I’m sure you’ve heard of dumpster diving. It’s all over Youtube with tutorials and people talking about the simple adventure and adrenaline rush dumpster diving provides. If you haven’t heard of it, you’re in for treat!

Dumpster diving is literally just that: hopping into a dumpster and checking out what’s inside. Many local businesses throw away perfectly good, new items. Once they are in the dumpster, they are fair game. It’s not illegal to take items from dumpsters in Fort Collins.

While dumpster diving is not illegal in Fort Collins, you could be caught, charged with trespassing and fined. However, for the right items, this may be a chance you’re willing to take.

According to local law enforcement, “If you’re outside of the trash can looking through it, I would just make the person leave and let them go with a warning.”

Locally, there are a few select dumpsters to go diving. There’s Ulta for makeup and World Market and Nordstrom for home goods. Multiple other dumpsters are also open to the public and unlocked.

“If  you were able to do it sneakily, in a dumpster that’s not full of old food and gross trash, I could see how it might have benefits, ” Emma Mackey said.

Some people dumpster dive for fun and some go to see if they can find anything that they can refurbish and makeover.

Dumpster divers find a lot of different types of things inside the dumpster. There’s, of course, trash and it’s difficult not to be grossed out by it, but there’s plenty of stuff that gets thrown away in perfectly good condition and can still be used.

If you’re interested, find a friend–to watch out for workers–and go to a store that you really like and just give the dumpster a peek. If you see anything good, jump on in.  You may be surprised at what you’ll find that gets tossed out.