Adventures in Dumpster Diving

We have all read the articles about the lady who eats 90% of her food from the dumpster or the couple who decorated their entire home from dumpster finds. Before I go any further, let it be known that I would never eat (well maybe if I was starving and homeless) from a dumpster or give anything to anyone that I had found in a dumpster. I learned my thriftiness from my family (this is Gena talking here).We are experts at finding the best sales or unique good deals at yard sales. We never go shopping without a coupon. Luckily (we are blessed) we don't HAVE to be that thrifty....it's that we actually enjoy it. It is a hobby just to see how cheap we can find something or live. Some people may laugh or snub their nose at such activities....but we find it fun and that is all that matters. Anyways.....I have always been interested in this "Dumpster Diving" thing. I imagined it being like finding buried treasure. It really doesn't take much to thrill me. So, my mom (Sherry) calls and asked if I wanted to go. Of course, I have asked her to go with me to no avail, so I jumped on this chance when she asked me. Some of the "rules" of dumpster divings are.....1. leave the place neater than you found it 2. Don't go look in medical dumpsters 3. Never actually jump INTO the dumpster (you may step on glass or nails or something). There is also necessary equipment that you have to take.....such as a flash light, and either gloves or a long stick grabber thingie. We took a camera along for photos to document and made sure to wear old clothes as well. We drove the truck in case we found any good large finds.

Mom and I plotted our route (names have been changed to protect the innocent). The home interior stores, 2 dept. stores, the home improvement stores, a shopping plaza and last but not least, a dollar store. I have to say I was very disappointed. At best we found some stinky trash and flatten cardboard boxes. I would have been happy with a half used bottle of Joy dish washing liquid. No, seriously. Instead I found NADA. At one point we had a police cruiser following us. We had little luck mostly because most stores now use these large dumpsters that are accessed from the inside of the building, as well as locking them up in fences. Why stores....why spoil all my fun!

So adventures in Dumpster Diving.......we fail. Maybe we will try again later. Maybe we hit the stores at the wrong time, after the trucks had emptied their trash. Anyways, we will give it another go and see what happens, if no luck, I will give up on the dumpster diving fun.