“The amount of waste in this country that you’ll find is unbelievable. We throw so much stuff out,” says Stevens, 31. We wring our hands over $40t national debt all the while we throw out 40% of the food we produce. The answer to the debt isn't AI, it's our consumer economy.
Nah, this guy was dumpster diving for the top 10%. They aren’t everywhere. Most everywhere else is buying and producing absolute trash and you can watch this in those hoarding home clean outs.
I agree there’s a consumption economy problem, but it leads to people buying a lot of cheap stuff that costs more to get to the next person than get into a dumpster.
Likely dumpsters for businesses, obviously they have way more inventory churn than a hoarder trying not to throw anything away and ironically allowing mold to destroy everything they own
In my younger years I'd go dumpster diving. If you target rich, private colleges you'll find a lot of nice stuff when the students are moving away in the summer. Everything from furniture, books, mini fridges, lights, clothes, etc.
I'd seen people throwing out 1 year old couches, mattress, etc. I personally would ever take soft thing because I don't know what it came into contact with, but anything hard like wood furniture, TV's, or appliances I was game for.
Yeah for better or worse (mostly worst he was a hoarder) my dad loved dumpster diving and his best finds were schools just tossing perfectly good computers or furniture when they upgraded.
Not saying there’s not waste. I was in the military and saw a lot of food I consider wasted. Mostly just made too much.
But a lot of the wasted food is because we enforce food safety standards so they have to get rid of old food. Not all countries are as strict on that. Also some trashed food is edible but not worth the price so it can’t take up shelf space for good product.
Yeah no. This country just had the shits for months from lettuce because we got rid of regulations to feed the greed of the 1%. Every grocery store donates almost all of that food. So, keep the regulations. I don’t trust the 1% to do anything right.
The national debt would be even worse without the consumer economy. People buying useless stuff is what drives job creation and generates more tax revenue.
The national debt is largely a result of a lack of taxing at this point. Taxes keep getting cut while the expectations on the government either continue to remain the same or grow.
While you are correct about it driving job growth, cheap unless stuff does not build sustainable prosperity. Its like a quick sugar high that can fuel high growth quickly, but does not actually nurish you. We need to continue to keep buying cheap stuff to keep these people employed instead of building a system where we need to work less for the same level of prosperity
Exactly, and then you wonder how is this possible that you work 60 hours week with twice the efficiency and still are poorer. That's how. You work making stuff that is not needed or wasted
The only people buying useless stuff are those using credits cards to do so. Making stuff just to make jobs so we can buy more stuff is unsustainable, both from an economic and ecologic perspective.
One person's trash is another person's six-figure business. Goodwill and other thrift stores benefit by selling donated merchandise. If you know the value of certain items, you may be able to find a niche market for them.
Stevens is emblematic of why this country is wallowing in debt. We run on overspending. Economic growth should be tied to population growth. Instead it's more correlated to how much crap we can buy and throw out, or put into storage.
We're talking about the fabled "write off" so companies are able to discard merchandise at full value and write it off as a loss against their profit.
So imagine a companies tax burden is 15%, selling anything at a discount higher than 15% doesnt make a ton of sense if they can just save the money by discarding it for tax purposes.
This isn't applicable to every industry but for retail it very much applies.
Say an item costs $100. If you write it off, you'd lose $100 and gain $15 in tax write offs leaving you at a net -$85... If you sell the item at cost, you'd be at $0.
While I do agree that I find the modern consumption economy pretty disgusting, I think the other commenter pointing out tax cuts is more correct.
If youre worried about national debt I would encourage you to look at land use and infrastructure spending. Obviously we need infrastructure spending, but we treat roads and bridges as assets not liabilities needing to be maintained. Look up 'strong towns' if you want some good analysis on the financials of our current suburban growth model
The only way I interpret improved growth is technology that saves labor, having spent 17 years doing market research into same. Labor savings means less work and that means less disposable income there for technological growth ultimately works against economic growth (aka buying stuff and throwing it out,) unless...socialism. The horror!
my brother in law works at a certain store. he says often they tell him to throw out certain products. he says it's stuff that is still knew. he would take some of the stuff home and sell on ebay or market place. he now parks his truck next to the bin so he can take more of what he wants. He said pays for all his golfing and trips he and my sister take. Some weeks he makes more on sellng "garbage", than his pay cheque.
they know he does it. he was told to dispose of it. going through dumpsters in Ontario is not illegal, provided there are no signs or it was locked. My computer repair guy says he keeps his unlocked as they throw out old computers and parts. Next morning, much of it is taken. Says it saves him money on disposal fees
They have obligations to suppliers to toss inventory when asked. Allowing their own employees take it home and sell it directly contradicts that. All the power to your brother in law but it's not really a conspiracy.
sure, the guy hit the lottery a couple of times (190 chairs with a value of $1000 each wow wow wow) and specifically targets ultra-rich dumpsters (samuri sword, lmao). Stalking office buildings getting shut down is really a perfect way to get stuff, but unfortunately that is office supply stuff, not generally an easy resell.
But the reality is that selling "junk" is extremely difficult and time consuming. And you need the space to store stuff, then often you have to ship it.
I've done estate sales for years (and probably a main source for the diver in the story, hitting dumpsters after estate sales of mansions) and it really is difficult to even get sales. You do throw 95% of the stuff in the dumpster because you really just can't do anything else.
Hell, goodwill won't even take most of the stuff.
There is a very planned out chain of events for all the stuff. On site estate sales (over several days), photo and list stuff on ebay/marketplace/etc/etc, have a booth at flea markets, go to recycle to claim any money (copper for instance), then finally donations, and still most stuff is still there and it goes to the dumpster.
