Advanced Dumpster Diving Techniques

[DIzzIE]

Advanced Dumpster Diving Techniques (v1.0)
BY: DIzzIE [c]opyleft2005
With inspirational tunes by: The Eddie Haskells ? Dumpster Divin? (check their shit out at http://www.eddiehaskells.org/)

This text presupposes that you already possess a basic knowledge of dumpster diving: you know what it is and you have some idea of where to do it. If you don?t, the list of resources at the end of the text will be of great use to you. Now then, the purpose of this particular piece, yet another morsel in the ever-growing dumpster diving corpus is twofold: 1) to present tactics that have either not been mentioned before, or have not been mentioned in sufficient depth, and 2) to discredit the many false dictums that appear in numerous other articles. Most of the advice can be applied to any dumpstering situation (residential, industrial, retail, corporate, etc.), however this was written primarily with retail diving in mind. Not wanting to waste time coming up with categorical abstractions to ?organize? these tips into, what follows is thus simply a set of loose odds & ends, occasionally complimented by some purely observatory field notes (purely, ;)). Thus don?t expect structure. Onwards:

Debunking the ?Don?t Ask? Myth
What for me initially was a pet peeve, turned into full fledged anger as I kept encountering the same blind mantra in nearly every single text on dumpster diving that I?ve read: ?never ask for permission to dive.? Unless your location of choice happens to be a government or corporate facility, this little nugget of ?advice? is bullshit, pure and simple. The reasoning of the ?don?t ask? advocates is something along the lines of ?if you ask, and they say no, you can?t go back to dumpster ever again.? Thus assuming that ignorance of the laws in the first place is some sort of excuse? Further, it also presupposes that the same person you ask will be the one that catches you in the act (as if that matters anyway, as will be shown later).However, consider this: if you ask and they say yes, you have a free pass if you are ever questioned. If they say no, you can dive just as you would without asking, and assuming you?re discovered and a scene or confrontation occurs, you act the same way you did had you not asked in the first place. Thus, asking for permission can only chalk up positive points, with no more negatives than not asking. My advice: always ask for permission. Consider the following exchange, occurring at a major retail book shop:

Diver, approaching customer service desk: Excuse me, do you have any of yesterday?s newspapers left?
Clerk: No, I?m sorry. We throw them out daily.
D: Oh :(
[Pause]
D: So, um, you mean you threw them out in the dumpster or do you guys like send them back or what?
C: Yeah we just throw them out.
D: Hmm, could I guess?maybe just go fish them out of there? They ran a story on my friend and all
C: Well, if you want.
D, taking note of the clerk?s name on the nametag: Ok, well thanks, I hope it?s clean?

Another Falsity: The Lunatic Time Constraint
A second widely encountered idea in the literature on diving is the limitation of time to be spent dumpster diving. Many articles stress that this should be no more than 10 minutes. ?The more time spent diving, the more your chances increase of being caught.? Very true. If you spend 2 seconds diving instead of 1, your chances increase twofold, and it only gets worse from there! While 10 minutes seems like ample time, plan to spend about 30 minutes thoroughly exploring a dumpster that you highly suspect has worthy bounty. Once again, unless you?re diving corporate, much like you?re not literally diving into the dumpster, you also wont be literally piling bags of trash into your trunk (indeed, this approach of ?pull up and pile up? only creates the impression that some illegal dumping just went down, as well as allowing anyone to catch a glimpse of?if not your license plate, which should be obscured with mud?the make of your automobile
). Instead, quickly sort through promising bags, put loose items in a box, collect any sealed boxes, and stack everything outside the dumpster, next to the side of the dumpster that faces away from the street. Then either lug the content to your vehicle, or do a drive by that will last 30 seconds. Have the trunk popped ahead of time, as well as the doors opened. Headlights and radio should be turned off, and neither doors nor trunk should be shut before the vehicle is out of earshot of the dumpster perimeter. However, this is getting into Stealth and thus we?re getting ahead of ourselves (hmm, maybe there is some structure present after all). The point here is: don?t count on only spending 10 minutes at a promising dumpster: plan to perform at least initial sorting on-site.

