[gotrecruit]

i've heard of dumpster diving, but honestly i always assumed that was either intended as a joke, or only homeless bums do it. i can't imagine eating out of a dumpster if you have ANY option at all not to. i mean, the smell alone...

[lightbritefight]

Its apparent you've never tried it. Its a fascinating thing to leap into the trash to see what you can find. There is generally an odor, but you aren't there for things that stink anyway. Any bag that stinks you ignore. I used to look for likely working electronics, good looking/fixable furniture, and rarely, still sealed food. Some folk go further and will pull loose fruit/veg out. If you leave any rot behind and wash the food, you should be fine. You never pull cheese/meat out of a dumpster, however. Too risky.

People are very wasteful. Just because something goes into the trash doesn't mean its without utility. It just means someone decided it didn't have any utility for them. Many perfectly fine things go into the trash everyday. Letting them rot in a landfill instead of being recycled seems way more distasteful than a smell that will wash right off.

If you are going to try it, the first rule of dumpster diving is to leave the site in better shape than when you found it. If you make a mess, you clean it up. Its the decent thing to do, and helps keeps the neighbors calm. Its an oddly invasive act, as peoples trash is basically a story of their life, so anything that soothes people about you going into a dumpster is good.

Personally, I did it largely for the sense of adventure. Its like a modern day treasure hunt. The fact that I was able to furnish my apartment very richly for nothing was a bonus.

[Trano]

My understanding is that dumpster diving to get opened food is fairly uncommon. More often it is getting sealed food that was thrown out because it has expired, has damaged packaging, or in some other way is less desirable. So the food that you would eat from a dumpster isn't exposed and probably doesn't smell like a restaurant waste dumpster would.