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Found a pristine KitchenAid mixer in a dumpster behind a bakery in Portland. Took it home, cleaned it up, and it works perfectly. But here's the debate: is it ethical to take something from a commercial dumpster if the business might have planned to donate it later?
I was dumpster diving behind a bakery in Portland last Saturday and spotted a KitchenAid mixer sitting on top of a trash bag. Looked almost new, just some flour dust. I grabbed it, brought it home, spent 20 minutes cleaning it, and it runs like a dream. Probably worth around $300 new. But then I got to thinking: this bakery might have had a deal with a local charity to pick up old equipment on Mondays. So by taking it Saturday night, did I steal from someone who needed it more? Or does the whole 'trash is trash' rule apply to businesses too? I've heard stories of stores intentionally denting boxes before tossing them to prevent dumpster divers. What do you all think: is commercial dumpster diving fair game, or should we leave business trash alone?
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olivia3983mo ago
My buddy once found a working espresso machine behind a coffee shop in Seattle, same deal, cleaned it up and it was perfect. He felt all proud until he saw a post from the shop's barista saying they had a standing deal with a women's shelter to donate machines every quarter, and someone swiped the one they just set out. He felt like a total jerk, ended up giving it to the shelter himself. So yeah, the trash is trash rule gets real fuzzy with businesses because they have those behind the scenes routines nobody sees.
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reesel503mo ago
Yeah you brought up that point about bakeries denting boxes to stop divers, but I think the real issue here is what happens to stuff that's technically still in the trash but hasn't been picked up yet. Like legally, once it's in the dumpster and it's past closing time, it's abandoned property in most places. But morally, it gets messy when you factor in that the bakery might have had a pickup scheduled with a local food bank or shelter. I knew a guy who worked at a grocery store and they had a system where they'd set aside day-old bread for a church van that came every Tuesday. If someone grabbed it Monday night, that church group lost out. The trash is trash rule works for individual people throwing stuff out on the curb, but businesses have agreements and routines. So I guess it comes down to whether you think the bakery actually had a plan for that mixer or if they just threw it away because it was old. If they really wanted to donate it, they would have put a sign on it or kept it inside until pickup day.
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