Darryl Baker, a freelance journalist from north London, found piles of clothing dumped beside recycling bins outside her local supermarket and asked staff for permission to take items. Over six months this year, she salvaged hundreds of pounds worth of goods including Ralph Lauren, Nike, and The North Face branded clothing, as well as Ikea picture frames and children's scooters. She kept some items for herself and her children, donated others, and sold pieces including a men's Barbour jacket for £30.
Baker has joined a growing community of dumpster divers. Jeff Ferrell, 72, from Fort Worth, Texas, has been dumpster diving for more than 50 years and does so daily by bicycle. He estimates his annual finds are worth "tens of thousands of dollars a year" through a combination of scrap metal sales at local yards, which earn around $150 every two weeks, and items his wife sells on eBay. Ferrell says he never buys soap, toiletries, medical supplies, shoes, clothes, tools, or garden supplies.
Millie Diamond, a London-based stylist, posts Instagram videos of her bin diving to find fabrics and clothing she refashions and sells. She found one dress worth an estimated £600. Charlotte Bayford, a 44-year-old sales assistant in Essex, estimates she has not bought shampoo for eight years after finding half-filled toiletries discarded by students leaving university housing. She also finds sealed food items and gives many discoveries to charity.
The legality varies by location. Jeff Ferrell notes many US cities including New York, Cleveland, and Wichita have made dumpster diving illegal because discarded items belong to the city or private trash service companies. In Fort Worth, items can only be removed from bins if they are on public land. Sunjay Versani of Duncan Lewis Solicitors says in the UK "prosecution is unlikely" for genuinely discarded goods in many cases, but recommends asking permission from the owner or business first.