As some of you know, i love dumpster diving. And i figured that if i can convince my mom that its a logical thing to do, then i might as well try to convince some other folks, too. So i will randomly post pics from my dumpster runs along with some reasons why i think dumpstering is the bestest.

I don’t get to do as much dumpstering these days cuz 1) the damn hippies in Bloomington got all organized and opened up a free grocery store full of all the items you’d normally find in the dumpster, and 2) i no longer have a car and any veteran dumpster diver knows that the gold is in the suburbs (unless you live in a real city like NYC). but i still go for the occasional late night stroll or bike ride. here is a pic from a dumpster run i did about a week ago:

Proof that you can get more than food from dumpsters. Be creative with your dumpster diving. Want movies? Go to the dumpster of a movie store. Want a tea kettle? Go to a housewares dumpster. You’d be amazed at what you can find.

This score is from a drugstore chain (i won’t name names for legal reasons). I got bored around 10:30 one night and decided to walk down and see what they had. Their dumpster was literally overflowing. Hundreds of rolls of toilet paper, a couple dozen rolls of paper towels, dozens of duraflame logs, diapers, window cleaner, and other fun stuff - most of it still in unopened boxes. I stuffed as much toilet paper as i could in my backpack and found a grocery bag in the dumpster that i filled with paper towels and firestarter logs. In all, i spent about ten minutes there and i didn’t even have to get in the dumpster. I don’t have a use for firestarter logs or diapers (or paper towels for that matter), but i figured someone would. So i took them with the intention of donating them. And i made sure to leave plenty of stuff for any following divers. But i’ll talk more about dumpster diving ethics next time.

On my way back, i stopped at a local smokehouse that was closing as i was walking to the dumpster. I walked around back, poked my head in the dumpster and immediately found what i was looking for - a bag of hot dead pig. Yup, a vegan was looking for dead animal flesh. Its for my dog. She’s been putting up with my vegan cooking for a couple weeks, so i figured i’d give her a treat. In all, she got about five pounds of freshly cooked pig (over the course of a few days). I’ll talk about food freshness another day, but it mostly comes down to common sense.

Now go! Dive! Dive!!!