Getting Caught
The traditional adage of the red-handed dumpster diver is ?I?m just looking for some boxes.? Much like asking for permission, this mantra can work even better when asked proactively. Consider:

?So we?re walking behind this retail strip, wanting to score some reading material from the B&N. Shit! At the Circuit City pick-up area a few doors down, there?s plenty of workers loading some gear into the back of a truck. So I approach them and go ?hey man, my mate and I are moving, and we?re just lookin? for boxes, ya?ll got any by chance?? ?Nah, sorry? ?oh ok, well, we?ll just look around some more, maybe find some.??

The result of this proactively initiated questioning is that the fore-looming thoughts of the witnesses have been modified from ?what the fuck are those sketchy guys doing at that dumpster? to ?meh, they?re just looking around for some boxes.?

Moral: proactive tactics can be used to avert suspicion.

Another example:

?Right, so my buddy is down deep in this Radio Shack dumpster behind the store, and I?m standing outside. Suddenly I hear?but don?t see!?an engine. I give a whistle, and any rustling in the ?ster grows silent (and I guess the flashlight turns off too, though I couldn?t see it anyway). Now this local mall security SUV pulls up, it didn?t have its flashers on, or even it?s normal lights. This is around 11pm, couple hours after the store?s closed. I?m standing there, leaning against the wall, looking nonchalant and hoping you can?t see?or smell?sweat in the dark. The pig asks, without getting out, ?what are you doing?? ?Just waiting for Marv to get off work, he hadda do some late inventory.? ?You have to wait out front.? ?He?ll be out in like 10 minutes? ?There?s no loitering back here, he?ll see you up front.? So I begin drudging around the back to get to the front of the store, when I?m there, the pig comes pulling out from behind, and goes on making his rounds. I wait til he?s outta sight and then rush the fuck back. I knock on the dumpster, Harry scampers out with a box full of goodies, and we get the fuck out of there.?

This example delineates several core points worth considering.

1. 1) As will be discussed in more depth below, always have at least one look-out. This is essential if you?re planning to fully submerge yourself in the dumpster.
   2) Have an innocuous signaling system (i.e. whistling or bird calling) worked out that tells your partner to go into hyper-stealth: stop everything, turn off the light, hide.
   3) Keep your ears open more than your eyes. Assuming your diving in the dark, you won?t be able to see much of anything anyway. So keep your ears open for any noise: footsteps, car tires, engines, howling (?!), etc. At any noise, give a warning signal. Better safe than sorry. Following a false alarm, give an all-clear signal (i.e. two whistles).
   4) Keep your cool. If you?re standing next to the dumpster, and you have the time, try to distance yourself, for added effect, pull out a cell phone and appear to be in a conversation. However, if you?re two close, or you?re the one reaching in there and grabbing shit, drop what you?re holding back into the dumpster (including the flashlight, though first turn it off) and appear to be just leaning on the edge of the dumpster. Only start running if 1) you don?t have a friend ?on the inside? and 2) you?re confident that you can get away. Comply with the demands of whoever apprehends you, unless they turn hostile. In extreme cases, mace and excellent sprinting ability may well come in handy. Obviously in such cases the entire quadrant where the altercation occurred is now permanently off-limits. Note that I have never heard of such dire measures being necessary, and I have ?heard? quite a lot. The ?worst? that has been mentioned was a sprint through ankle-deep sewer run-off to get to a waiting car on the next block in order to get away from an approaching mall security car.

If the area you are diving in has a private security force, it will behoove you to observe their patterns. Spend the weekend trailing the various patrol cars to learn their scheduling. Likewise, recording when store employees come outside to dispose of ?trash?, take a smoke break, or enter/leave is of course also beneficial, as are the times when the garbage truck comes around.

