpsters...
I’ve always been thrifty. I try to not pay full price for anything. It’s fun to bater. I used to buy all of my clothes second hand until the op shops started raising the prices so high that it was cheaper to buy brand new. The council clean ups is where I have had so much fun for years. Last year I found an ikea couch which I steam cleaned and restored to brand new condition. It was missing bolts so I went to ikea and they gave me the bolts for free. Mostly everything you find can be disinfected, sanitized or repaired. Also when my portable washing line was broken in our move, I called the company and ordered replacement parts. A new one was $180 au and the replacement parts were $15 au. We need to get back to the days where we repair our items. But where are these places today? Who can you call to get things fixed? I wish my dad was still alive cause he could repair anything
That is insane some of the things that are being shown in the videos playing. I can't believe some of the things that are being thrown away. I have heard that some cut products that they throw in the dumpster. Not sure if that is true.
My share house did this about 15yrs ago when we were all uni students. We got more $$ in food than we did in youth allowance in the 2yrs we did it. Ate so healthy and amazingly. Woolies and Coles were the best. Aldi was incredible but they switched to an enclosed bin with a tube from inside so we couldn’t get into it after that. The baker’s delight bins were amazing. They would put all rubbish in one bin and another bin always just had 100% fresh bread from the day. No rubbish at all. They knew we were taking stuff I think. It was depressing how much we got and how easily. We donated a lot to friends who were struggling doing uni and trying to pay rent. Westfield was always tricky with security etc it was better to find a standalone Coles or Woolies. We never once got sick. I sometimes, even now, drive by bins and sort of feel nostalgic for those times.
It's so bizarre that a shop would rather slash a perfectly used suitcase, than give it away or sell it online for a huge discount. Such a pointless waste.
Imagine if employee owned grocery stores all around the country freeze dried their excess produce and gave it away or sold it at a very low price to people who needed cheaper food in their community. There would be no more hunger in our country. I really admire dumpster divers a LOT more than people promoting stealing from big box stores in the country, which just potentially encourages young foks to get themselves incarcerated.
i was in food retail from 2006-2016 and we were told specifically to throw the food out in a way in which anyone going through the dumpster wouldn’t take them or would make them inedible. this included making sure any items were taken out of packaging so the food touches other potentially gross or contaminated objects as well as breaking things into pieces. when i worked at starbucks (inside of a vons so this was a grocery store thing not a starbucks thing), i knew someone that was fired for putting a separate plastic bag in the trash can to throw the food items in that bag within the larger bag so the food was protected and he would take the bag out for himself when he took the trash out. the reasoning was always because of risks of lawsuits if someone were to get sick from eating something in the dumpster, but who knows if that’s actually true or if it was just for the money ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I’m not an expert on any of this, but I studied economics in college. Whenever I see stuff like this, really any waste, I think of opportunity costs. The true cost of something is everything else you could have done. If a company makes product A, they can’t make more of product B. If a company discards any product, they might as well have just set money on fire. It’s the same result: a loss in real terms, and a loss of what could have been. Again, I’m not an expert on any of this, but most companies don’t want to be throwing out unsold items (of course there probably are some companies that just don’t care). I can imagine stuff like this is has more to do with poor supply chain management than companies would like to admit, but I do wonder if this is a byproduct of consumption increasing being based on what is trendy. Coke and Pepsi used to have steady, loyal customers, but that’s changed in recent years as drinking soda has become “uncool,” for various reasons. Unless an influencers starts promoting this new, independent soda company, then drinking soda is cool again.
I genuinely believe that if these companies decided to give the stuff they throw out away for free, whether to employees or to random people, their workers' motivation and sales would increase, it might attract new customers. The logic behind this practice is beyond me.
I've never gone dumpster diving, but I can see where if you knew where the good ones were, you could make a lot of money. I had a family member that worked for a large greeting card company and they were always throwing things out--not just cards but picture frames, candles, gift items. It was insane. He would bring some of it home for family to use, but it's a sad commentary all around that anyone thinks it's just okay to throw this out and how much less should be manufactured to offset this! It's unacceptable.
I agree with you. I was also raised with we should be aware ourselves of our personal consumpution. When seeing what companies waste, they are the ones that need to change. I think the only people that need to change on a "personal" level would be celebrities, royals, high up end people, business people that travel everywhere that don't need to that are spending way too much money on this or that. People that have personal jets. Like yes that's a dream. But come on. They are the reason why there is a carbon print. Not me who travels by plane one time a decade. I haven't flown since I was in high school, which I did twice actually. I want to again. Cause I have always dreamed of traveling, but I got put on blood thinners at the age of 19. I can't do long flights. Which sucks!!! Like I am very curios to anyone that has been on blood thinners, have they taken long flights???? But yes, it's companies, I know some throw out samples, I know some throw out recalls, but when it comes to slashing items, I think a part of it is because they don't want someone trying to return an item without a receipt, maybe. But Yeah it's just greed. It's also not fair to people have spent money on those items paid full price or even sale prices. Why should these people get it for free? - well then, do NOT throw it in the dumpster. Donate it to charity - put it on taxes for the company then. Maybe do a year sale a year later put everything in a bin and mark it for $5 or whatever. But down right destroying the items. That to me hurts the designers. That is their design, their art. Don't destroy it. I don't care what it is.
