History Main / DumpsterDive

* In ''VideoGame/BearAndBreakfast'', Hank and his friends used to go dumpster diving for magazines and pamphlets at Timber Crossing until a fence was put around Thicket, their home. After the humans left for a while, the trio was able to go over the fence and raid the garbage containers again. Took does this regularly to find decorations to trade for any litter Hank picks up.

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

* So did ''Series/{{CSINY}}''.
** "Bad Beat" had a weapon search. Lindsay was still new to the show, and complained about the 'rookie doing the dirty work' stuff getting old. But she did find the weapon:
-->'''Lindsay:''' Ah, now, see? That's a shame.
-->'''Mac:''' What's a shame?
-->[She pulls it up out of the dumpster.]
-->'''Lindsay:''' Somebody went and threw away a perfectly good shotgun.
** "White Gold" found Sheldon examining a corpse in one. Fortunately for him, it had been emptied before the body was dumped there.

* The ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' episode "The Bottle Deposit" features a montage of Kramer and Newman collecting various empty bottles and cans, including resorting to dumpster diving, to collect refund money for recycling them.

Dumpster dives tend to show up three ways in fiction. The first is the homeless person going in to get leftover food, usable items, or metal goods like pop cans to sell for money. The second is average characters going in because they dropped something and have to retrieve it. Crime shows are the prime source of the third, which is going in to get evidence, weapons or even a body. Often leads to finding a MacGuffin or PlotCoupon. If played for laughs, the character may wind up being picked up with the trash and carried away. The aftermath often involves complaints about the smell, which sometimes even several showers can't remove.

%%
%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
%%
%%
%%
%%
%%
%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1377411212060514600
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
%%

* In ''VideoGame/MySimsAgents'', you need to do this to find clues for cases.

* Searching for ShopFodder in garbage is normal for Hunters in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' and its [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse sequel]]. In fact, it's one of the two most reliable ways of making money, since MoneySpider enemies are rare.

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1377411212060514600
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1769554/1/Aftermath-A-Story-of-Blended-Clich%C3%A9s Aftermath: A Story of Blended Cliches,]]'' [[Manga/RanmaOneHalf Ranma]] being caught when reduced to this causes a DespairEventHorizon, [[spoiler:Something [[Franchise/SailorMoon Sailor Pluto]] had been working Ranma towards to rebuild her.]]

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/27375406 Internship]]'' by [[https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neeko96/pseuds/Neeko96 Neeko96]], Lila throws a design Marinette was supposed to submit to Gabriel into garbage, so Adrien spends half an hour digging through. The design is destroyed by then, but Gabriel does agree to use another design of hers (which makes it [[VandalismBackfire a separate trope]]), along with deciding to keep a more thorough watch on Lila.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* Harry does this at one point in ''Literature/{{Incompetence}}''. A policeman finds him so he pretends he's looking for food, and is [[{{squick}} forced to eat it to avert suspicion.]] Later he realises the policeman was the villain in disguise, who did this just to KickTheDog.

* ''Series/IDreamOfJeannie'': In the first episode, "The Lady in the Bottle," Major Nelson rifles through the back of a garbage truck in an attempt to recover Jeannie and her bottle. With Major Healey, Dr. Bellows and General Stone looking on.
* ''Series/{{Monk}}'':
** In "Mr. Monk and the Psychic," Monk ''makes Sharona'' do a dumpster dive in order to find a vital clue.
** Later, in "Mr. Monk and the Captain's Wife," Monk would himself chase after a garbage truck in search of key evidence.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'' did it once, with Angel scrounging for rats in the Dumpster.

* On ''Series/TwoBrokeGirls'', Max and Caroline have to look through their trash after accidentally throwing away Earl's tax returns.

