Nickel dumpster-diving

Here goes another try at maintaining my blog....clearly it's been a year since I've dusted off the old 'login' button.

Sure, some of the greatest treasures are buried beneath piles of trash, but are they really? Is it worth losing the shame and dignity to jump into a dumpster?

For about the last month, I have been experiencing the apartment lifestyle living in Red Deer's low-rise hell. Outside my building and about a dozen others in my neighbourhood are big dumpsters and recycling areas. I would probably bet 3, 4, maybe 5 times a day, the local 'bums' if you will swing by for their daily dumpster diving fun.

They're rummaging through cardboard, plastic, and garbage looking for pop bottles, liquor bottles, milk jugs, and anything that could net them five cents or more at the bottle depot.

I'll admit, I hate going to the bottle depot. I cannot be hassled to stash my bottles until I have enough to make a worthwhile trip to the bottle depot. I consider paying the five cents a cost of doing business. I would much rather leave my bottles in the blue box and let the recycling people take care of it for me.

I continue that Ontario practice because it's a) far more practical and b) far more convenient. It didn't take me long to see the local 'bums' rummaging through the dumpsters and blue boxes. I didn't mind at first because at least they're doing the hard work and they can keep the money as a reward. Even last week when I was riding the bus around town, a bum was digging through the garbage at one of the bus stops. It's when I realized five or six different bums would come by at different times during the same day I had a change of heart.

It looks unsightly and gross when somebody is standing in the dumpster, reaching into the dumpster, or doing other acrobatics to find the bottles. For the amount of money they probably end up collecting, it's not worth the shame and dignity to stand knee deep in a trash bin with god knows what in there. As I see it, if they're that dedicated to the job, I'm sure they could hold a real one that pays them a hell of a lot more money with a lot more dignity.

And that leaves me with my final point, aren't there laws that say it's theft to steal garbage?