The animals... that makes me livid. But the whole thing in general is just so sad - so much waste. so much that could go to people who really need it. instead - it's sitting in landfills. :(
We are changing into such a disposable society. Dumping living animals is just the lowest of the low. Theres a lot of companies that have no corporate responsibility whatsoever. It's more profitable to dump stuff than worry about donating it or rehoming anything. I mean even luxury does it. LV/Chanel destroy and dump all their non sold products every season and they don't do outlet. Shitty brand value protection. I'd draw the line at some foods in dumpsters. Purely due to product recalls for salmonella contamination etc that happen but aside from that go the dumpster divers if it saves good stuff from the dumps. All supermarkets should by law have to donate food products they would bin to food charities as a bare minimum.
I hate to see the waste these stores throw out each day.. There are many people that can use these items so why don't they donate them to places that can give them to the ones in need?
I HAVE A RUclips CHANNEL IN ADELAIDE AUSTRALIA... MY most expensive finds is 400 packets of cigarettes & 12 Samsung smart TVs... I've been dumpster diving for 40 years since I was 21 years old, I'm not poor, but I love saving perfect stuff from landfill, I found a lot of toilet paper during the Covid lock down & I source most of my grocery needs from food recycling dumpsters Behind Aldi... Thanks for the video 😊
There needs to be more pushback for sure. The cost of products all over the world are inflated. They dont want to donate because it is about image if the brand. There are so many factors telated to capitalism idk how we would address them all. But yea makes me think i shouldnt be spending my money so frivolously on some of these brands.
i've done it out of need. made good money because of the things they throw away. it is truly disgusting how new things are thrown. i agree its more on the companies. like wow, you really threw that out, you couldn't donate it. but i recall someone saying it has to do with laws/rules as to why they cant donate and have to throw out. still sad and not justifiable but i get it.
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Have you ever been dumpster diving?
I am seriously tempted to go check out the back of my local mall
I have never dumpster dive. I just have heard too many horror stories, I just don't think I could. (Anything from bugs, rodents, dead people, sharp things, guns, gross food, puke, and or being trapped in 1) Nope not for me. It's not worth it in my eyes. But kudos to those who do it. Just be safe.
But I have cleaned up parks and little wooded areas. I know technically it's not the same thing, but it does give the advocacy of cleaning up trash and seeing just the nature. It does feel good to clean up that foot print and it's a work out. And gross!
My husband used to do it, for food. After a few months the shop started pouring chemicals on the food in the bin to stop people taking it. Absolutely disgraceful.
Back in the early 80’s my family would get food from the dumpsters. Back in those days they would box up the food that is still good and left it on the side of the dumpsters for people to pick up. It sad now that they make sure the food is damage and people who need it can not have it.
My husbands aunt use to work for places like Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. They would damage clothing so they can write it off as a lost. She would put a 1 inch cut in the bottom back of the shirts then give them to us. I would just stitch the cut up.
😮
That. Is. Fucked. Up. :( I’m sorry! ❤
Wtf...if they are throwing food like nothing, why are they not ok with people taking it for free...wow Jesus..... It's sad af.
Kinda crazy that the disgusting part of this wasn’t people going into dumpsters, but what they actually found in them. 😔 There need to be serious corporate changes so thank you shedding light on this. I had no idea the scale of waste happening.
all that rotten warm wrapped meat that could have been frozen within safe amount of time. after, donate it to a shelter or food bank of sorts. some stuff is discontinued or rotten, but a lot isn't.
Capitalism SO BADLY wants us to believe there isn't enough to go around when there is, SO MANY TIMES OVER, and this is the tragedy of our economic system. The waste and the false scarcity. All for profits and enforcing poverty on the have-nots.
@@flyingbird9633 my daughter is doing a school report. I go out and see first hand the waste, some of which I am able to donate, but there is always something I find that has already gone out of temp and so many places I can't get to. It's very upsetting, especially with meat since a life was wasted.
exactly, way too much food waste@@alderaan20
I worked in a dollar store and sometimes we had to throw away food and items with a warning that they're not safe to eat or use. You don't know that when you go in the dumpster. If there's a recall on canned spaghetti sauce because they realised that batch was contaminated with whatever and the store is told to throw it away, you have no way to know just by looking at the can... like i'm on board for clothing, shoes, accessories, some types of furniture, but anything that might be a health and safety risk, no way. No way in hell. No matter how it looks.
