I would think once it reached the landfill it would be free to go= I always said if I worked on a garbage truck I would also need a trailer! At a landfill I would have to have a semi! When we had small dumps here there were a lot of people looking, I used to find cool things, sadly the old dumps are replaced by landfills where the promptly bulldoze and compact things.

When I worked in the Sears display department, I had fabric, vinyl, etc. at my disposal to use for creating displays. I was not allowed to take even the smallest remnant or scrap home. All had to be thrown away. Their theory was that I could purposely cut the item with the idea of leaving a usable sized remnant for my own project.

The reason merchandise is tossed in the garbage is the fact that it's cheaper to throw out then the cost of returning items to the distributor/manufacturer. As far as dumpster diving, go right ahead. Once an item is in the trash, it is in public. That's why identity theft is so easy. People throwing out papers and the like with personal info on it. The store throwing out the merchandise is suppose to destroy the merchandise first. Simply unrolling ribbon or fabric is not considered destroying. It is supposed to be made "undesirable" to deter diving. The store getting credit has nothing to do with someone else re-purposing an item. If the store did not destroy properly, it's not the fault of others. It my position that re-purposing is doing a great deal of good for landfills and the environment.

I just looked up Dumpster diving Laws, it is very interesting, you can be arrested for trespassing but other than that it says it is legal in the US. at least according to the links I read. Very interesting.....

Man what is wrong with people,Looks to me like if it is in the dumpster it is fair game for all.

Just remember if you are caught trespassing you can be in trouble.

They most likey get more using the things as a tax write off rather than donating items. It really is a shame but do watch out because dumpster diving IS considered breaking the law in some areas!

And check your local laws before plunging in! In some communities it is ok to take stuff put out for garbage collectin and in someit is not okay. The same for dumpsters. Dumpsters in essence are private property - they belong to someone.

FYI: My DDIL worked at Target Corp offices. They do not donate to GW...They sell to GW...really cheaply!

I had an appliance repair at my house once. He got phone calls from Costco, Home Deport and others to pick up returned appliances. I would fix them if need be and sell them. Some had nothing wrong with them. This also went on at Linen's N Things. I returned a sofa cover and found out that it goes in the trash.

With so many people in this country going without because of finances why does this happen? We are a land of plenty, but I thought we were suppose to at least be stewards. To some extent I understand not restocking linens because lawsuits from diseases caught from things are probably far more expensive than throwing the item away.

I know my quilt guild could sure use the stuff Joann's throws away. We make charity quilts for people in the area i.e. nursing homes, women's shelters, birthright centers, adoption day gifts for adopted children.

Some items are written off and cannot be sold, but many items are donated to Goodwill. Magazines and patterns are owned by their companies not Joann's and must be destroyed when told to do so. The only things that go into our dumpster are cardboard boxes and fabfric boards.

Yeah!!!!!!!

I never knew places did this! What a horrible, horrible waste. You know schools, assisted living facilities, churches and so many more would love to have those items donated to them and would put them to good use. Also didn't know dumpster diving would be considered stealing. Wow! What a sheltered life I live. LOL!!

Talk about wasting money!

I worked at JoAnns and it's against company policy orders come down from corperate!!!!!If it's in the dumpster behind the sstore its against the law to remove items from there dumpsters. They should be locked after hours!!!!! I wouldn't want to get caught removing there items. Its still there merchadise til garbage men take it!!!!

i know that hancock fabrics have those kind of sales..i recently purchased two packages of treadle sewing machine bobbins (hard to find) for 90% off costing me less than $5.00 total... i am a dumpster diver every chance i get..and i love antique and junk stores...my sister in law and i go "junking" pretty regularly and you would be amazed at the treasures we find as well as the repair, repurposing, and recycling that we do. seems to me that stores that behave so bizarrly as to throw away perfectly good items would at least get fair tax credit for donating...and discounting at 90% still makes them a few cents on the product..