* The ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' episode "Trash" had the crew, along with [[FemmeFatale Saffron]] trying to steal an incredibly valuable antique gun from a highly secure private home, which they do by dumping it down the garbage chute and reprogramming the automated dumpster to fly out to the middle of the desert where they could pick it up. Saffron eventually betrays them then goes to pick up the loot herself. She is next seen inside the dumpster looking for it, [[spoiler: except Inara got there first and already has it. She then seals the dumpster with Saffron inside to wait for the authorities while ''Serenity'' makes their getaway]].
* The ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond'' episode "Diamonds" concludes with Ray and Debra sifting through a dumpster to find Debra's engagement ring, after Ray had previously gotten rid of it to replace with a better one.
* The ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' episode "The Bottle Deposit" features a montage of Kramer and Newman collecting various empty bottles and cans, including resorting to dumpster diving, to collect refund money for recycling them.
* The ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'' episode "Briar Rose" begins with a homeless man digging through a dumpster....only to understandably freaked out upon the discovery of a ''human hand''.
* Done in the ''Series/{{Moonlighting}}'' episode "Atlas Belched", where David has to go dumpster-diving to find a lost rolodex for a client.
* One episode of ''Series/DiagnosisMurder'' had a couple of cops trying to get rid of a time bomb that had been planted in their car by throwing it in a dumpster. Then they had to go back, because some homeless guy saw them and decided to go see what they'd tossed in. They manage to get him away before it explodes, but soon after they guy throws up in the back seat. It was a brand-new car, too.
* A ''Series/SeeingThings'' episode has Louis and his Crown Attorney friend searching a dumpster for a syringe, which proves embarrassing considering they attract the attention of a Salvation Army officer who is convinced they are homeless.
* In an episode of ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'', the gang visits a dump to find things they can use. Charlie finds a scimitar he calls an "Ali Baba sword."
* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'': The season 1 finale, "Chuck vs. the Marlin," ends with Chuck and Sarah combing through a dumpster looking for Devon's grandmother's ring, [[spoiler: so he can propose to Ellie]].
* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'': "The Juror #6 Job" has Hardison and Eliot combing through trash to find out which juror a CorruptCorporateExecutive has bought off.
* ''Series/DarkAngel'': One episode has Max trying to find a valuable painting that had been mistakenly sent to the wrong place and been thrown away. Since Logan had invited her to a family wedding, she was wearing a nice, and expensive, dress that she didn't want to ruin, so she took it off and rummaged through the trash naked.
* In "Surprise" from ''Series/TheInsideMan'', Mark Shepherd tells the Handler that he's already exploring all computer angles, that the company is pretty good with their systems, so he thought he would see how they are with their "trees." "Trees?" asks the Handler, confused, and Mark specifies "paper."
-->'''Handler''': Oh, right. Dumpster-diving.
* ''Series/SamsGame'': In "Slogan", Sam, Alex, and Phil are having difficulty coming up with a cereal slogan for a competition. They are aware of a man who is very good at slogans, but he's died, with his contribution to the competition put in the bin, so they eventually go through his bins. Alex seems to find it, only to find that it's actually his shopping list, so they give up their search. Before they can leave, however, things get embarrassing when the man's wife comes across them, and they have to pass it off as a scavenger hunt.

* The play [[http://www.arthurjolly.com/trash.html "Trash"]] is built around this trope, as two estranged sisters spend the entire play digging through a municipal dump to find a letter from their dead mother that was thrown out. At the end, [[spoiler: they find the letter but leave it in the trash unopened.]]

* The ''[[VideoGame/AnakshaFemaleAssassin Anaksha Mini-Adventures]]'' have the title vigilante assassin doing this on a number of occasions to get the items she needs for each game's ChainOfDeals.

* In the online game ''VideoGame/BillyVsSnakeman'', people who are in a village, and have access to Burgerninja content, can do this as an ingredient hunt for combine-able items that later help later.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Chulip}}'', your main character can look through garbage cans and dumpsters for loot that can include a sweet potato to eat. But be careful, sometimes you can end up with poop on your hand which does damage to your fragile heart. At least you can sell the poop afterwards...
* Corvo can do this in ''Videogame/{{Dishonored}}''. Dumpsters are useful because you can hide inside or hide the bodies of the people you kill or knock out, find food to replenish your health bar, or find bottles you can use to distract the guards.

* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoChinatownWars'': Huang Lee can engage in dumpster diving. Red dumpsters contain firearms and other weapons stashed by the Triads for emergencies, while green dumpsters contain an assortment of random items ranging from useful ($10 bills, [[HyperactiveMetabolism clean food]], and small batches of inexpensive narcotics[[labelnote:*]]Weed, Downers, Acid, and Ecstasy[[/labelnote]] for Drug Dealing) to [[JokeItem profound wastes]] [[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation of time]] (dead fish, moldy food, worn-out boots, used condoms, and discarded sex toys).

* Dr. Zoidberg from ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' often rummages the dumpster for food, and in some episodes he appears to actually ''live'' in it.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' after [[spoiler:the Equalists take over Republic City]] Team Avatar is taken in by a group of homeless people, who offer them shelter and food "taken from the finest dumpsters in the city." Asami has an IAteWhat moment right after.
* In ''WebAnimation/BeeAndPuppycat'', this is how Bee really got Puppycat's presents for him when she claims the pet store she used to work at is going out of business.
* ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'':
** In "Big City Blues," the homeless man Buster wants to get some food for Max and PJ at a place that's very affordable, that turns out to be a dumpster. The two boys are turned off by the prospect of eating garbage, and it helps compel them to donate some of their own food to the homeless.
** In "Puppy Love," PJ dives through the dumpster to find his crush, Rose Deckenbloom's poem, which she threw away because everyone laughed at her when she read it; PJ thought it was beautiful.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': Mr. Cat and his alley cat friends are prone to having parties in alleys, where they get drunk and eat food out of the dumpsters.

* In ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', Tony Stark has his first conversation with the youngest recruit on his team, Peter Parker aka Franchise/SpiderMan, after the latter has come in from an afternoon of dumpster diving; the teen is pleased to have pulled a perfectly good DVD player from the trash.

* A longtime practice of hackers to get electronics, and by criminal hackers (Crackers) to obtain corporate information. Now, far less common due to shredding documents and destruction of hard drives before disposal. That being said, the growing interest in repairing and upgrading electronics means that some people have made quite substantial amounts of money rescuing devices from the shredder and giving them new lives, even if that means clambering around in a bin or through containers in an alleyway to get to the goods.

[[folder:Film]]