My mother's friend has been doing this for years now as a hobby. Every year she gets something for herself (dresses, rings, a holiday) so there is money to be made. One thing to note is that she uses these special gloves and only searches the top of the dumpster. This is due to the danger of dirty (drug) needles or other sharp objects. The tiktoks you showed, not everyone uses gloves, which is worrying because surprise suprise, dumpsters aren't clean so a small cut can be more dangerous than one might think😅
Very good point you raised!
My jaw is on the ground. I'M SO ANGRY!! I knew places were wasteful and throwing their products out, but I had NO idea it was this bad. This is absolutely disgusting. I'm near tears. This doesn't make any sense, there are so many other ways they could get rid of product like reducing the price, donating, giving it away, literally anything would be better than purposely destroying it and then throwing it out.
I don't have the confidence to dumpster dive and I'd be too afraid of rats or mice, but more power to those who are doing it!
The last dumpster dive brought tears to my eyes. It is shocking and it cannot be unseen. Our society needs to change…wow.
It makes me wonder why they bought so many dang betta fish in the first place?
I can understand from a cold numbers perspective why they weren’t donated - no reputable charity would want them and the store would not be able to claim tax advantages. But that still leaves the question of how the store buyer so royally effed up?
It’s also possible that all of those particular fish came from a diseased harvest. In which case the only responsible thing to do would be to dispose of them because they couldn’t be ethically sold nor donated to anyone.
@@ModernVintage31The fact they are kept in small plastic cups is already animal cruelty :( the fish abuse in these stores scares me
I work at an auto store, and we throw a very small amount of stock out each week, when we do disposals.
..Disposals are damaged products that customers return that can’t be repaired, marked down, etc.
They have always had to be destroyed before we throw them out, for safety - so that someone doesn’t pull it out and use it. Auto parts can be genuinely dangerous if they’re faulty/damaged etc.
For me, i would be very picky about what goods I took from a dumpster, but I probably would take them.
The Coach bag was mind blowing to me! Nothing that could have expired or been dangerous there! The fish situation is traumatic. Even if they had some kind of disease surely there was a better method than simply treating a living creature like trash. Your toilet paper connect story really made me laugh. We had the same situation - down to our last roll and not having luck sourcing a reasonable restock. My mom qualified for senior citizen shopping hours at our local market and she had to fight people from grabbing it from her! Insane!
The fish breaks my heart! Thank you for this video! I had no idea!
We do also occasionally find used needles, broken glass, and, unfortunately, deceased animals. Those are some dangers that new divers might not anticipate or be prepared for.
It comes down to money. They don't want their products given away or discounted because if people know this will happen to the surplus they will be less willing to pay full price for it. Lots of brands have a luxury/exclusive vibe about their brand. If less well off people can get their hands on these goods discounted in a thrift store because the company gave away the excess, it damages the brand's image and therefore sales. So they don't do it, they prefer to send brand new useable stuff to landfill, to maximize their profits in the long term. Money makes the world go round unfortunately
I always had food to eat, but I grew up poor. When I was 10 or 11 my dad & I were dumpster diving and I was tired and wanted to go home but dad said said “one more” so we went and he checked one more dumpster and while he was checking it I found $148 on the ground!! I’ll never forget the amount. You can imagine how happy that would make a child 🥰 I bought us aluminum foil to cook with and drinking water at the dollar tree and then we went home. I can’t remember what I spent the rest of the money on lol
People who have always lived in material security may have a hard time empathizing with this. But I see you.
What a core memory ❤️ I hope you are in a good place financially now xx
When I worked retail, years ago, we would destroy items before placing them in the dumpster. These were items returned by customers typically that couldn’t be restocked.
my friend worked in fabric store, fabric is ruined before or after being put into dumpster. same with craft supplies. it's very sad.
Where I am from (third world), there are communities of people who live on trash, and then there are those who post the stuff they're giving away. It encourages personal responsibility by sharing to those genuinely reuse it. At the same time, companies lose customers they never had. I'm glad you covered this topic as it sheds a light on companies that aren't being penalised for wastefulness. Sometimes, it is us who drives the demand or overproduction of a product. That's why I prefer to buy from companies that have good products they can't throw. I also have adopted instead of buying at pet stores because I was aware they murder the milled pups and kittens they couldn't sell past a certain age. 😢
You knocked this video out of the park. My stomach is turning at all of it, and to be honest, it makes me not want to buy anything else ever again. Fault is absolutely the corporations., there’s only so much that we can do one in individual basis.
I’ll give you an example, for me as a single woman, I can’t control the average serving size or packaging size of produce at the grocery store , so I have to buy the whole pack of whatever the item is. The fact that I am only one person means that realistically, I cannot eat that large of a bag of kale in enough time before it goes bad (just an example)
Such a good point
Cooking and shopping for one is hard in that regard xx
Never been dumpster diving myself but when I was a kid, we had some friends who found a bunk bed in a dumpster and gave it to us. I slept on it until I graduated high school.
