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Drove past a fancy dumpster setup in Portland and changed my whole approach | Dumpster Dive Finds - Chatter Central

Drove past a fancy dumpster setup in Portland and changed my whole approach

Honestly, I used to think any dumpster was fine as long as it had trash. But last weekend I was driving through Portland and saw this apartment complex with a locked, screened-off dumpster area that had a sign saying 'clean disposal only.' It made me realize how much nicer that must be for people diving. Now I'm thinking about scouting better managed spots instead of just picking random ones behind gas stations. Has anyone else had better luck with organized dumpsters versus the messy ones?

3 comments

3 Comments

theac633mo ago

Hold on, are you serious? High class dumpsters mean more foot traffic from other pickers and usually tighter security. I tried one of those "clean disposal" setups once and found nothing but broken furniture and some expired granola bars. The messy gas station dumpster behind the auto shop near me is where I found a box of perfectly good power tools someone tossed. Sometimes the gross spots have the real gold, you just gotta dig through the grime.

mason.brian3mo ago

That auto shop dumpster you mentioned reminds me of the time I pulled a WORKING microwave out of a bagster behind a sketchy pizza joint. The thing had grease stains and smelled like pepperoni for a week but it heated up leftovers just fine. Meanwhile the ritzy apartment complex dumpsters near me have security cameras that practically BEEP when you walk by. I swear the "high class" garbage is just expensive cardboard and ikea assembly waste. Give me the nasty bins with mystery liquids leaking out, thats where the real treasure hides.

verawhite3mo ago

wait the bagster from the sketchy pizza joint actually had a WORKING microwave? lmao that is wild. I've passed up those bagster things so many times thinking they're just full of construction trash and soggy napkins. but seriously a microwave with pepperoni smell is kind of a win if you ask me, that's basically free aromatherapy for your kitchen haha. also you're totally right about the cameras on the fancy dumpsters, I saw one with a motion light and a code lock and was like okay dude it's just trash not a bank vault.