Dumpster Diving
Dec 6th, 2010 by kevinhung
I had a pleasant half hour reading an old WIRED article called Dumpster Diving written by Torontonian Cory Doctorow. It is all about a man named Darren who makes a huge living salvaging electronics from Toronto’s dumpsters. Granted environmental legislation has taken a bite out of that business because of garbage police who insist that electronic trash be sorted, labeled and delivered to recyclers, but I am still awed by the entrepreneurial spirit and organizational skill of the featured dumpster diver. Anyone would agree with Darren that a proprietorship which has zero capital outlay, no overhead cost beyond a tank of gas and a midnight snack, and which often yields a thousand dollar with a few hours of work. (Sometimes up to $10,000) It’s a “niche” worth developing.
I can’t help wondering how many Darren’s there are out here in Vancouver. Further, I am curious as to the utility of using dumpster diving as an economic indicator. In the first instance, electrons become outdated faster than any other product including fashion. The discarding of unwanted hardware is colossal. But would a sudden upsurge in orders lead a wholesaler or manufacturer to mark down older stock or simply discard it? Possibly no two managers would make the same call.
Of course Doctorow only covered the issue from Darren’s side of the fence. When a retailer or a manufacturer fills his dumpster, severe things had happened. The first thing is a dollar value has been given to the material which has to be accounted for at tax time. Additionally, serial numbers, lot numbers or batch numbers are kept because discarded items are no longer covered by warranty. Further, should these goods – damaged, expired or even pristine turn up in a consumer’s hands, and fail, there is a great risk to the brand or reputation of the company. All business mangers understand this. Dumpster divers don’t care.