It makes me so angry to see perfectly good food, clothing and other goods thrown out rather than donated and makes me not want to buy from these brands. If they would donate them rather than dump them, I'd go out of my way to buy from them.
I feel like everything has an expiration date when it comes to food. But in clips like this it's definitely an odd site. Thanks for covering this, pretty interesting topic.
Thanks for watching!
you're welcome lol@@CaitlinPawlowski
Love this so much! I had friends who did dumpster diving back in college and donated food and items to “free pantries” on our city and a volunteer group even did a monthly big free “food not bombs” dinner for low income or unhoused people. It’s amazing how much is wasted.
This year I’ve made a concerted effort to only go in and shop for things that I am actually going to use, but I can’t lie seeing perfectly good items in the garbage headed directly into landfills(not that I didn’t know this was happening at some level) is sickening. Here on RUclips there are so many videos talking about how we need to consume less but maybe that means that needs to be produced as consumers that’s not under our control. Lord help the coming generations
When I was in college, the final week of school, was literally dumpster diving week when people would literally go dumpster diving for stuff because other students (like international or ones traveling by plane) bought a lot during the year and couldn’t bring many things back dumped them and others who lived closer or drove would then go around finding new items to take home.
This is so interesting! We have food drives in our area where grocery stores donate expired food/supplies. Big trucks pick up all the items and then deliver them to all the different food distribution locations where anyone can go get a box full of food/items once a week.
All of the foods(meats and produce) that cannot be consumed are donated then to local pig farmers. Guess I just assumed that’s what most places did… 😮😢
I’m a dumpster diver and you nailed it. Great job. Great video.
Awesome! Thank you!
Oh hun...most resellers on eBay selling bundles are taking stuff from there. You didn't know 😮
Edit : to above Or they pay who do. That's how they sell huge bundles
I actually started with public school dumpsters and like to go in the morning. It has made SO MUCH possible for our family! There is still absolutely a stigma attached, but it is WONDERFUL to see people opening up to the idea and realizing just how extreme the waste is!
My first job (20 years ago!!! 😱) was at Walgreens. After any of the holidays we would mark down the candy for 1-2 days and anything that didn’t sell in that time had to be thrown out. Perfectly good candy that was still wrapped and nowhere close to expired was thrown into the dumpster. We weren’t allowed to take it because that would have been considered “stealing”. It broke my heart every time I had to do that. Still think about it so many years later
Unbelievable!
If it was in a big bag and mini products inside were independently wrapped; Could the big bag still be marked as loss for taxes . If the small wrapped candies can't be scanned/counted separately, would store throw it all out as loss? (if the weight of big bag doesn't matter)
Thanks for this video. It really opened my eyes 👀. Can’t believe stores are doing this. So sad. 😞
Longtime Dumpster Diver here. Glad to see you covering this. ❤
I started watching Thrift Kingdom on RUclips and I tell you, this is going to be what radicalizes me. The best and worst videos are the ones where they're pulling tons of perfectly usable stuff out of the bins. One memorable video had a man dumpster diving in the Amazon return center and he spend half an hour pulling out boxes and boxes of new shoes.
I went duster diving when I was younger and they had security cameras on some of the bins to determine people duster diveing
I do love this change of pace of your content!
Thank you so much!
“Come dumpster diving with me” she may want to say that another way. 😂
Omg that last clip of those fish in the dumpster... I'm appalled to my core
These corporations that allow all that waste infuriate me! Not only are they wasting perfectly good products (like food!), but they're also increasing the price of what they sell even though so many people are greatly impacted by the cost of living crisis all for a larger profit. ARGH!!
those weren't goldfish but Siamese Fighting Fish, commonly referred to as "Betta's". They can survive in very little water and are shipped this way. They can breathe underwater but also "gulp" oxygen from the air when they poke above the surface. It IS heartbreaking and disgusting what this pet store did. Makes one wonder how many other shipments of betta's that were dumped and WEREN"T rescued.
When I was a young adult in the 2000’s brand name was everything. Always thought I had to have it. Thank goodness for social media now. Cause name brands are crap! Just paying for the name not quality especially today.
We need major changes... thank you so much for this video, what an important showcase of the damage of consumerism and corporations
My husband used to dumpster dive when we were in college. He usually did it after college move out because students would throw all sorts of stuff away. We got t shirts, brand new tools, ironing board, etc
I was just looking at the same exact Coach bag at TJ Max last December and contemplated buying it.
check the dumpster first😁
Loving your content. As a person with a bachelor's in environmental studies I say this with all of my education and heart: it is absolutely deplorable the amount of waste we create in the United States and I'm ashamed at what we let big corporations get away with, especially throwing away animals. I also want to point out that you do infinitely more for the world to have the mindset of "I'm going to do everything I can as the individual to be sustainable" rather than the mindset of "why should I do better if the world doesn't." I hear that often and it breaks my heart. There is a quote I love and try to live my life by that goes "I cannot do all the good that the world needs. But the world needs all the good that I can do" by Jana Stanfield. It has guided me to make so many better choices in life and I feel I'm mentally happier in the long run despite the dire situation we are in with wastefulness as a global whole. There is a documentary called Bin Raders about the freeganisim movement. I found it interesting. You may as well.
