My first dumpster diving experience was unsuccessful.  I got a list of Bruegger's bagels that are vegan (surprisingly their chocolate bagels are vegan) and went for a little walk down the street.  For my first time I just looked around the top bags, but didn't find any bagels.  It was later at night so it's possible they were all gone, but they may have been lower down.  This weekend my friend and I are going to give it another shot.

It's always good to go with a pal--that way one of you can jump on in and start hauling out bags while the other goes through them--they also might have specific days they do their dumps--I would think they would probably dump every night--but maybe not, maye every other and you just hit an off night? Good luck on your next try--I'm sure you will get luck one of these days!!!

Nom! Bagles!

I love that so many people on here are conciously attempting to live simply  :)>>> :)>>> it's a good, humbling thing to strive for :) I love you all!!!

"Live simply, so others can simply live."

that basically sums up my diet and lifestyle. I wish more people realized how "green" they could be and how many human and non-human animal lives they could save by going vegetarian or vegan :/

YES!!  :)>>> :)>>>

Last night walking home from the bars a few friends and I (all very much inebriated) were a little hungry.  I mentioned to them we could go see if there were any bagels in the dumpster down the street.  They thought it sounded like a great idea.  We were looking through all the bags and finally found the one with the bagels!  So much waste!  We each have a dozen bagels in our freezers to last the week!  It was appalling the amount of food in those bags!  I'm definitely going to explore other dumpster diving opportunities.

All right!!!! Drunk Dumpster Diving! You can call your group the D3's and make it a weekly event!

I'm so glad you found the bagles--I know! isn't it terrible to see all the waste? Wait till you hit a grocery store and end up with two car loads of food and leave behind even more...it will piss you off to no tomorrow to see all that is being dumped!

I'm so glad you found the bagles--I know! isn't it terrible to see all the waste? Wait till you hit a grocery store and end up with two car loads of food and leave behind even more...it will piss you off to no tomorrow to see all that is being dumped!

I have always had a huge question about vegans that dumpster stuff... so maybe you guys can help me.

If I dumpster something that contains milk or whey or something of animal origin (like bread or bagels) is it okay to eat them? I guess it depends on you reasons on going vegan and how strict you want to be with it.  (personally i think i would eat them anyways since i am not paying for it and not giving my money to the company that exploits animals)

and another question... the other day I ordered Chinese. I got meifun and I asked for no cooked egg bits in it. So I got home and opened everything up and and started chowing down, it was then that i noticed the egg bits (there really isnt much in there so i didnt taste it or see it at first.) I was kinda grossed out and i picked the rest of the egg out and threw it away. I ate the rest Meifun because even though I feel it is ethically wrong to eat eggs, I also feel it is ethically wrong to throw away a completely prepared meal. Nothing was going to change the fact that the eggs were used, so why just throw away a perfectly good meal.

So what would you other vegans say about these two situations? I am kinda torn.  :-\

I would say these are definitely vegan by vegan decisions. Personally, I won't dumpster anything that can not be verified vegan, and if I got a meal that had animal product in it I would return it/not eat it. Like you said-I think it depends on your reasons for being vegan--maybe you're an environtmentalist or health vegan or live more of a freegan-vegan lifestyle so using resources that are not entirely vegan is a "grey area". But I gotta say...if you are an animal rights vegan, it would just seem shady to me if you started chowing down on things you absolutely knew were not vegan--that is just not kosher in my book--but to each their own--you have to decide for yourself where you draw the line. It's hard when you are stuggling with what seems like a lose lose situation--do you eat food that will go to waste but contains animal products or do you let perfectly good food rot?

Good luck my friend  :)>>>

I think thats what I am going to start doing. If it cant be verified vegan than I wont take it. There is usually a lot fruit and veg in dumpsters anyways. My local supermarket has this policy that if there is 1 tomato that is bruised (they come in shrink wrap 6 packs) than they throw it away. It kinda pisses me off because they could give it to people for free or donate it to a soup kitchen but whatever.

As far as the Chinese goes i will just check from now on when i pick it up. If there are any animal products in it i can always give it to the rest of my family or someone in the restaurant (who wouldnt accept free untouched chinese food?)

thanks for the help though!  ;)b

for restaurant food, i don't send stuff back (unless it's terrible, like there's meat everywhere) because then it gets thrown out and it's too late. eek now i feel like a bad vegan for admitting this..

this makes me really want to dumpster dive. i wonder if there are any good places here..

yeah I feel bad too. I am definitely into animal rights and I believe in it strongly. But at the same time, I use to live in a neighborhood where people were starving in the streets. My mom also works with people in similar unfortunate circumstances, so its really hard for me to waste food.

I think I going to start being extremely specific when it comes to ordering my food so there is absolutely no chance of them making a mistake.
I also think Im gonna go dumpster some stuff this week because this thread put me in the mood for it.

Also, does anyone know if dumpstering is illegal?

PS:      Sorry for hijacking this thread  :-[

Going on a DDing run tonight! I'll take a picture and post this time so you all can see what kinds of stuff is being thrown out!

Well hello fellow recessionistas! Well, last nights haul was not as big as previous nights--it was bread night and that was pretty muc all thatwas there, but we did score a few other tasties too!

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w202/Capture79/Food/DSCI0001-1.jpg

It was just me and 1 friend so we didn't take too much either--no point in taking more than you can use, and since it is winter break up here we were the only ones in the dumpster! Here is what we got:

6 baugettes
4 loaves of bread
1 package of rolls
1 cibatti loaf
4 mini baugettes
1 package of grap tomatoes
1 packages of black berries
1 package of zucchinni (5 pc)
10 PB Lara Bars (they are not part of the recall, but I contacted the company anyways to be safe)
1 package of broccli
1 bag of pasta
2 jars of corn salsa
1 package of sesame chips
2 celery hearts
2 boxes of vegan veggie burgers
1 package of vegan meatballs
1 can baked beans
2 dozen roses

Still a decent haul--but not nearly as much as last week--but I can definitely make a few meals out of my half!

That's awesome!  I'm so jealous!

Don't be jelly! Find a dumpster and get in there! you can do it!!!