For all you Blockbuster dumpster divers...

[gnslinger]

I'd love to get these free cases and am thinkin about tryin it out, but I'm kinda paranoid. Can you get in trouble for doing this if you're seen? I'm thinkin about doing it after closing, I work a late shift that doesn't get off until 3am, so I figure I can stop by then. Although even then I'd be paranoid about cops seein me. I'd do it during the day, but my local blockbuster has their dumpster right in front of the window. Also, what days do they usually throw out the cases? I'd ask the manager to cut me a deal if I wouldn't feel so stupid doing it, heh.

[Tommyknocker]

Talk to the manager anyway. He is going to throw the cases away anyway. He probably will not even charge you for them. Just walk right in, ask for the manager, and ask him if you can have the empty DVD cases he normally throws away. He has no reason not to give them to you. Of course, with the price of these things dirt cheap, I just buy them.

[rgtaa]

you might want to call and ask for manager from a few places that sell videos and repackage . You might get lucky.

[butler1]

Can you get in trouble for doing this if you're seen?

...

Although even then I'd be paranoid about cops seein me.

According to the "Dumpster Lady"


Is diving or scavenging legal?

The very first thing you have to do is find out whether dumpster diving and
scavenging are legal in your town and county. Diving is illegal in a few
towns and counties.

You can either go to the library and do the research yourself, or you can call
local law enforcement and ask. Most divers choose to call from a pay phone
so as not to identify themselves to law enforcement

I will tell you that local law enforcement is not always aware of the exact laws.
I've heard of cases where cops told divers that diving was illegal when the divers
know for a fact that it isn't.

Be respectful, neat, and quiet. Don't make a mess. Don't ever dump your own
trash in someone else's dumpster -- that's always against the law. If it says
"No Trespassing", don't. If a dumpster or an enclosure is locked, don't mess
with it.

If you find that it's illegal in your area, then dive outside the city or county limits.

Obey all laws. Period. End of story.

(But do you really want to trust someone who calls herself "Dumpster Lady"?)

[housepig]

one thing to do if you're really paranoid, take a couple of empty cardboard boxes with you, leave one in your car and carry one over to the dumpster with you.

if a cop or security swings by, tell them you're getting ready to move and you were looking for empty boxes.

btw - the BB I hit is right next to a Wendy's, I just park in the Wendy's parking lot, do a quick check, and if there's any in there I grab 'em. broad daylight, not one problem, and even if they are loose in the dumpster, it takes less than 5 minutes to get in, get the cases, and get out.

a few other tips -

- take an empty garbage bag with you - usually my BB bags the ones they throw out, but sometimes they are loose.

- if the BB is in a strip mall that also has a food service establishment, think twice. mine shares it's dumpster with another retail store, so there's no food waste, just empty cardboard boxes and regular office waste. there's another BB where I wouldn't even think of diving, since there's a pizza joint, a chinese takeout and a mexican restaraunt all in the same shopping center. I like free, but I don't like "free, but you have to hose off yesterdays' enchiladas and pork fried rice".

- take a piece of dowel rod or broomstick, and put a little screw hook at the end - many times I don't have to reach in at all, I can fish out the bagged cases with the hook.

and remember - security guards aren't cops, all they can do is ask you to leave, they can't prevent you from leaving.

[gnslinger]

Well I just asked a friend who used to work at my local one and she says the manager wouldn't go for it, so I'd have to dumpster dive. But it doesn't matter anyway, I thought the covers would be with the cases, but she says they take them out, which was the main reason I was wanting them. It would still be nice to have free cases, but I may hold off until I get a better printer to print covers.

[Suntan]

Check with another local BB, their manager may be more accomidating. Back in college my roomate would always go to the different rental places to ask for the vhs covers (and the posters on the walls) normally they would give the covers for free and ask about $3 for the posters. While on the subject, you can ask theaters for there old movie props too...

Do you have any idea how dificult it was to score with a life size cardboard Braveheart display setup in your livingroom?

-Suntan

[DVD_Ripper]

Even though they may only share their dumpster with other office type of organizations I would be careful jumping in.... you may come face to face with a few rodents you may not want to meet. (They throw their lunches away too)

[arcorob]

Dumpster diving in the U.S. is legal.

According to the law, once trash is placed in the container, it is considered public property. This is why one should be careful what you put in your trash.

If they throw out confidential or private info, then their loss. It should have been properly disposed of. You cannot break in to a locked disposal unit, that is illegal.

You also cannot dump in another persons trash nor use a dumpster as your trash can.

But diving for boxes, quite legal. One note. Recent cases have determined that there must be clear intent that the trash is out for pickup.

If a persons cans are in their yard and they have to pull them to the curb to get them picked up, they are not public till then.

In the case of dumpsters, the assumption is there unless the dumpsetr is behind a locked gate (sort of like what you see at McDonalds)

Hey, better yet, just buy the dang things...I can see scraping fsh heads off of a cover to save 40 cents...LOL

[housepig]

If they throw out confidential or private info, then their loss.

you mean like the 10 pages of credit-card numbers I found a few dives back?