The luxury bag companies also do that .I have heard unsold bags are burnt .Why then increase prices ? Also I have heard Amazon burn stuff unsold .Not sure of this is true .
This is just unconscionable! All of these companies should be fined, why not donate all these stuff when so many people are starving in the world, so many children don't have anything but the clothes on their backs, all of these toys would make them so happy, is just sad and my heart is just broken when I saw the little goldfish, is a sin what these company did, why not donate it to a school as you said, is just disheartening.
Also another thought I had, is now I won't be able to trust eating anyone's home cooked meals anymore. In fear of not knowing if they do this. lol.
I saw the pet smart clip more than once, and I still tear up. those poor fish! at least sell them to kids for .99 cents or give them to schools.
This was so triggering (like excellent job on the video lol) but watching all of the good stuff just thrown out!!! I’m doing a no buy year & I was like hmmmm dumpster diving 🤔🤔🤔🤑
Go for it!!!!
the fish thing broke my heart
I don’t go into the dumpster but I have procured some very nice furniture sitting by the dumpster. I’m in the U.S.
The companies can give to charity and recieve tax back and good publicity.
When I worked in retail many years ago, we had a staff shop where staff members could buy food/flowers past their 'display until' date and clothes/other items that were damaged or out of season, for a discounted price.
We had 5 charities to call to ask them to collect surplus foods but sometimes none of them could come.
One time I was asked to go to help get rid of some food. The food still seemed fine.
I was told that everything had to be destroyed (slashed with a knife 🔪) and then we had to pour blue dye all over it.
When I asked why we couldn't just put it strsight in the bins, I was told that it was to prevent people from taking it from the bins 😲
I just though: "If people want to take it from the bins, LET THEM!!"
This is weird. I’ve worked for 4 major retailers in the states and all had hardcore trash policies and NOTHING is thrown in the trash. Even defective or ruined product is shipped to corporate to be disposed of. Stuff in the trash is a fireable offense as it’s a loss prevention policy violation (theft). I can’t speak to TJ Maxx, but other brands… idk. This seems very fishy.
If it's shipped to corporate then it's resold on the gray/black market.
nothing fishy at all, except maybe the poor fish being thrown into the dumpster. All you have to do is start viewing a few of the dumpster diving channels and you'll see just how much good food and good, usable items are tossed daily. It's absolutely disgusting the amount of unnecessary waste going to the landfills. I applaud the people that are out there daily, rescuing all the food and usable items from the landfill. Many that do this are on a mission to save as much as possible from the landfill and while they use some of the things themselves, they also stock little pantries and donate to animal shelters, and other places that can use the items. Some take things like toys and baby equipment home, and set it on their curb to allow people the opportunity to take it for themselves.
I have heard of this, but never heard of animals being thrown away or medicine. IT's ridiculous!
Hii.
So, I have a part answer for you for this.
I work in the waste industry in Aus.
A LOT of these companies throw out these items for such ridiculous reasons.. JB Hifi throws out electronics because the outer boxes were water damaged.. but all of the items were perfectly fine. Its simply a matter of being able to claim it back on insurance.. If they donate it instead of throw it out and claiming it on insurance they are out on costs.. Its the same for frozen food items and other food items. they cant get anything back on costs from donating it, so they throw it out.
From an ethical standpoint its really disgusting. The landfill space on items that don't need to be there is mind blowing.
As a society we need to stop consuming so much. Corporations need to be more sustainable.
I think the focus for sure needs to be placed on large corporations. We need legislation that won’t allow waste on this scale, unless the waste is posing some form of health risk like recalls on food and medical supplies.
Wow, I had no idea! The fish were the saddest part:( now I want to go do this just to see the waste in my local community
Interesting perspective and informative ❤😊
I used to work in a charity as a volunteer .Mind you it's a well known one .One year they discarded all furniture which was very good and replaced with new ones .Imagine this is a charity .Since then I refuse to give any money to charity .
This is a topic since years. I honestly considered dumpster diving and donating because it is so awful to waste all that perfectly fine stuff when on the other hand people are struggling to buy the most needed things - let alone the impact on the environment!!!
Unfortunately in Germany it is illegal to do this and furthermore most of the dumpster are locked up very heavily so you seldom get the chance to catch anything. Politicians considered to make dumpster diving legal but the problem is that as long as something is on your property no one is allowed to take it. When your put it onto the street or the sidewalk it‘s because then it is openly derelicted. Even when we order bulky waste and we pile the things up in our driveway nobody except the waste people are allowed to pick it up.
