# Scrounging at the County Dump



## SurvivalNut (Nov 13, 2008)

Dropped some cardboard off to recycle today. At the dump they have a recycling shelf, they put up paint, aerosols, etc for people to take and reuse that would otherwise go in the landfill. 

I picked up some fertilizer, tree spray and Ant/Insect barrier spray. Most new and unopened. Probably about $80 worth. Someone cleaning shelfs?

I don't use a lot of chemicals around the property, but to stash a few for post SHTF to keep bugs at bay is good. A cheap way to pick up supplies and keep the $'s going towards food, ammo and silver.


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## 1969cj-5 (Sep 14, 2011)

Most Air Force Base's have the same deal at their Haz Waste Facilities. Got 15 Gallons of Barn Paint that way.


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## JackDanielGarrett (Sep 27, 2010)

I work at a solid waste facility as the scale house operator. Haven't bought paint in years, just get it from the haz-mat building. Just this week I got a 2 pack of bubble levels for my teardrop camper, still sealed in the pack and two Duraflame logs. And my favorite find was...an Alice pack with the frame.

It is amazing what people throw away, but we are a disposable society, too busy to be bothered with "fixin'" it, just throw it away and buy another.


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## Clarice (Aug 19, 2010)

Now you are talking my language. I enjoy dumpster diving. Often on trips to the County Landfill I have found boxes of canning jars & drinking glasses (these have never been opened). We have also found new clothes. Just need to know when the trash truck is dumping from Walmart. Seems they do not restock returns, just log them and throw them away. Also there is a dog food company close by and they throw away sacks full of dog food that have a tear. The guy at the landfill calls DH when the dog food is available and he will swing by there and come home with a pickup bed load. We share with our neighbors and also feed some to the chickens. I just hate wastefulness.


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## oldvet (Jun 29, 2010)

Clarice said:


> Now you are talking my language. I enjoy dumpster diving. Often on trips to the County Landfill I have found boxes of canning jars & drinking glasses (these have never been opened). We have also found new clothes. Just need to know when the trash truck is dumping from Walmart. Seems they do not restock returns, just log them and throw them away. Also there is a dog food company close by and they throw away sacks full of dog food that have a tear. The guy at the landfill calls DH when the dog food is available and he will swing by there and come home with a pickup bed load. We share with our neighbors and also feed some to the chickens. I just hate wastefulness.


Wow, I never knew that Wally World threw that stuff away and I have never really given any thought about the landfill idea, but i do believe I will start checking those places out.

Thanks for the info everyone.

Oh by the way the City of College Station, Texas (sister City to Bryan) passed a City ordinance that makes it ilegal to stop and pick up anything that has been put out on the curb. (125.00 fine) The City says it then becomes their property. :gaah:

If that ain't enough to make you want to slap your great aunt sadie, I don't know what is. 

DM


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

In Wisconsin they tightened up the rules on what you can throw away. Before that happened I used to go to a place where you could dump unwanted computers. I found some old ones I was able to donate to some thrift shops. I kept one for myself. It's a Dell 800 MHz with 512 megs of ram, CD rom, and Zip Drive. I put Windows 98 SE on it and it's really overkill for anything that runs on it.


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

Clarice said:


> Now you are talking my language. I enjoy dumpster diving. Often on trips to the County Landfill I have found boxes of canning jars & drinking glasses (these have never been opened). We have also found new clothes. Just need to know when the trash truck is dumping from Walmart. Seems they do not restock returns, just log them and throw them away. Also there is a dog food company close by and they throw away sacks full of dog food that have a tear. The guy at the landfill calls DH when the dog food is available and he will swing by there and come home with a pickup bed load. We share with our neighbors and also feed some to the chickens. I just hate wastefulness.


My sister worked at Kmart pharmacy---they would tell the employees (hush--hush) when items were going to the dump...sad that also the food was thrown away---liability issues be damned...take it to the churches' food banks. God's watching!!


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## Bigdog57 (Oct 9, 2008)

My local dump site does not allow scrounging - it's considered a health and safety issue. But yep, a lot of items there that COULD be repaired and reused.
At this moment, I am sitting in an office chair my Dad resued from a roadside 'pile'- the only fault..... a small bit of white paint spilled on the black vinyl. Been using it for years now!
He has a pair of nice wrought-iron patio chairs that just needed cleaning and painting.
I hate throwing things away - Dad and Mom raised a couple 'packrats'......


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## rhrobert (Apr 27, 2009)

BillS said:


> In Wisconsin they tightened up the rules on what you can throw away. Before that happened I used to go to a place where you could dump unwanted computers. I found some old ones I was able to donate to some thrift shops. I kept one for myself. It's a Dell 800 MHz with 512 megs of ram, CD rom, and Zip Drive. I put Windows 98 SE on it and it's really overkill for anything that runs on it.


The best thing about where I used to live in WI was city wide cleanup. 2 weeks of running thru the city with a couple trucks and trailers, trying to beat out the other scrappers.

Riding mowers, push mowers, tools, tool boxes, even a brand new professional stainless grill: the guy used it once and said the igniter didn't work. Battery was wrapped in plastic, upside down in the holder. Worked perfect. (rich idiots) Best year made over $8000 in 2 weeks, and a whole lot of new toys!


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## Ponce (May 3, 2009)

"The trash fills of today will be the gold mines of tomorrow"... Ponce

Why? simple, as you know plastic will last for about for ever and the trash fills are full of it, as oil becomes more expensive the big companies will be searching for recycling material and the trash fills will be the best place to find it.


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## jnrdesertrats (Jul 3, 2010)

Yesterday took my wifes grandfathers charboiler BBQ to the dump, seriously it was dead. As my buddy and I threw it and watched it tumble I realized the wheels didn't break. Then I thought that thing is so old it was probably made in america. The wheels were steel and still good, so I took them off and kept the cast iron grills too. And yes I got some funny looks but I figured it was still mine until I drive away right?


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