Stealth
To eliminate the rattling noise of the dumpster, which to your heightened senses should sound like thunder, cut off square pieces of cardboard, and folding them to the necessary width, place them under the off-balance edges of the dumpster, as well as between the grooves of the sliding doors of the dumpster (both on the top groove/bottom grove, and preferable on the inside groove so it looks less conspicuous to passersby). Don?t forget to remove all of the wedges (including the one on the bottom) after you?re done.

Obviously keep your talking to a minimum. Exclamations of malehood upon the procurement of that Penthouse can wait until you?re away from the scene (and likewise for the ladies). Use the aforementioned system of signals to communicate.

To find out how cameras are monitored (primarily to see whether they are actively being observed or merely recorded), disable or obstruct the camera (either via snipping the cabling with prolonged tree sheers?available from your neighbor?s toolshed?or via obstruction/destruction of the ?eye? with standard school-boy artillery: bb-gun, paintball gun, slingshot). Retreat to a comfortable observatory distance (for instance down the block), and monitor the area for a while (an hour should suffice), to see if any immediate action is taken. Note: snipping live cable is not recommended. Be sure to be firmly grounded and have rubber gloves/boots on. Methods of destroying the ?eye? are preferred.

Partnerships & More Alert Systems
?So we get to the B&N dumpster and prop the giant black lid open. Now, the backdoor is sort of raised on this platform, and the dumpster is perpendicular to the door, so we hear this tin smoke can that was standin? in front of the door rattle and we immediately get down to the opposite corner of the dumpster exterior. We heard a bag being tossed in, and then the door slammed shut.?

In order to gain some time (every second counts: how long does it take to drop something?) to cleanse yourself of potentially incriminating act, i.e. bending halfway into the dumpster with a box under your arm, you should setup various alert and deterrent systems. These can be inanimate objects, as illustrated in the above example, or animate objects in the form of accomplices.

In both cases, the goal is to create an alert (usually auditory) that will let you know that someone is coming. The backdoor to the shop that faces the dumpster can be obstructed with a doorstopper, or if there?s no space under the door, can be further obstructed by the placement of a large and/or heavy object in front of it that will slow its opening (assuming of course that it opens outwards). A cinder block or a stack of crates has definite potential. For auditory alerts, a simple tin can placed by the door, or a glass bottle balanced on the door handle, will let you know that it?s being opened.

However, you will also have to worry about the possibility of certain undesirables (read: pigs) coming from the streets. This leads to the development of a partnership system. For instance, assuming that you are diving in the middle of an alley, with street outlets on either end, and a fence on its backside, ideally you should have two partners positioned at either end of the alley, ready to alert you via one of the previously discussed makeshift audio alerts (whistling or bird-calling), or to communicate via portable radios. Alternatively, cell phones could be used, however as radio communication is instantaneous it is the preferred means of communication Upon receiving an alert, you should drop whatever you are doing and begin walking in a linear direction away from the dumpster. However, as you should have studied mall security patterns already, you should not run into this problem in the first place.

When selecting partners to come along, it is best to select those who either have no predilection for dumpstered goodies (although experience has shown that this a priori disinclination quickly changes once they actually see what you?ve got) or those who have different interests. For instance, consider dumpstering for magazines: although you often may find multiple copies of each magazine, you will likely find only a few of the ?good ones?, thus it is desirable to bring along partners of a different sexual preference than yours, and those who have different hobbies (for example model building versus computing). If you bring those who share your interest, be prepared to either split your bounty or to agree to a policy of ?you keep it this time, I do the next.?