It‘s a shame that the world works like this and I can’t only applaud each and every person going dumpster diving 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Caitlin those fish are “Siamese Fighters”, as an avid seawater, freshwater & pond owner in days gone by this really hit home. I cried when one of our fish died but to see these poor (expensive) Siamese Fighters in virtually drink cups with little water & no food is disgusting. We have Oz Harvest & Foodbank as you know in Australia, why not give the darn food away to be eaten by those in need? Same with unwanted apparel, give it to charity stop the waste. I have seen a few people dumpster dive on RUclips they call themselves “freegans”, why buy when you can find what you need for free. Provided yr not breaking any law, council bylaws etc.Interesting vlog TVM. 😘💐
I've found brand new completely sealed and packaged make up in Ulta's. Not expired.
The waste made me sick. I hate wasting, obviously
This is something that’s been happening for decades for food in particular as far as I am aware. This is how the Manson’s family lived in the 70s. They did it mainly for survival for obvious reasons but as for larger companies I am not too sure when that started.
I remeber when dumpster diving here in the UK resulted in 2 people dying of Novichok poisoning around the the Russian guy was poisoned.
Omg Caitlin 😢 I love your content so much now I really look forward every turn to watch all and I enjoy, in my country collect paper box and do this is so normal, also feeling children and resale on market… world reality showed here by your videos and being clarified by what you’ve said along way…. It’s truly sad that company’s don’t donate and help people in need and rather seeing them going through difficult times than let them come to shops in end of day to give all for free.:: would be much easier and would save a lot of waste… 😮majority of high brands designers burn the stock, you should talk about this next… it’s super interesting and majority of people don’t know about! You are so interesting and you sound so intelligent when you talk, if one day you come to Monaco let me know would love to meet you♥️💫❤️🥰✨😘
Thankyou so much for taking the time to watch this video ❤️
Great listening I love thrifting and I would dumpster dive if I could get myself out of the dumpster ha it's a crying shame what companies waste even with thrifting I find new items quite a few times and food I look for half price and dented boxes that can't go on the shelves at the market your shirt is pretty
The live fish in a dumpster is so sad I had seen a video a while back of reptiles very sick thrown in the stores dumpster very sad
Aw that's sweet I really like your u tube channel you have really great topics
I wonder why the staff don't get given these. If I worked for that TJ Maxx, I'm sure I could find a friend who would want a Coach bag for nothing! Also, we live a world of Facebook, Insta and other social media sites that a pet store can put out a message saying 'free gold fish' - people would have come and got them - throwing them away is cruel and gross!!!
That’s so sad to see …. They are Beta fighting fish. I’ve had 2 and both lived to be over 2 years old. I’ve walked into our local PetSmart and I’ve watched them put them in the containers. We live in a smaller town and there’s no way that they are selling that many fish!
This really makes the “efforts” of these companies to be more environmentally friendly and the way they flaunt it to be rather ironic as they are dumping tons of merchandise themselves
I used to work at a gas station and My boss would yell at me and my coworkers if we "allowed" people to look through the trashcans we had at the gas pumps. We weren't. We would be busy taking care of customers and or cleaning or calling things in just random stuff of our job and we were by ourselves 98 % of the time. So we had no control. If we caught someone going through the trash we would tell them they aren't allowed to do that and if we turned around guess what.... they were doing it again. They were looking for pop bottles because or recycling. some of the states you got money for recycling. But it's dangerous to look through trash, you never know what people are throwing away. Then also people wouldn't clean up afterwards- so then we had to go back over to that area and re clean that area.
We have seen used needles from injections thrown away.
1 time someone saw a box of kittens next to the trash can that someone left - came back later after cops were called - said they "accidentally" left them there. Sure, okay. Who accidentally leave s a litter of kittens in a box at a gas station?
for a month or so it kept happening like once a week the bags would be heavy, for 1 bag at 1 pump, 1 day a week, the same day the same morning, it was a Monday morning, and I worked Monday mornings cause I did the schedules Monday mornings. But 1 week I was on vacation and that Monday they caught the guy. But we knew why the bag was heavy - cat litter! these were 50 lb bags so I was emptying them like half cause I noticed it had sand in it or something and it smelled horrible. It was cat litter. The bag ripped once on someone else. It was aweful and they caught the guy the week I was gone and they told him he isn't allowed to do that because our bags are so big that if we don't see him throwing that away it can be bad and that's just gross and do that at your house. like what??!!!
Then 1 time - someone threw away DEER ANTLERS!! In our trashcans! That's not safe!!!! Tore our bags.
I'm on blood thinnners and I worked there, I had no idea that someone had thrown something like that away till I saw them sticking out of the hole opening and immediately removed them, I was so cut up. And then people were complaining like why would someone throw those away? Don't ask me, I'm not a hunter. I went out to the back of my area where I had the trash and the bag was gone. So I think the guy that asked me about the antlers took them.
