Heres the story of my first night stifling through someones elses garbage. The genre is almost definitely a Rom-Com, where I play the role of what can only be described as ‘The poor mans James Bond”. Obviously my mission isn’t to kill Elliot Carver (aka the High Sparrow), but it is in a way to save the world. By making sure good shit doesn’t get thrown in landfill to degrade over the next 10000000000000 years.
For anyone who isn’t aware what dumpster diving is, basically its going headfirst into a garbage bin to look for things that might be useful or worth something. Or more elegantly, as I now like to put it; “The art of diving into a dumpster, to find buried treasure”!
If you’ve been reading my blog here on steemit, youll know I recently quit my job, and my new source of immediate income is macbook sales and repairs. Im always in need of spare parts and other bits, Apple related, so if ever there was a place to dive; it would be an apple-authorised retailer. And if ever there was a time to start, it would be now.
The Misson begins!
Tonight was the night, and with no time to spare and the help of google maps, I do a quick satellite recon to find the bins of the computer shop, and map the easiest route to get the car close enough to the binyard. I also make an emergency getaway plan - In case of emergency. My plan seems bulletproof. I set off in the car, looking extra shifty, low beams on, and drive a solid 8 minutes to the target destination.
11.04pm - I arrive under the cover of darkness, stealth mode on, to identify the bins to go for. Out of the 4 available, 3 were cardboard recycling (thanks for doing the earth a favour – and me). Unfortunately im not here for cardboard – im here for the treasure! Approaching cautiously, I notice this bin doesn’t smell like shit. Of course not, I thought, its filled with computers and gold bullion!
With the adrenal glands on full power, I grab the lid and start to pull. But alas – my first challenge of the night has arisen.
The dreaded PADLOCK!
All hope of finding treasure should have diminished within that moment. But NO! Not tonight. Tonight was not the night to give up. This dumpster was going to be opened one way or another. I scanned for weakness. My first instinct being the plastic lid might just bend under the front pole enough to open. Nope. My fingers just weren’t strong enough. This would require strategy over brute force.
I did another scan of the bin and took a closer look at the mechanism. At the back there was another pole which allows the lids to swivel open and close. If I can slide it out I can get in through the back. It doesn’t slide first go, but theres only a tiny rusty pin holding it in place. A WEAK spot! I hit the pin with a rock and it pops out first time. Stage one complete. Now ive got to slide the pole out – but the epic cardboard dumpster is too close and I cant slide it out far enough. Im going to have to engage - instinctive strength. Using my legs to kick off the back ledge I angle the bin enough to give the pole some wiggle room. This thing is heavy, must be all the treasures inside!
Finally I slide the pole out and pop off the back. I don’t take it off all the way, but pull it back enough to raise it over the front pole, so it opens like a normal bin. Less suspicion and less chance of being done for vandalism if im caught.
Time is ticking away now, ive been quiet but ive noticed the cleaner inside the building next door. Must be quick and efficient to ensure he doesn’t see me.
(After this the images from the gopro are pretty much unusable due to the lack of light. Next time i will go with a headtorch and camera settings adjusted)
Theres a lot of paper. That’s fine, although there is a recycling bin literally next to us so im slightly baffled at the same time. First item I come to. An iphone lightning charger cable! Get in! A great first find. Although I have a iphone 4s so its useless to me, but either way its going into the treasure pile.
A few fans, couple of cables, hard drive enclose then – oh whats this – 2 brand new 4gb ram sticks. That will do very nicely! I keep digging. A few more charger cables, more paper and I realise the treasure on top is wearing thin.
I go deeper but it’s a struggle, I don’t want to commit my whole body to the bin just yet and im on my tip toes. Time for a reshuffle. I head round the back of the bin and pull the pole out a bit more. I should state, theres two lids on this thing. One on the left, one on the right. Ive been on the left, but now its time for the right. Same procedure. Pole slides out, shuffle the lid up and im in again.
More paper. What are these legends playing at! No time for recycling anger now though, im against the clock. I skim through and my hand hits something square. I pull up the foam and underneath I see an iMac! Hoorah, First legit treasure. Ok its got no screen but I can still work with the shell and the additional components inside. I pull it out, and as I do I see another base stand. This ones heavier, but I still got the guns to pull through. Hulk mode engaged - I pull it up and..
Its another iMac, with screen intact! This has got to have made the trip worth while. My treasure pile is building but again, the top layer of rubbish is wearing thin. I hit something else and voila, an old desktop PC. No use to me but I got some peeps in the biz who might be interested in it. Nothing else I can see just through skimming, Time to call it a day. With lightning speed I put the bin back together and muscle up to wheel it back in place. The car is 20 meters away, but I have to do two trips. Ninja style engaged. Throwing stars away and car keys out I leg it back to the car, first with both the iMacs, then back for the rest of the goodies.