Resources
Here are the promised resources (both treeware and online) with more information on the topic at hand

Treeware:
Art and Science of Dumpster Diving
By John Hoffman
ISBN: 1893626075

Dumpster Diving: The Advanced Course : How to Turn Other People's Trash into Money, Publicity, and Power
By John Hoffman
ISBN: 158160369X

Blacklisted 411! , Fall 2004 Volume 6 Issue 4
ISSN: 1082-2216
(includes an article on dumpster diving)

Online:
Dumpster World
http://www.dumpsterworld.com/
Dumpster Diving Forums

Dumpster Diving: One mans trash...
By Grifter
http://web.textfiles.com/hacking/dumpster_diving.txt

Phone Phreaking: Dumpster Diving
http://www.textfiles.com/phreak/TRASHING/
A collection of dding articles, particularly with an approach to diving at telco offices.

Dumpster Diving
http://www.textfiles.com/hacking/trash.txt
A dated article on the legalities of diving.

Dumpster Diving
By Nikki Willhite
http://www.allthingsfrugal.com/dumpster.htm

Dumpster Diving: an introduction
By durkie
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/1/29/215523/088

For more, merely Google :)

[janke]

Hooray for Dizzie! :)
Anyways, just as a tip, most B&N stores in SoCal don't put their trash out till Sunday night.

[Greenflame]

I havnt seen a place since the late 90's in NC that didnt shred all
Documents before trashing them.The state of NC is supposedly
where all the dumb people live to.I can still go behind the local
Radio Shack, or PC Repair shop though and find RC cars, and
old AT PC cases that sometimes have the Motherboards still in
them.


I think because slightly better security policy's, Dumpster Diving and
Phreaking with Analog Boxes and signals is dieing.About the only
thing you can do from most Models of Pay Phones now days is Tap
the TNI or use a Laptop with Special Packets to manipulate the local
Switching Equipment.Doing anything like Bouncing Calls off of COC-
OT's or doing 1-800 Free call Hacks is going silently into the night
because everything is going Software/Digital.The Phreaks and
Hackers of yesterday are the Yuppies and Snitch Soccer Dad's
of today.They are all finding ways of Busting people who explore
without Malicious activity because there old enouph to do time
now.

The added security is good though.It knocks all the Nessus users
and 3rd Party Audit Tool idiots out of the playing field.Nothing but
real Pen Testers and Engineers soon.

NOTE:About a Year ago I found thousands of Developed
Photos in a Dumpster behind the local Pharmacy.Needless to
say I know what some of my neighbors own and do privatly.I
also found Discontinued Electronics etc behind neighboring
stores.

[DIzzIE]

Originally Posted by Greenflame

I havnt seen a place since the late 90's in NC that didnt shred all
Documents before trashing them.The state of NC is supposedly
where all the dumb people live to.I can still go behind the local
Radio Shack, or PC Repair shop though and find RC cars, and
old AT PC cases that sometimes have the Motherboards still in
them.

I have only heard of negative experiences with diving at Radio Shack in NC, so it's rather nice to finally hear of some positive ones for a change :)

(For instance, the hawk-eyed private security patrol that turned its lights on and followed the person not merely out of the shopping centre, but out onto the street, or the locked fence complete with security camera behind another radio shack...)

[Greenflame]

I live in a rural area! so it's like Brick shopping centers with
cops at the gas station eating hot dogs and hitting on the
old slut behind the counter.If I ever go off the deep end I
would probly just break into places.My uncle is a Director at
a local security firm, and he is a dumb fucking yuppie.

The security systems consist of the common sensors,Keypad
and in some cases a Dialout.I would just do a Man in the
middle attack via the TNI, cut the power.

I find good stuff in the Dumpsters that hasnt even been opened.
I could sale it at a yard sale or flea market.I always find caller ID
boxes,Phones and CD players.

The cool thing is, is, that I dont talk to anyone, so I can get seen
and all the cops would have is a rouph description.

[THErAPIST]

hell... its hard as hell to dumpster dive here. allt he really good places have more security than a police station. hell you can't even take things out of the bins at a recycling center here unless you "trade" something for it :roll:

[C.R. Ripshit]

Here, at the end of every month Borders throws out all their magazines in the dumpster. Free for the taking.