At 1 time we had pallets up by our Dumpster behind our gas station Kiosk, in the middle of the day, people stole them. They thought they were for trash. I said they weren't - didn't listen. But I called my managers to have someone come out and get them cause customers repeatedly were coming up to us asking about them. I got in trouble cause some customer stole the wooden pallets. I said "NO!" to them because I had called them to retrieve them and warned them that people thought they were trash. So even stuff like that can happen.
I heard in this 1 dumpster video of a woman being shut in a dumpster and then into the trash can, crushed, killed. It was horrible.
And with food safety... some food you cannot eat after it's been thawed out for who knows how long. I saw frozen food in those dumpsters and who knows how long that's been in there and if those people bring it home and refreeze. idk. I'm not sure about food.
But I saw once with stores for clothing that markers will be drawn over them or box cutter slices on them - purposely damaging the items.
There's not just a waste on food but also materials. I just think with inflation on food there still shouldn't be all this food waste. I just shake my head at how high food prices are.
I hate how wasteful it is. I’ve been wanting to go dumpster diving for awhile now to save things!
On top of the massive waste, these employees indiscriminately throw hazardous waste into the dumpsters. It's a huge problem all together. I'm able to donate a ton of nonperishable food and vitamins, but I'm always wondering why the businesses don't just donate it themselves instead of wasting it, especially if they don't want people in their dumpsters...
I’ve always been thrifty. I try to not pay full price for anything. It’s fun to bater. I used to buy all of my clothes second hand until the op shops started raising the prices so high that it was cheaper to buy brand new. The council clean ups is where I have had so much fun for years. Last year I found an ikea couch which I steam cleaned and restored to brand new condition. It was missing bolts so I went to ikea and they gave me the bolts for free. Mostly everything you find can be disinfected, sanitized or repaired. Also when my portable washing line was broken in our move, I called the company and ordered replacement parts. A new one was $180 au and the replacement parts were $15 au. We need to get back to the days where we repair our items. But where are these places today? Who can you call to get things fixed? I wish my dad was still alive cause he could repair anything
Dump society does dump things.
That is insane some of the things that are being shown in the videos playing. I can't believe some of the things that are being thrown away. I have heard that some cut products that they throw in the dumpster. Not sure if that is true.
I left this comment before you mentioned this.
My share house did this about 15yrs ago when we were all uni students. We got more $$ in food than we did in youth allowance in the 2yrs we did it. Ate so healthy and amazingly. Woolies and Coles were the best. Aldi was incredible but they switched to an enclosed bin with a tube from inside so we couldn’t get into it after that. The baker’s delight bins were amazing. They would put all rubbish in one bin and another bin always just had 100% fresh bread from the day. No rubbish at all. They knew we were taking stuff I think. It was depressing how much we got and how easily. We donated a lot to friends who were struggling doing uni and trying to pay rent. Westfield was always tricky with security etc it was better to find a standalone Coles or Woolies. We never once got sick. I sometimes, even now, drive by bins and sort of feel nostalgic for those times.
I’ll add, we never took fish. We would check expiry dates and product recalls if there was a bunch of the same thing there.
I wonder if some of the unhygienic products in the dumpster were returns and could not be resold? But the coach bag is baffling.
At least in my area dumpster diving is a great way go get arrested.
We need to get the attention of Petsmart and immediately send them how we feel about this level of corporate animal abuse
It's so bizarre that a shop would rather slash a perfectly used suitcase, than give it away or sell it online for a huge discount.
Such a pointless waste.
That coach one, maybe it's returns?
Imagine if employee owned grocery stores all around the country freeze dried their excess produce and gave it away or sold it at a very low price to people who needed cheaper food in their community. There would be no more hunger in our country. I really admire dumpster divers a LOT more than people promoting stealing from big box stores in the country, which just potentially encourages young foks to get themselves incarcerated.
I remember when Oprah did a short segment on her show about this.
i was in food retail from 2006-2016 and we were told specifically to throw the food out in a way in which anyone going through the dumpster wouldn’t take them or would make them inedible. this included making sure any items were taken out of packaging so the food touches other potentially gross or contaminated objects as well as breaking things into pieces.
when i worked at starbucks (inside of a vons so this was a grocery store thing not a starbucks thing), i knew someone that was fired for putting a separate plastic bag in the trash can to throw the food items in that bag within the larger bag so the food was protected and he would take the bag out for himself when he took the trash out.
the reasoning was always because of risks of lawsuits if someone were to get sick from eating something in the dumpster, but who knows if that’s actually true or if it was just for the money ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I’m not an expert on any of this, but I studied economics in college. Whenever I see stuff like this, really any waste, I think of opportunity costs. The true cost of something is everything else you could have done. If a company makes product A, they can’t make more of product B. If a company discards any product, they might as well have just set money on fire. It’s the same result: a loss in real terms, and a loss of what could have been. Again, I’m not an expert on any of this, but most companies don’t want to be throwing out unsold items (of course there probably are some companies that just don’t care).