[handyguy]

Try monday night, tues is the big new dvd day, so they put the old cases out monday night.

[gnslinger]

My friend says they put there's out on wednsday afternoons, but looks like I might have to forget doing it after hours, cause they have a enclosed gate around it. There isn't a lock on it during the day, but I'm sure they put one on at night.

[MeDiCo_BrUjO]

According to the law, once trash is placed in the container, it is considered public property. This is why one should be careful what you put in your trash.

I've heard this, it's true!

[handyguy]

Yeah, but not as long as the can is on private property. I store stuff in the cans sometimes to see if I need it later or not.

One time I took a old used BB rifle out of a can & was walking home with it & a few blocks later, cops everywhere. Moral of story--don't walk around the city with a rifle.

[popeye1497]

...There isn't a lock on it during the day, but I'm sure they put one on at night.

Why would they secure thier trash??

[vandakeg]

Do not play IN, ON, OR AROUND dumpster!!

[Tiny71]

I use to dumpster dive all the time(Ikea likes to through out some good stuff), but I have not done so in almost 4 years. Why? I may be paraniod, but don't junkies like to dispose of there 'tools' in anything handy....like a dumpster? I would hate to be stuck with something just for trying to save some bucks on cases. Thats just me.....but then again I don't live in the fast lane.

[sssax2003]

Well I asked a blockbuster store around my cousins house and he said yeah.... just to come at night on tues. or wed. in the afternoon..

[zlage]

I happen to work at a plant that manufactures DVD cases for most of the major movie distributors. Single, double, different colors, even ones that smell like strawberrys. No problem gettin any here.

[Iron_Monkey]

Wow, I didn't know it was that difficult for some of you to get the cases from Blockbuster. At one of my local stores they had a bunch in a rack and were free for everyone to take. Over several visits, I got me about a hundred cases. No need for dumpster diving. Just ask them. Besides, you're helping them free up their space by accepting the cases.

[fmctm1sw]

I've dumpster dived. But never a "high profile" target like Blockbuster. That's the big game!

[housepig]

I tried asking first - I could see a huge bag full of empty cases, waiting to be taken out to the dumpster.

"Can I have any empty cases you guys are throwing away?"

blank look.

"We don't have any."

"So that big bag next to the trash can that's full of them, that's just being stored there?"

looks over her shoulder at the bag.

"Well, you could have those."

tried a couple more times to get official permission, finally decided screw it, it's faster and easier to just dive them.

[handyguy]

I'd have to agree, you don't know what's in the can so don't climb in it. Reach over the top.

Frankly, considering what people throw in there, including old food, diapers, etc, why would anyone want to save a few dollars by putting themselves at risk? New cases are cheap.

[gnslinger]

Well I went by the Blockbuster by my work last night and their dumpster is in a great spot, away from the road and parking lot where no once can see you. Only bad thing is it looks like they might share it with two other businesses, but neither one of them are food services, thank goodness. I tried feeling inside the top two garbages bags but neither were cases, and it was too dark to look further. I might stop by in the afternoon and take a look.

[smearbrick1]

"I use to dumpster dive all the time(Ikea likes to through out some good stuff), but I have not done so in almost 4 years. Why? I may be paraniod, but don't junkies like to dispose of there 'tools' in anything handy....like a dumpster? I would hate to be stuck with something just for trying to save some bucks on cases. Thats just me.....but then again I don't live in the fast lane."

Do you find that alot of junkies hang out behind IKEA?

[Tiny71]

"I use to dumpster dive all the time(Ikea likes to through out some good stuff), but I have not done so in almost 4 years. Why? I may be paraniod, but don't junkies like to dispose of there 'tools' in anything handy....like a dumpster? I would hate to be stuck with something just for trying to save some bucks on cases. Thats just me.....but then again I don't live in the fast lane."

Do you find that alot of junkies hang out behind IKEA?

Its Minnesota, they are everywhere.

[Madz]

The BB across the street from me puts their rental DVDs in lockable cases. They have a little plastic bar inserted in the front that they remove w/ a slider at the counter. But I've never checked the dumpster to see if they throw any away. It would seem to me that they'd just reuse them for more new releases. I'd think also they would save all the factory cases (w/ the artwork) to repackage the discs to sell as previewed when the peak rental period ends.

I, however, used to pick the dumpster at a local TV station near where I once lived. For some reason they'd throw out slightly-used pro betacam videotapes. I'd erase them and use them again in a betamax deck.

[housepig]

Its Minnesota, they are everywhere.

and where in MN are you that junkies are so commonplace? I'm in south MPLS, in Phillips, and even we just have crackheads... I don't think I've seen a junkie since I stopped hanging out in Richmond, VA.

[Tommyknocker]

I really think you need to stop this madness. The poster warned that if a junkie throws his stuff (e.g., his HIV-infected needle) in one of your targeted dumpsters, then the trade off of free DVD cases versus a case of AIDS really sucks.

[kupton]

Are you guys really serious with this dumpster diving? Damn I thought I was a cheap bastard