Sad but true. I was once looking for the bubble wrap that they throw out and that's when I found out that secirity has a camera in the back of that mall. I had a 'greating' by the guy in the secrity truck. Basicly they say they are trying to protect themselves from any lawsuits by dumpster divers get hurt on their property. And when it comes to the patters, well they are told to destroy them --- dump water on the envelopes before closing the dumpster.

BTW, Peir I is still good hunting grounds

My daughter works at a warehouse for a big box store and works in the returns department. Returns that cannot be reshelved in the stores are packed up into large containers and then hauled to the warehouse where the employees sort through the items to put them in large dumpsters to go to the landfill or recycled - for instance wood items, chopped up and made into mulch and bagged and then sold through their stores. They throw away perfectly good electronics, appliances, building materials that their suppliers don't want returned to them. The employees used to be able to buy these items and take them home, but a few years ago were informed that they could no longer purchase these items and if they were caught removing any items, they would be charged with theft and immediately fired. Their dumpsters are within a fenced in area and there's no way dumpster divers could get to it. It makes me sick to hear the waste that's happening when these items could be donated to charities. What could possibly be wrong with holding a huge garage sale or auction with these items? One person's garbage is another person's treasure, after all.

I was in Ollies's last week as they were opening up some new boxes they had just received. One was from WalMart and was partial bolts of material-all being sold by Ollie's for $1.00/bolt. It included fleece, cotton, upholstery, knit and sheer fabrics. I didn't leave empty-handed! :)

one of the kids worked at Gloria Jeans Coffee shoppe. EVERY week the coffee bins had to be emptied, cleaned and restocked with fresh coffee/coffee beans. yep-tossed the weekold stuff. some of it more than $50.00 a lb.

We have a local plant nursery who pitches annuals in July. They have often told me to pick up whatever I wanted out of the discard pile. Of course I took them up on their offer :)

Hmmmmm..........dumpster diving sounds exciting...hehehe

Everything in the dumpster is property of the store until the trashman picks it up and dumps it into his truck. I had a slightly different problem when I worked for Joann's (Fabricland)...we had to do a walk around the store to check the locks, and that all the tables were folded, ready for the next day. I was supposed to have a different clerk do it every night...well, I always went behind them and checked the doors myself...would find upholstery fabric, nails, tools, thread, all kinds of trims ...all laid out at the back door...sometimes already stashed behind the dumpster. We had two girls who were related...their hubbys were in the auto upholstery business...and these two girls were supplying the goods. I told the manager ...she said thanks, and didn't say anything to the girls...another employee said the manager knew, but liked the girls...and that they had good sales. Sheesh! Needless to say...when I was working and we had to send someone home...it was always one or both of these girls. Told the manager to work them on her shift, not mine.

Back to the disposal of good items...happens in all stores...it's crazy...don't know how many times we gave Lowes & other stores destroy authorization, only to have a customer call the next week for parts...we would ask if the box was taped or had a mark on it...yep it had a number (the destroy authorization number)...the stores resold the items and told customers to call for parts.

You just can't win...no matter if you are the store or the supplier...that's why prices are so high in this country.

Just more examples of the "throw away society" we live in.

Please forgive me if am posting this twice. One reason they do what they do is because some people were returning the items back to the store for cash. Another is that the company's don't give them credit for or accept the products back. The resturants do the same thing. Because if they gave you food and you say it made you sick they get sued. It is not a good way to do but these are their reasons. They won't donate them to a school, senior home or anything.
Icee

A friend asked her husband/attorney about the dumpster diving and the law says that if the container is on public property (ie: the trash barrel on the sidewalk in front of your house) it's not illegal. If the barrel is on your lawn (we have nothing between the grass and road here and no curbs) it's considered private property. And retail stores are not on public property so their dumpsters are not fair game. I guess it's all a matter of where and when? Too many things to blame on lawyers these days. Even the homeless aren't supposed to take recycleable cans from the trash bin at the gas station.

just had this conversation yesterday at our quilt group. stores have to destroy these things to get a tax break on them when they can't sell them. if they donate them they don't get the tax write off. that's why that person was unrolling them. apparently there was a recent case where a wedding dress outfit was painting the dresses with red spray paint to keep people from dumpster diving for them. seems so unfair but it is all about money.

