(Dumpster) dive in!

Despite questionable ethical and health-related issues, local college students continue to pillage local business-owned dumpsters in search of free food and discarded treasures in what has come to be known as "dumpster diving".

"I dive monthly, or more often if I can find the time", says EMU junior Jared Stoltzfus.

An online posting by an avid diver provides clarity to dumpster diving by making an analogy to another American pastime. "[Dumpster diving] is actually more along the lines of fishing - it is as relaxed or competitive as desired, follows many seasonal trends and localizations, is an excellent social activity, and may just leave you with something interesting or tasty." This techie/garbage-junkie continues by stating succinctly that dumpster diving "consists largely of rummaging about through others' trash."

The local hot spots for diving, according to students, are the Food Lion grocery store, the Frito Lay chip factory, and many of James Madison University’s campus dumpsters. "I go to the Lays Chip warehouse to load up on free chips and to JMU when they move out to pick up quality stuff that otherwise would go to landfills," says Stoltzfus.

An online posting lists other places such as florists, thrift stores, strip malls, grocery stores, department stores, residential areas, video stores, bookstores, toy stores, electronic stores, craft stores, recycle bins and hotels just to name a few.

The main issues behind this seemingly sketchy business of raiding dumpsters are legal and health-related.

Harrisonburg Zoning and Planning Inspector Jason Smith responded to questions about local ordinances or codes dealing with this issue. "There are no city ordinances or laws in place that would stop something like that. It’s possible an issue could come up if trespassing was charged."

Smith also commented on how and why business owners would want to keep divers away, "Maybe the health department would get involved, but that is really unlikely unless something came up in an extreme case."

Students certainly have their stance on the ethical and moral side of things, and they are all very similar in their reasoning.

One unnamed student says, "It is stuff that the previous owner has abandoned to rot and stink in the nearest junkyard. Dumpster divers make good use of these products, thereby decreasing pollution and advancing world peace."

Absalom Shenk goes into further detail about some compromises that could be made. "A way should be created to make it easier for trash to be sorted and given out for free or a small fee."

Several students have had run-ins with James Madison University police and the reactions from the security guards have varied from encouragement to confusion to strict instructions to leave the premises.

This act of trash rummaging and pillaging, at least to the students interviewed, is an economically safe past time. Once overcoming their initial disgust at the thought of crawling through trash, the rewards speak for themselves and according to students and city authority figures, outweigh the negatives. Dumpster diving appears to be here to stay.