Key in, engine on. Boom – we are out of here.
Mission success.
After a short drive im back home and plant all my treasures on the floor and stick the kettle on. Time for a coffee. Decaf of course, its 12am. Time to kick back and relax. Product testing can be done tomorrow morning – right now ive got a story to write…
Its true what they say; one mans trash is another mans treasure. And im almost 100% sure this was one of the lesser value dives that will occur as I do this more often. I have a couple more locations on my target list, and a bit more planning to do regarding bin collection days. I may also acquire a team mate for the future.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this story and I look forward to writing more in the coming months. Next time with clearer pictures. If you are guilty of throwing away good shit, please, keep doing it. Il be round in a jiffy to dive dive dive.
Have an awesome weekend legends!
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People these days throw away too much perfectly good food and drink just because of a sell by date sticker.
Yeh man, theres a best before date and a sell by date - so most of the time the food is still good when its past its sell by. Even food which is past the best before can still be good
Very true! I once knew somebody who made a killing selling food and drinks past their sell by date at car boot sales and sunday markets. I guess one mans rubbish...
How has no one commented!!!????
Hey man! Great to hear from another dumpster diver!
When I was living in Singleton in NSW, Australia, my partner and I dived for food. We didn't need to, but it seemed INSANE to let all the amazing Baker's delight bread go to waste. Tragedy!
I laughed at the High Sparrow reference and at the abhorrently poor photo quality (but I love it's authenticity at the same time!)
Congratulations on a delightful read and I feel honoured to write the FIRST post on an article that's trending.
You have an awesome weekend, too - you big legend!!
Cheers,
Nick
Alright Legend!
Stoked you enjoyed the story, it was a real thrill and i was still buzzing off the adrenaline when i got home and started writing. Yeh theres way too much thrown out in Australia, whether its food, clothes or household items! Obviously youll know the collection piles that people stick outside their houses for the council to grab - its like treasure that isnt even buried. Had some great finds without having to dive!
Ive had mates who have dived for food in the past and even unfortunately heard stories of supermarkets locking up their bins to make sure people can grab the throwaway food. Very backwards thinking ideas. Still if youve got the tekkers a lock should be no problem anyway ;)
Thanks for your comment mate and look forward to following and reading some of your stories in the future!
Thanks for replying!
I totally agree - waste in Australia is obscene. So sad. Have you watched War on Waste with Craig Resucassel from the Chaser?
Thanks for following me - I've always got something new coming out during the week on most days. Today's was a feature on bath bombs and bathing relaxation, although I spend much more time writing fiction - particularly the "Adventures in Elowyn Glade' saga. It's been so much fun.
All the best,
Nick
Ahh i dont have a TV so i havent seen it, but il have a dig on youtube and see if theres any clips around. Yeh i noticed your fiction stories when i first followed you. I had a skim through but id rather find the time to kick back with a cuppa and take the time to process and enjoy them - looks like youve put a ton of effort in to them!
Now that is an actual adventure. I also do laptop repairs but for Win OS, and I used to work as an arcade tech some years back. I'm reading your post and thinking to myself right now, why I am not doing this?
I undercharge for my repairs, and if it requires a part I have on hand, I'll drop it in for free and my name gets out there a little better. Coordinating where to go with google maps is brilliant. It will probably look weird to see a small girl climbing around dumpsters at night though.
For one of my future projects I'm planning to acquire a bunch of "broken" laptops on craigslist, repair what I can, and resell. I know that working on Apple products is high paying since their hardware is proprietary and you need special tools for disassembly, even a lot of my friends suggested I go that route. This is one of the best adventures I read in a long time!
Cheers @shello, glad you enjoyed the read - and yeh its one of the best adventures ive had in a while!
Fixing macbooks has been a good little earner for me over the years. I put it down to 1. Brand name, 2. Apple work on a replace policy, rather than repair. That means if you have a logic board with a blown fuse, they will tell you you need a new one and more often than not render your machine a write off! Because of this you can pick up machines for $50 - $100. If you get 2 the same model you can quite easily mix and match to make a working machine (i.e 1 with broken screen + 1 with water damaged logic board).
Dont think too much about tools and repairs. You can pick up sets on ebay for less than $50 for every tool you will ever need working with macs. All my work has been learnt from youtube videos, ifixit and people ive got to know who work in the industry.
