dumpster diving
Searching through refuse
Dumpster diving is the practice of searching through commercial or residential trash containers for usable items—food, furniture, electronics, or documents.
Some do it out of necessity, others to reduce waste or find valuables.
The term extends to any scavenging through discarded material: Identity thieves go dumpster diving for bank statements and credit card offers.
Improving discarded materials' value
- zero-wasteNo garbage produced
- reclaimTake back possession
- salvageRecovering damaged goods
- reuseEmploy something again
sustainability · anti-consumerism · reduce · repurpose · environmentalism · gleaning · conservation · recycling
Gathering discarded or dead material
- alleywaysNarrow urban passages
- curbsideAdjacent to the street
- discardsThings thrown away
- refuseReject or garbage
scraps · rummaging · nighttime · flashlight · supermarket · haul · finds · pickings
Sparing with resources
- secondhandHaving had prior ownership
- bargainFavorable purchase price
- freeganOne eating discarded food
- salvageRecovering damaged goods
savings · thrift · budget · penny-pinching · resourceful · economical · cheap · treasure-hunting
Lacking permanent residence
- destitutionExtreme poverty, lacking necessities
- desperationUtter loss of hope
- hardshipSuffering from difficult circumstances
- hand-to-mouthConsuming resources immediately
survival · necessity · hunger · indigence · deprivation · impoverishment · joblessness · dispossession
upcycling
Improving discarded materials' value
- zero-wasteNo garbage produced
- reclaimTake back possession
- salvageRecovering damaged goods
reuse · sustainability · anti-consumerism · reduce · repurpose · environmentalism · gleaning · conservation · recycling
scavenging
Gathering discarded or dead material
refuse · scraps · rummaging · nighttime · flashlight · supermarket · haul · finds · pickings · gloves
frugal
Sparing with resources
- secondhandHaving had prior ownership
- bargainFavorable purchase price
- freeganOne eating discarded food
salvage · savings · thrift · budget · penny-pinching · resourceful · economical · cheap · treasure-hunting · scrounging
homelessness
Lacking permanent residence
- destitutionExtreme poverty, lacking necessities
- desperationUtter loss of hope
- hardshipSuffering from difficult circumstances
hand-to-mouth · survival · necessity · hunger · indigence · deprivation · impoverishment · joblessness · dispossession · houselessness
- cyber threatsmalware, phishing, hacking, virus, ransomware
- scavengingscavenging, rummage, foraging, forage, salvage
- survival tacticspanhandling, scavenging, squatting, rough sleeping, sleeping rough
- garbologyfood waste, packaging waste, artifact recovery
- espionagespy, spies, double agent, double agents, spying
- waste managementwaste, trash, garbage, rubbish, refuse
dumpster divingluxury shopping
Purchasing costly, prestigious merchandise
purchasing · online shopping · shopping spree · boutique shopping · wholesale buying
dumpster divingconspicuous consumption
Flaunting wealth through purchases
consumerism · throwaway culture · overconsumption · luxury spending · splurging