People throw away the darnest things

[prescott4]

This morning I was coming back from visiting a friend who lives in a subdivision that happens to have a ton of rental cabins. As I was driving past the dumpsters there were two guys throwing away a large cooler.

Now being a scrounge, I HAD to stop and ask what was wrong with it.

They replied that nothing was wrong, that they had flown in for hunting, and now that the hunt was over, they were getting rid of the stuff they'd bought that they didnt want to fly home with.

I said Id take the cooler and anything else they had they didnt want.

I got one large Yeti cooler, WITH several 6 packs of beer and frozen steaks inside it, two smaller coolers with an unopened  bottle of Jack, a pair of insulated overalls, and two nice light weight Cabellas jackets.

Theym  told me they do this every year. I gave them my # and told them Id be more than happy to make sure the stuff they toss goes to go use, either with me, or a local charity. On then bright side they donate the mean from their kills to the homeless shelter and the hide is tanned and sent to the VA. It had just never occured to them that folks might want their barely used gear.

[partial*eclipse]

::: Sigh ::: Rich people.

Congratulations on your haul!

[prescott4]

Exactly my thoughts. I mean the cooler alone was like $500 or more.

Its the same way here during Bike Week though. I get tons and tons of barely used stuff just driving the areas where the rentals are at the end of the week. It really makes me mad

[moo*cow*corner]

Nice haul! Hubby would just about kill for free gear like that!

College towns are good pickin's when the dorms empty out in the spring. It's amazing what the kids just throw away rather than have to deal with moving.

[bubnugget]

Why don't I ever get that lucky? Congrats!!!

[prescott4]

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@moo*cow*corner wrote:
Nice haul! Hubby would just about kill for free gear like that!

College towns are good pickin's when the dorms empty out in the spring. It's amazing what the kids just throw away rather than have to deal with moving.

---

My hubby works construction, hes going to be thrilled with the overalls.

Boys and Girls club here goes around and collects what the college kids toss. The manager was telling me that he often gets the same kids in the next fall buying the stuff they tossed in the spring rofl

[lindyslucky]

As a person that keeps my eyes open. Yes!

I also was a big Fan of the Tightwad Gazette. Still a fantastic source for money saving ideas.

The price of an item can be mostly in the transportation of the item.

How much would it have cost those guys to ship all that stuff if they were flying?

Besides the cost and effort of packing. And if there was hunting... Cleaning things...

At the beach people would abandon beach chairs, towels, toys, food. It just costs more than those things are worth if one is traveling by air.

In college towns, the amount of goods thrown away is amazing at semesters end.

Toiletries, linens, furniture. 

I have a realitive living in DC. The first time I was there I was blown away by the items at the curb. Huge population turnover.(yes) Colleges and jobs.

When parking can be $30 a day, and trucks have to be rented....

Well, the value of goods is subjective.

[lindyslucky]

Thankfully some colleges have placed ins for charity outside their doors.

Now the selfish little jerks who dump food ( liquid)  and cleaning supplies all over the things they toss so they are unusable....

[lindyslucky]

Bins not ins!!

[prescott4]

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@lindyslucky wrote:

As a person that keeps my eyes open. Yes!

I also was a big Fan of the Tightwad Gazette. Still a fantastic source for money saving ideas.

The price of an item can be mostly in the transportation of the item.

How much would it have cost those guys to ship all that stuff if they were flying?

Besides the cost and effort of packing. And if there was hunting... Cleaning things...

At the beach people would abandon beach chairs, towels, toys, food. It just costs more than those things are worth if one is traveling by air.

In college towns, the amount of goods thrown away is amazing at semesters end.

Toiletries, linens, furniture. 

I have a realitive living in DC. The first time I was there I was blown away by the items at the curb. Huge population turnover.(yes) Colleges and jobs.

When parking can be $30 a day, and trucks have to be rented....

Well, the value of goods is subjective.

---

I happen to know what they paid for their nice rental cabin per day, they could probably afford to at least have their gear shipped via UPS or Fedex home. 

I guess the sheer amount of waste the vacation home renters produce every year that they just throw away rather than trying to at least donate it just angers me. I mean that cooler cost more than my house payment!

Heck, what they spent on their vacay would pay all my bills for 6 months or more with money to spare lol

[sockmonkeydave]

@prescott4

Years ago I was working "Ramp Rat" at the airport, I signal a plane to the parking spot.

L-1011 I think, big bird, it was the Beach Boys playing the state fair, had wives and kids on board.

Candy, the stew (true California girl) put Carl's ice pack in our freezer, bad knees.

She gave us a tour of the plane, and said do you want this food ?

( they eat a big meal before the show, but fruit after )

We ate the Beach boys dinner that night.

Had a corperate jet that would come in and the pilots would give us the muffins and butter.

Real cow butter, I never went back to    "I can't believe it's not butter"  

I live in a University town, it is crazy.

HP printer on top the dumpster, clean it up, download the drivers, used it for 5 years.

Picked up a big floor jack, couple of bucks for o-rings, good as new.

Can't count the number of lawn mowers, flush out the old gas, hits on the first pull.

Most people have no clue how to fix things, so they just toss good stuff.

I am rebuilding a 1947 airplane, close to finished.

And I am looking at another job from that same time period.

[penguins_dont_fly]

Down here, over in Pensacola Beach, there is a massive LGBT Pride event on Memorial Day weekend.

There is so much new stuff just left on the beach ... umbrellas, coolers, sunglasses, chairs ... it's a local scrounger tradition to go out there on Monday evening or early Tuesday morning to gather it all.

The hotel employees always make out well with stuff just abandoned in the parking lots and left by the pools. (After being kept in Lost and Found for a bit)

The stuff left in the rooms needs to be kept for a while (and owners contacted), but eventually either gets donated or "trashed" (and scavenged LOL).

The waste is unbelievable.

The rest of the year, clearing condo and house rentals can be profitable ... but not as much. Regular season Renters on the beach tend to be families who can't afford the hotels or large groups of older folks getting together for reunions and such.

[prescott4]

The only things I found when cleaning hotels were pretty unmentionable lol I did once find a Harley cleaning a campground but sadly, the owner came back to claim it. He had to have been seriously wasted to not remember which campground he left his bike in for almost a week!

[southern*sweet*tea]

On his way home from work one morning, hubby sees a nearly new Electrolux vacuum cleaner sitting out by the roadside on trash day. Of course, he pulls over and puts it in the back of the truck. It looks like it's barely been used. Tried it out, no suction at all. Pulled the hose off, a wad of paper and other random dirt was blocking the hose. Unclogged the hose and it worked just fine.  It's been working fine for the past 20 or so years.  Probably our best roadside snag ever!

[castlemagicmemories]

OP, congratulations on taking the initiative to acquire those items!