You can do anything you want in life. That includes rummaging in bins - even if other people do think it looks weird! :)
Ah, I havent realized the benefits of working on Macs. On win os machines, good luck finding matching parts. This makes working on apple computers sound more viable to me. I learnt a lot of repair from friends, work, and online myself, it isn't too hard when you have time to learn. I'll look into getting a repair kit, seeing as my soldering kit also came in recently. There is money to he made lol
Great work again, I look forward to reading more of your compiter adventures :D
If you can get into micro soldering with macs your onto a winner! Theres a lot more skill in it than just replacing hardware components and parts (which is mainly what i do) If you have any questions about making the jump feel free to get in touch, id be happy to help :)
I'll see how my next repair goes with soldering a new dc jack onto a tablet. If I can figure it out, I'll definitely contact you. A lot of my friends and other people I know need Mac repairs. Thanks a bunch c:
@shello
Great shit man. My fucking grandma used to take me dumpster diving when I was young. She was always getting escorted off properties haha. She would dive for food, clothes, anything. You name it. When I got a bit older I would get embarrassed and stay in the car lol. However, looking back my grandma was a certified badass for doing this. Great memories. Also, be careful with the headlamp mate, it might draw too much attention!
Mate! I didnt see this comment until my sister told me and she was cracking up at it! Your grandma sounds like a legend. I think its awesome for the older generation to promote ideas like that, its not too common nowadays but maybe we are the next generation to take advantage of the misconceptions in todays society.
Thanks for sharing your story man i had a good laugh imagining it in my head!
dude she is a fucking legend! she would still do it she could. Now she's 89 and still bitchin how 'them businesses just throw all that good stuff away!' Glad you liked it, your story made me laugh as well. I almost forgot about some of those experiences. Wondferful memories for me nowadays. Dive safe!
非常感谢你
I will support you, God bless you, I learn chinese, so if I made some mistakes, then I apologize and keep it
thank you very much
Major Universities throw away a ton of electronics. They might be a little better policed in some areas so I'd go at shift change or get an "in." Also, do not light yourself up! The pictures aren't worth losing your stealth for.
I have been dumpster diving before but my 1st love is abandoned houses , but maybe I'd better get doing some dumpster diving again last time I went it was food oriented and it was all produce I remember getting a good load of oranges and coming home and making marmalade, I find it amazing how much it thrown away every day and nothing is said 😭
I have to admit this is the first time ive ever done it myself and it was for electronics. I would love to start diving for food, although if the dumpsters are really grubby maybe it would just be for packaged and tinned stuff!
Resteemed. Its amazing what people will chuck out in today's disposable society. Good article.
Thanks for retelling your story, you scored something at least for all the trouble you went through. Enjoy your dives and keep updating us too.
upvote & resteem
Roger that! Thanks for your comment :)
Kegiatan yang fantastic saudaraku @youareyourowngod, jangan lupa Unvote and resteem me ya kawan.
Interesting dive. It's amazing what people throw away.
It truly is!
Found any good stuff lately?
Ha, thanks for the checkback! Nothing as spectaular as the first dive. Im waiting for the first bin to be emptied so i can start seeing whats at the bottom going up. Im convinced there was more good stuff in the first but it was buried so deep even my treasure hunting skillz couldnt dig it out.
No prob! I wish you luck on your future dives and look forward to more posts! Take care!
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Wow man sounds like you had one hell of an adventure and the fact that it turned out rewarding only means you're going to do it again, the only question now is when. So let me ask you this when you go out dumpster diving are you loking for specific items are just whatever you come up with because im sure you have a target area when searching. How ever your system is working be safe out there @youareyourowngod
Cheers Slick! Yeh i didnt really have a plan of items beforehand as i honestly had no idea what to expect. Its due to the industry im make my monies in i chose to do it at a computer store and some of the stuff i pulled out i knew had a higher value than $0 (which is what its worth as it sits in a bin). If i could have got into the recycling bins even the old macbook boxes add value to a sale in apple laptops!
I will do it again but with a bit more in depth planning. There was a bit of planning in this but it was just as much impulse! :)
It's boggling to me that garbage gets locked up. Whether it's food or treasures why not want it to go to use? Oh my goodness, someone may thrive & have nutrition or employment? The horror! 😱
It's ridiculous to me that someone has to risk legal entanglements for repurposing waste, especially when (at least here in the states) I've grown up being told that once it's trash it's public property & that's why a warrant isn't needed for the authorities to rifle through it.
What really breaks my heart is when I hear stories of employees gloating that they've poured bleach on stuff to render it un-salvageable. In private judgy moments I wonder if they miss their soul.
Grats on the good finds & the great story. You've got way more courage than I can even imagine having!
As I was reading your post, the "Mission Impossible" theme music was playing in my head.
Ha! It took me a while to remember it, but yeh it definitely fits!
Great post. Good luck on future dives!
Cheers MBT!
I here some people make a fortune dumpster diving. Good luck with you diving dude!!
Thanks man! Not sure this one will make my first million but every little counts and adds up over time! :)
Cheers legend! Is that why you upvoted your own comment too?