If you've ever moved out of an apartment before you are well aware of how the daunting task of hauling boxes around makes you want to get rid of stuff that isn't absolutely necessary. Stuff that you've held on to in the past for no real reason is now rather easy to toss so you don't have to carry another #$@%^& box up the stairs.

As a result of this frustrated behavior some pretty decent stuff can be found in the dumpsters around moving time, especially in alleys behind apartment buildings and college dormitories. Behold the increase in dumpster diving.

Especially these days, it's pretty hard not to stop and have a look-see when you spot a perfectly good entertainment center or patio table discarded by the side of the road. Talk about saving money!

I remember finding a fully-functional laptop in the trash when I moved out of my college dorm after freshman year. A LAPTOP! Also, when I moved into a house off-campus my senior year I picked up a bright blue dresser and hauled it up to my room. All of it's drawers were missing, but with the addition of some cheap plywood it made a fabulous (and bright!) bookcase that could have easily been mistaken for a true vintage treasure.

Here are a few tips before for amateur dumpster divers:

1.) I would suggest wearing rubber cleaning gloves if you plan to get really down and dirty. You can find some unpleasant things, so the gloves will really help with the icky factor.

2.) There is no best time of the day for dumpster diving! Unlike garage and estate sales, you don't have to arrive at the crack of dawn to get the best selection. Often it's early afternoon that you will find the best stuff.

3.) Have an open mind. Most things can be refurbished or remade into something spectacular with a little elbow grease. And lots of things can be used for something completely unrelated to what it was originally intended for. Think outside the trash bin :)

4.) If you find anything living, like a puppy, kitten or, God forbid, a baby, please for the sake of humanity do the right thing take it to a safe place!  At least notify some kind of authority figure.

So why not pinch your nose and take a stoll/bike ride/drive around town this weekend...you never know what pieces you'll find that would make a great addition to your home. You might not need anything inparticular, but since it is free, you might as well pick something up, even if you end up putting it back in the trash outside your home for another lucky dumpster diver to discover.

FYI Here is the "official" definition of dumpster diving from wikipedia.com:

Dumpster diving is the practice of sifting through commercial or residential trash to find items that have been discarded by their owners, but which may be useful to the dumpster diver. The practice of Dumpster diving is also known variously as urban foraging, curb shopping, binning, alley surfing, aggressive recycling, Curbing, D-mart, Dumpstering, garbaging, garbage picking, garbage gleaning, dumpster-raiding, dump-weaseling, tatting, trash picking, treasure hunting, skally-wagging, skipping, or trashing.