INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF DUMPSTER DIVERS

Become A Member

Whenever dumpster diving is mentioned most people conjure up an image in their mind of a ragged bum picking through the trash. This is just not so ! Many of today's Divers see it as a form of recycling as well as a way to supplement their incomes. Some dived items even end up on eBay, flea markets or garage sales ! Garage/yard/rumage sales often have items their owners felt were still useable so rather than making them fodder for the landfill they ended up in the sale. There are many good sites (listed elsewhere) which carry information on dumpster diving. This site could not hope to do justice to all those fine articles. If you are a Diver, Curb Crawler, garage sale or flea market buyer /seller than you should be a card carrying Dumpster Diver .  There are just a few simple rules to adhere to like NEVER leave a mess when diving and don't dump your trash in other dumpsters. If you are stopped in mid dive by a store employee all you need to say is you were "looking for boxes". If the police stop and question you, be polite and truthful; you are protected by the same Supreme Court decision which allows the police to search through garbage. It's really exciting when you "score" a big haul of useful items. Many useful items get thrown away just because people are tired of them. Retail stores discard damaged, discontinued and obsolete items because they either do not sell or can't be repaired. One lucky diver "scored" a brand new PDA because, as the attached note said, "it doesn't work"; all he had to do was take the plastic wrapper off the batteries ! There are countless stories on diver websites where they have found amazing stuff in dumpsters. On the next page there is a form to apply for your very own Dumpster Diver Photo ID card. Naturally you will need to send along a 1"x 1" photo of yourself since the card will be laminated. Just send $1.00 (US) with your name and address. You card will be shipped in a few days and you will be a registered Dumpster Diver !