I’m not sure what dumpster diving would be related to within the Mises forum, but I’m wondering if anyone does it and what they think of it. There is a place where I occasionally skate at that throws away dozens and dozens of 20 oz sodas and stock boxes of chips and stuff every week, and a few weeks ago I got cartons (more like an entire box) of Winchester mini-cigars, Captain Blacks, and some other stuff in a dumpster at this cigar place (not knowing why exactly they threw it away.)
Also, besides any “no trespassing” signs in the area, what laws are in place against this? (I’ve heard of some people getting in trouble with the police.)
Anyone want to explain the economics behind a business throwing away perfectly good products?
I work at a grocery store. On monday or something we had this big box of freeze dried strawberries just sitting around. Apparently no one was buying them so we were pulling them off the shelves. I talked to the assistant manager of the stocking department and he just said to put it by the damaged shit where it would get documented as wasted product and presumably thrown away. I was contemplating getting a 5 finger discount on a package (maybe putting them on my yogurt or some thing, strawberries are out of season I think and free fruit is free fruit even if it is nasty dried fruit) but I was not sure what the company’s stance on employee’s taking bad product was so I didn’t.
I am surprised they didn’t try to sell it at a deep discount just to make something back from it and satisfy some customers. I think this was an issue of one manager not knowing what another was thinking and it leading to waste.
I think part of the legality concerning going through peoples’ trash is that you could be trying to get your hands on important documents for the purposes of fraud, identity theft, etc. Its an issue of not being able to secure and safely destroy information.
My (liberal) friends would do this ALL the time. Yes, they would get craptons of good food and stuff in the process. Usually everything that gets thrown out is about to go bad, so the store covers itself from any potential liability issues by tossing out things a day or so before they expire. I never used to participate because of my strong belief in the sanctity of private property, but some of these people would be incredibly organized when they went about doing this. I knew a group of people who would go out and make contacts with people in the store, and get tipped off regarding when stuff was about to be tossed out. They would then go out and “make the rounds” in their van and pick up a ton of stuff in the process. I was kind of amazed at how organized they were and how much time they would expend on scavenging things from dumpsters. Sometimes I was the recipient of that work when I would be offered a box of cupcakes or something. I would joke to others about “the benefits of having friends in low places.” Still, I wondered if their time wouldn’t have been better spent doing something productive, rather than living like vultures. But to each their own.
As to an explanation of why such things happen, aside from pointing to the massive abundance that a market economy produces, I’m not really sure. But I would wager a bet that somewhere there is a law on the books that holds companies liable for giving out (or selling) expired food that has nothing physically wrong with it. Thus they have to throw out massive amounts of food rather than let the market come up with solutions on how to best deal with it (like selling the food at a massive discount, or selling it at a discount to a charitable organization that would distribute it to the poor).
When I lived in England my roommate worked for a major supermarket chain and they used to get 80% discounts on all the stock that was taken off the shelves at the end of the day due to sell-by date. It was a boon for us to grab a great dinner every night for 2 or 3 quid.
The bar I worked at also used to give staff a 60% discount on food, but that quickly ended when the recession hit.
I also managed to furnish most of my room with stuff people left out on the sidewalk in the suburbs for scrap. This was back in the dry summer of 2008, before the major market meltdowns. I got myself two couches, a desk and a couple free-standing lamps.
Nowadays you don’t find gems like this anymore and the supermarket has reduced their discount to about 40%, basically cost-price.
Years and years ago I went dumpster diving a couple times with friends. Most of the stuff supermarkets throw away is crap. I don’t eat most processed foods at all anymore and obviously rotting produce has a low appeal.
I think there are laws (or the potential of a massive law suit) that prohibit restaurants from giving away food at the end of the day. Perhaps you could look further into this.