Many years ago a friend worked for Dillards, we learned that many returns (clothing) were slashed with scissors and sent back to headquarters for disposal. My friend said that all department stores did it rather than donating the items, which could wind up back on the market with their name/tags/brand on it, when it was taken off of their inventory.
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Basically, they did not want anyone making a profit on their inventory write off.
I don't quite understand the JoAnns position, when there couldn't be a market for selling damaged craft products....

My husband used to work for Lowe's warehouse and it woud make him sick the amount of stuff they threw away. for e4x. if a pallet of decorative pots came in and one was broken they would throw the entire pallet away and give orders to the employee to break all of the others. Therefore they could write off or get credit for the entire thing. I worked in a craft store called Little America, back in the day...LOL and we had to put spray paint on the things that went to the trash barrels. Personally, I have found some awesome paperback Magazines and books behinds Barnes and Nobles. With the economy the way it is and so many people on fixed incomes or lliving below the proverty line, don't you think that retailers could come up with a better way of handling things? Grocery Stores are another one that throws lots of things out--even meat, if they say it is freshly ground and they don't sell it that day, they will mark the price down the next and if they still have t will trow it away on the third day. Guess I had better get off my soap box--Everyone: Have a terrific day!!

I have to sadly say it is true. I have to say I have had the unfortunate displeasure of overhearing a group talk about how another group got items donated to them and were sold to raise money for cancer, and it "left them in an unfair disadvantage" in a race to get the most money. It was something I was shocked to hear. Sort of disappointing to hear.
However, I went to a dumpster once and got a perfect good scrapbooking stuff, before I started quilting.

Gramajo, there IS no reasoning to understand!!! There are so many new "regulations" under this current administration, it would shock you if you knew how detailed they were. I went to the grocery store bakery section where I was always given the crumbs from the bread cutting machine for the birds, and when I went several months ago, the lady told me that a new "regulation" was made that they can no longer give them out. What!!! The birds might complain? Makes me sick too, so you have a lot of company on that score. We are a country that could support another economy on just what we throw away!!

This makes me sick! I understand why the stores do it but it is still hard to hear or see!
I used to work at a store that got alot of stuff at a discount from Costco. Costco does NOT put any returns back on their shelves. Easier for inventory that way, but the owner of our store had a deal that all the returns were put in a box on a pallet and he paid so much for each pallet he picked up. He has no idea what he is buying but our little retail store made a good profit to say the least!!! I have also been to other stores and seen clothing that I know came from a certain store but the tags inside the clothes were cut off. Hard to return items with no tags!! It is sad to think that businesses are just trying to find the cheapest and easiest way to dispose of those 'useless' items. Really sad!

Dumpster diving, is it really stealing? The scavenger law may apply.
 

The Store saves "proof of purchase" to return for credit to their supplier. I think anything left out for the trash collection may be fair game as long as people don't make a mess and throw things all over the property. You cannot make a nuisance of your self...In all things, be discrete...........

This is a BIG misconception - they can not get sued - there is such a thing as a Good Samaritan Law

"The "Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act" (Public Law 104-210) makes it easier for businesses to donate to food banks and food rescue programs. It protects donors from liability when donating to nonprofit organizations and protects donors from civil and criminal liability should the product donated in good faith later cause harm to the needy recipient.

The law also sets a liability floor of "gross negligence" or intentional misconduct for persons who donate grocery products. It recognizes that the provision of food close to recommended date of sale is, in and of itself, not grounds for finding gross negligence. For example, cereal can be donated if it is marked close to code date for retail sale.

Food banks also protect their donors by offering a variety of liability protections, including strict standards of warehouse operation, proper storage and handling procedures, complete product tracking and recall capabilities, and accurate and timely receipting. "


So there is NO excuse for food being wasted. The stores that care find a way to get it in the hands of food shelves and people who need it.