I am taking Robin Rilette out tonight for treasure diving. She was curious about my findings and well, maybe my brand new Ugg Boots convinced her too. Retail for $164! Best part? They fit!
Robin: "It just makes me sick what is thrown away! You know what else? It is disrespectful of the person who made those boots. Can you imagine? The person who made those boots is barely making a living wage and some girl bought 'em and threw them away. Unbelievable."
Sueann: "Whoa. You have a great point but on the flip side...what if the Ugg Abondoner is giving the manufacturer job security? I mean...Ugg Abandoner is going to buy another pair in the Fall right?"
Robin: "Good point. But it is so wasteful."
Sueann: "Which is something else I've been thinking about. I heard that companies calculate how many products will be sold at full price, sale price and how many will be, quote, donated. So they have figured how many items can be discarded while still making a profit."
Robin: "And we pay for that huh?"
Sueann: " I guess... unless you DUMPSTER DIVE!!!!" (Sueann does dance in Ugg boots)
But am I hurting the economy? I wanted Ugg boots since...oh it became fashionable for girls to wear huge sweatpants and Ugg boots (so comfy looking and terrible) and I was about to buy some when I was in Australia. But. The price. $150. I could have spent that $150 to stimulate the economy. Is dumpster diving Un-American? Wait! Is driving only one car for 10 years Un-American? Is wearing my 1994 brown leather biker jacket with zippers everywhere Un-American? (Friend recently said, 1980's but still OK. You pull it off.) Because it seems to me that we need to spend to be good citizens.
On another note, I had a great conversation with Rick Finch, Manager of Fac-Ops Waste Management at W.S.U. I asked him about the Move Out Pitch In bins around campus.
Apparently, the waste was noticed and they started this program.
Mr. Finch says the items are shared among several non-profits around the region. When I asked him why not have more around the outlining apartment complexes he said, "Limited resources and time. Our main concern is the campus and immediate areas. It is also a jurisdictional and financial issue. We also have a limited number of groups and they got pretty much all they can handle right now. But in the future, if more groups want to participate and work this we could expand."
Mr. Finch also had a good point about college students. He basically said that students moved their belongings over here one car load at a time - over several years. Then when graduation comes they didn't think that all their stuff had to fit in that same little car!
I'll be sure to post pictures of my Fair, Morning Classical Music Host and Music Director, Robin Rilette in the trash!
Here are some blogs to check out. I highly recommend Everyday Trash to see how the rest of the world dives...to survive.
Everyday Trash
My Dumpster Dive Blog
Remember to Take a Buddy - Poor Senator!
3 comments:
i THINK IT IS COOL YOU ARE OUT THERE DUMPSTER DIIVING. i THINK i COULD GET INTO IT... I MIGHT HAVE TO WAIT UNTILL MY COLLEGE AGE DAUGHTE RGETS INTO IT. sO MUCH WASTE BUT YOU ARE HELLPING THE RECCYCLE WORLD BY FINDING A USE. WE LOVE YOUR PROGRAMS! THANKS POLLY
i live in a college town and it kills me every year to see the piles of "trash" i dumpster dive and this year brought home a 32" flat screen t.v. nothing wrong or broken just dirty. brand new it cost $599. free for me!! i think the landfill has enough real trash.
I love this site. I live in a college town. When the semesters end and the students graduate (Dec. and again in May) or move, this town is a goldmine. I have found a TV (no remote), an entertainment center, remote control cars w/rechargable batteries, a brand new pair of Uggs myself (that also fit and were worn for two winters), and a Longaberger basket, just to name a few items. Once I found a milk crate with textbooks, I returned them to the bookstore for $30.00. Gotta love the graduates, just in a hurry to move on and start anew.
Post a Comment