I can imagine stuff like this is has more to do with poor supply chain management than companies would like to admit, but I do wonder if this is a byproduct of consumption increasing being based on what is trendy. Coke and Pepsi used to have steady, loyal customers, but that’s changed in recent years as drinking soda has become “uncool,” for various reasons. Unless an influencers starts promoting this new, independent soda company, then drinking soda is cool again.
I genuinely believe that if these companies decided to give the stuff they throw out away for free, whether to employees or to random people, their workers' motivation and sales would increase, it might attract new customers. The logic behind this practice is beyond me.
More RUclips channels than Tiktok
I've never gone dumpster diving, but I can see where if you knew where the good ones were, you could make a lot of money. I had a family member that worked for a large greeting card company and they were always throwing things out--not just cards but picture frames, candles, gift items. It was insane. He would bring some of it home for family to use, but it's a sad commentary all around that anyone thinks it's just okay to throw this out and how much less should be manufactured to offset this! It's unacceptable.
The whole “scavengers vs dumpster diving” thing reminds me of expats versus immigrants. Seems like a classist designation.
I agree with you. I was also raised with we should be aware ourselves of our personal consumpution. When seeing what companies waste, they are the ones that need to change. I think the only people that need to change on a "personal" level would be celebrities, royals, high up end people, business people that travel everywhere that don't need to that are spending way too much money on this or that. People that have personal jets. Like yes that's a dream. But come on. They are the reason why there is a carbon print. Not me who travels by plane one time a decade. I haven't flown since I was in high school, which I did twice actually. I want to again. Cause I have always dreamed of traveling, but I got put on blood thinners at the age of 19. I can't do long flights. Which sucks!!! Like I am very curios to anyone that has been on blood thinners, have they taken long flights????
But yes, it's companies, I know some throw out samples, I know some throw out recalls, but when it comes to slashing items, I think a part of it is because they don't want someone trying to return an item without a receipt, maybe. But Yeah it's just greed. It's also not fair to people have spent money on those items paid full price or even sale prices. Why should these people get it for free? - well then, do NOT throw it in the dumpster. Donate it to charity - put it on taxes for the company then. Maybe do a year sale a year later put everything in a bin and mark it for $5 or whatever. But down right destroying the items. That to me hurts the designers. That is their design, their art. Don't destroy it. I don't care what it is.
The animals... that makes me livid. But the whole thing in general is just so sad - so much waste. so much that could go to people who really need it. instead - it's sitting in landfills. :(
Video title , " oh my God"
I'm a dumpster diver in Adelaide with a RUclips channel called, DUMPSTER DIVING ADELAIDE 🙂
We are changing into such a disposable society. Dumping living animals is just the lowest of the low. Theres a lot of companies that have no corporate responsibility whatsoever. It's more profitable to dump stuff than worry about donating it or rehoming anything. I mean even luxury does it. LV/Chanel destroy and dump all their non sold products every season and they don't do outlet. Shitty brand value protection. I'd draw the line at some foods in dumpsters. Purely due to product recalls for salmonella contamination etc that happen but aside from that go the dumpster divers if it saves good stuff from the dumps. All supermarkets should by law have to donate food products they would bin to food charities as a bare minimum.
I hate to see the waste these stores throw out each day.. There are many people that can use these items so why don't they donate them to places that can give them to the ones in need?
I HAVE A RUclips CHANNEL IN ADELAIDE AUSTRALIA... MY most expensive finds is 400 packets of cigarettes & 12 Samsung smart TVs... I've been dumpster diving for 40 years since I was 21 years old, I'm not poor, but I love saving perfect stuff from landfill, I found a lot of toilet paper during the Covid lock down & I source most of my grocery needs from food recycling dumpsters Behind Aldi... Thanks for the video 😊
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Caitlin I am always always looking forward to your videos so so so much and your smile is too too cute you are my truly truly inspiration🥹🥹🥹🥹♥️♥️♥️♥️
Thank you so much!! ❤️❤️
There needs to be more pushback for sure. The cost of products all over the world are inflated. They dont want to donate because it is about image if the brand. There are so many factors telated to capitalism idk how we would address them all. But yea makes me think i shouldnt be spending my money so frivolously on some of these brands.
FOUR POUNDS OF GARBAGE A DAY? HOW??
Color me skeptical, but I’m wondering how much of this is staged. Not all of it, of course, but some of it strikes me as unbelievable.
Believe it! It's all for real.
i've done it out of need. made good money because of the things they throw away. it is truly disgusting how new things are thrown. i agree its more on the companies. like wow, you really threw that out, you couldn't donate it. but i recall someone saying it has to do with laws/rules as to why they cant donate and have to throw out. still sad and not justifiable but i get it.