[DIzzIE]

Originally Posted by C.R. Ripshit

Here, at the end of every month Borders throws out all their magazines in the dumpster. Free for the taking.

The trouble with Borders is that magazines are usually freely tossed into the dumpster (they are collected from the stands into old mail carriers which are re-used) thus one usually needs to bring some tape on the dumpstering expedition to be able to build one of the collapsed boxes in the recyclables dumpster so as to easily take away the magazines. Of course, one may always try a bit of social engineering...


Orderly Dumpster Diving: An Excursion in Wetware Manipulation
BY: DIzzIE [c]opyleft 2004
One problem that I'm sure many dumpster divers have faced is disorganized dumpsters; dumpsters with wide open bags/boxes, the contents strewn all over the place.

While on the other hand this may benefit the dumpster diver, allowing him/her to clearly see the contents of the dumpster, it may also have an adverse effect when the time comes to take the goods out (as any seasoned dumpster diver will admit, it is much better to haul as much as you can and inspect the bounty later, versus sticking around in the dumpster itself), or when one wants to look deeper than the first layer of 'trash.'

Thus, here is an experimental solution that may ensure that your favorite dumpsters will remain orderly.

For our sample scenario, let us say our favourite dumpster is that of a bookstore that regularly tosses away its magazines and books straight into the dumpster, without bothering to put them into sealed boxes, thus making the life of the dumpster diver unnecessarily difficult when he/she has to waste time putting the literature back in the boxes (if there even are boxes in the dumpster at all). The solution then, is relatively straight forward. All one must do is place a call to the store (in our example, the bookstore) that utilizes the dumpster in question, claiming to be a representative of the city's waste disposal department (for the specific name of the waste disposal company, look at the stickers on the dumpster) and complaining about all the loose trash. A sample conversation follows:

Clerk: Hello, thank you for calling Bookworld, my name is Marshal, how may I help you?
Dumpster Diver: Hello Marshal, this is Gary Vinton [pseudonym here], managing supervisor of BFI Waste Removal Services [name of local waste disposal organization] for Phoenix, AZ [your location here]. Could I please speak to the manager?
Clerk: Just a moment please.
Manager: Hello, this is Cindy Smith, manger of Bookworld, how may I help you?
DD: Hi Cindy, this is Gary Vinton [pseudonym here], managing supervisor of BFI Waste Removal Services [name of local waste disposal organization] for Phoenix, AZ. I'm calling today about a concern some of my regular employees have repeatedly expressed. It seems, Cindy, that every week that my pickers empty your dumpster, there are loose papers flying all over the place. As a result, my men have to get out, and pick up all the extra papers and magazines and such. As I'm sure you understand, this takes up valuable time, making them behind schedule, which, in turn, makes me look bad to my boss.
M: I see...
DD: So I'm calling today to ask you to please start enforcing a policy of securely placing your paper waste in sealed boxes. We've been having this problem with lots of book/newsstand chains, and I've already talked to most of them and they've all agreed to cooperate. I hope you'll do the same Cindy?
Cindy: Oh, alright I suppose...
DD: Thanks so much for your cooperation, just be sure to inform whoever is in charge of taking out the trash to pack the recyclables into boxes, and to make sure the normal trash bags are properly sealed as well; this will help us all run more smoothly. Have a great day.
Cindy: Will do, goodbye
DD: Bye bye

[InkedPain]

Great articles an' such... but I must make a recommendation. When doing a drive-by loading I recommed using a non-descript vehicle. Something common or regular in the area.

I live in the country. There's more Ford Pickup's than you can shake a stick at, but my Yellow Celica only has 3 cars of similar build in the area, an' none nearly as loud or pretty. In the city, it's not so much a problem. But it's something worth noting.

[C.R. Ripshit]

Use a big white van. Every shmuck and his mother drives one. At least here where I live.