Sourcing materials, recycling and dumpster diving

[Rum_Pirate]

Anyone here care to admit that they are a 'dumpster diver' and recycle materials found therein?

If do what is your best find?

 

[VicS]

Anyone here care to admit that they are a 'dumpster diver' and recycle materials found therein?

If do what is your best find?

Cant say I have ever pulled anything much from a skip but I always kept an eye on the works scrap heap. Old starter motor came in handy likewise an old petrol pump. And the ladder I use in the boat yard!

Some good finds in the way of kids toys from the local tip .. in the days when you could rescue stuff from the tip. Son's FWD tricycle probably the best find.

 

[VO5]

I was only just talking to Rum Pirate about this very topic.

Recent finds:

Solid heavy mahogany door.
Used rope, useful for stuffing cushions after cleaning and shredding.
Stainless steel offcuts.
Cement bags, very useful for repairs, for anti chafe bindings etc.,
Galvanised wire, for unplugging purposes.
A solid peice of perspex more than 1/2" thick, came off a supermarket till...some use will be found for it.
Aluminium plates, the sort of boarding plates on fire engines, good stuff, ditto.
Amongst other recent wonders.

 

[TQA]

A nice plastic box.

I recognised it as being like the one that contained the Ebbco plastic sextant I used in the early 90s.

To my surprise it contained a pretty pristine Ebbco sextant and instructions.

 

[penfold]

Skip diving; sport of kings. Lead pipe, remote control fire engine, SWA cable, marble slabs, a galvy wheel barrow, huskvarna strimmer, tumble dryer, glass coffee table, Mahoosive telly, vacuum cleaners, 2 cwt of block pavers, 5 cwt of slabs, and countless bicycles.

The skip at work when I was working in the boatyard was a goldmine, I could have earned a living ebaying the contents; velcro sander discs, stainless screws, stainless bolts, stainless washers, stainless nuts, rigging screws, indespension units, dregs of antifouling, plywood, dust masks, masking tape, anodes, obsolescent but working instruments, VHF radios. It's a wonder the place didn't go bust the stuff that went in there.


Not technically a skip, but with permission I relieved my old secondary school of 100 yards of mahogany bannister shortly before they knocked it down.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

A perfectly serviceable washing machine ..... lasted 7 years.

 

[rotrax]

A perfectly serviceable washing machine ..... lasted 7 years.

I am an avid recycler. I have a throwing line for use in a MOB situation made from a discarded hospital sharps container. 100 ft. of floating line coiled around a tube so the line runs like a fishing reel. It has a small round pick up float for throwing and its bright yellow-matches the horseshoe and dan buoy. Only thing purchased was the floating line.

 

[simon barefoot]

All sorts. Cant pass a skip without looking/climbing in it! 72 piece socket set back a bit!

 

[Mistroma]

I was in Kip marina a couple of years ago when Prosser were getting ready for a motor-boat show to move some 2nd hand boats. Most seemed to be in the hundreds of thousand pounds range and pretty new.

On way to marina office I passed several guys washing, polishing and cleaning out the boats. They weren't nautical types and had obviously been told to throw out any rubbish and were filling bags.

I was passing a skip later in the afternoon and saw some octo-plait sticking out. It looked brand new so I pulled it out to find 45 metres of very new looking 10 or 12mm octo-plait.

I guess that one cleaning crew just considered it to be a bit of string that made a locker look untidy.

 

[Blueboatman]

i am clearly an absolute beginner at this (or the forum gets there first), but two gooduns: modern fridge with ice in it, became the beer/garden fridge and new, boxed pressure water pump for boat, identical to what is fitted.

 

[tom_sail]

I shouldn't be letting this secret out might not even be a secret.

A few years ago outside HYS in Hamble in their skip we found a lewmar one touch winch handle. It had a little dent in the handle. Flares that are a few days out of date, sail bags. Don't know if it still gets chucked these days.

 

[northwind]

I'm slowly developing the habit.. 8m of hard blue water pipe, 20sq m of blue office carpet tiles, plywood, telephones, hardwood windows..

It's a very addictive sport.

 

[V1701]

An almost as new Porta Potti 335, very fortuitous find as was thinking of replacing sea toilet with one, now done...

 

[thalassa]

Best find in a marina skip so far was a scroll-type sculpted teak boat name. In fact it was my SWMBO who had spotted it, and said, 'O...there is a nice bit of wood in the skip'. So I went to see, taking a small supermarket-type shopping bag with me. However, it was 2,5 m long! We had it for years as decoration in our house, and while moving I flogged it to a dealer in nauticalia for £ 225 .
Other favourite finds are polycarbonate offcuts, short rolls of sailmakers' cloth, tank gauge sender...

 

[john_morris_uk]

A working dehumidifier, a complete working upright freezer.