Hey soooo after seeing all these finds lately iv been wanting to try this. Is there any risk of getting arrested or is this something i should worry about if i go after hours?

From what i gather its legal to ddive as long as the dumpster isnt locked? True or false?

thanks!

I believe it is state specific.

i'd say go for it Joe, if it's illegal, you'd be the one to find out for the rest of us

Yahoo Answers to the rescue!!!

once trash is on a sidewalk/in a dumpster ready for trash-pick up, police in Ohio can go through it/take it without a warrant
it is thought of as 'discarded'

So I don't see how you dumpster diving (assuming you mean eating food/taking awesome stuff haha) would be illegal

fuckin rocky

No but it's frowned upon, just like masturbating on an airplane.

It is very state/county/city specific. In general a trash can on a public street for pick up is ok, except a dumpster is not on a public street so it might be stealing. It could also be considered on private property so you would be trespassing. Some cities outlaw it completely. Just do it fast and you will be fine

Have a built oin reason to be there. For example, I'm moving and looking for some boxes to pack my shit up. Perfect if nothing's in your car already. If it is, i would use the same excuse and then say when I was looking for boxes, I saw this and thought it was cool...and didn't realize I was not allowed to take it. i doubt any police officer is going to harass you over it.

Just make sure you throw a few boxes in the car to make your story legit.

That would work assuming they throw boxes in the same dumpster... my gamestop dumpsters have signs on them "Throw cardboard boxes in other dumpster" with an arrow to the smaller dumpster next to it. 



Also, it is state/county/city/town specific. I find cops will not stop at all if it is outside someones house for trash pickup, but if you are going through a dumpster, they will stop and tell you to leave. I found out few months back that dumpster diving is illegal when a cop stopped by while I was "diving." The officer just explained that there was an ordinance against it and asked me to leave. 

Even if it isnt legal where you are at, unless it is on private property, I dont really see the cops doing anything other than saying "hey get the hell out of there."


And if it does go to court just look at the judge with kitten eyes and state "I was juss tryan to feed maa baabeeees." That works every time.

It's legal in Texas.

When I worked at GS many moons ago our trash/dumpster area had a No Trespassing sign on the area. Its prolly alright as long as its not considered private property. Plus who is gonna narc on you for searching thru a dumpster. Prolly fine unless your caught in the act by a cop.

you need to check with your local city, county and state. Some areas it is considered discarded and you can get into it. other places, the property is transferred to the waste removal company.

So it's not illegal then right?

Air-jacking, that is.

I'm no lawyer, but when they throw it out it's fair game! It's not as if you're stealing active merchandise from them.

I have always wondered what kind of stuff they throw away, my older brother used to be the manager of the store across the street of the Daytona speedway and he said they really didn't throw anything away. It would still be worth a try as I am sure all stores don't act the same.

i did Co-op at a canadian EB games and we destroyed everything and anything that had to go in the garbage from perfect working consoles to Guitar hero guitars and displays.

here is my "favourite" tidbit of knowledge i earned, once a month the higher ups at Eb games choose 1-5 of the least selling games and label them "field destroy" which means if we had 50 copies of Alien syndrome PSP kicken around (we had about 12 when it was time to smash them) then they are all destroyed and THEN sent into a trashcompacter

anything you see labeled $0.01 or $0.00 is SUPPOSED to be destroyed (certain exceptions)