The $1000 value for the chairs was their cost when new (and maybe not the cost the business paid, either).
Depending on the condition, they may be a really good deal for someone to buy used.
But consider the logistics - he has to find a way to transport the chairs to his storage space. He has to have a storage space. And then he has to pay to ship them to whoever wants them, which is not cheap (except for local buys).
In this thread, affluent Redditors who have never held a retail job learn that companies would rather waste or destroy their product rather than give it away or at a deep discount that harms the brand.
>Stevens primarily operates near office parks and luxury condominiums around Nashville, Tennessee. Since March 2024, when he started dumpster diving, he’s found and sold hand-crafted Persian rugs, high-end office chairs and even samurai swords
Imagine if this dude finished his education and pursued legitimate roles that paid six figures, but that’s hard to do when you’re a drug addict.
I’m not sure when opioid addicts became heroes or sources of inspiration
hard to do when the education system is a scam and with AI would you be confident in pursuing a career and paying a fuckton of money for it with the chance of it dissapearing?
What are the odds his rich parents are driving around ahead of him and seeding his dumpsters with valuables? I find that these heavily promoted and publicized vlogger lifestyles always have rich family behind the scenes.
hotpuck6 | 3 hours ago
> he developed an addiction to prescription Adderall, leading him to drop out partway through his senior year in 2018, he says.
That’s usually not the outcome of an adderall addiction, usually it’s working in finance.
Levitlame | 2 hours ago
Or law. I would guess engineering and medical would also run the risk, but that one’s a guess.
random-maornd | an hour ago
In this case spun out in a dumpster.
Frank_Melena | 21 minutes ago
Calling 19 different pharmacies to fill it because you need it to handle your email job, not because of the cravings
Whalnut | 2 hours ago
???
AwTomorrow | 2 hours ago
As in, Adderall is a ‘study drug’ that is more associated with people doing well academically and at work.
hotpuck6 | 2 hours ago
Kinda, but more like you can't toss a Bloomberg terminal in any direction without hitting at least one addy addict.
itsacalamity | 17 minutes ago
but there's a lot of data to say it doesn't actually help you study any better than caffiene does, if you don't have ADHD
hotpuck6 | 2 hours ago
Iykyk
[OP] Far_Low_229 | 3 hours ago
“The amount of waste in this country that you’ll find is unbelievable. We throw so much stuff out,” says Stevens, 31. We wring our hands over $40t national debt all the while we throw out 40% of the food we produce. The answer to the debt isn't AI, it's our consumer economy.
DeathMetal007 | 3 hours ago
Nah, this guy was dumpster diving for the top 10%. They aren’t everywhere. Most everywhere else is buying and producing absolute trash and you can watch this in those hoarding home clean outs.
I agree there’s a consumption economy problem, but it leads to people buying a lot of cheap stuff that costs more to get to the next person than get into a dumpster.
maikuxblade | 3 hours ago
Likely dumpsters for businesses, obviously they have way more inventory churn than a hoarder trying not to throw anything away and ironically allowing mold to destroy everything they own
add_more_chili | 47 minutes ago
In my younger years I'd go dumpster diving. If you target rich, private colleges you'll find a lot of nice stuff when the students are moving away in the summer. Everything from furniture, books, mini fridges, lights, clothes, etc.
I'd seen people throwing out 1 year old couches, mattress, etc. I personally would ever take soft thing because I don't know what it came into contact with, but anything hard like wood furniture, TV's, or appliances I was game for.
Keitt58 | an hour ago
Yeah for better or worse (mostly worst he was a hoarder) my dad loved dumpster diving and his best finds were schools just tossing perfectly good computers or furniture when they upgraded.
OkAssistance1797 | an hour ago
Permaculture. Reselling dry dumpsters of discarded office furniture at scale, good for him. Keeps them out of the landfill.
Is there a 1% in Nashville?
SaintOrJannikSinner | an hour ago
> Is there a 1% in Nashville?
In order to be considered in the 99th percentile for income in the US, a person would "only" have to make about $500,000 a year.
So yeah, absolutely there is a 1% in Nashvegas along with every other metro area in the nation.
6158675309 | an hour ago
Yes! Maybe more so in Brentwood and Franklin just south of Nashville.
Maybe not exactly 1% but affluent and many have moved there in the last decade
thewimsey | 39 minutes ago
Of course there is. How could you imagine there wouldn’t be?
Do you think that there are no doctors or dentists or lawyers or business owners in Nashville?
itsacalamity | 16 minutes ago
ohhhhhh yeah there is
reese witherspoon lives there
NSJF1983 | 2 hours ago
Not saying there’s not waste. I was in the military and saw a lot of food I consider wasted. Mostly just made too much.
But a lot of the wasted food is because we enforce food safety standards so they have to get rid of old food. Not all countries are as strict on that. Also some trashed food is edible but not worth the price so it can’t take up shelf space for good product.
dcdem1163 | 2 hours ago
Yeah no. This country just had the shits for months from lettuce because we got rid of regulations to feed the greed of the 1%. Every grocery store donates almost all of that food. So, keep the regulations. I don’t trust the 1% to do anything right.
soozerain | 22 minutes ago
Did we? Is this your first contaminated lettuce outbreak lol?
add_more_chili | 46 minutes ago
I dunno, I watch a lot of cooking shows and the amount of food that they waste trying to get the perfect sauce or cube of potato is appalling.
itsacalamity | 17 minutes ago
but that's not normal cooking, that's TV (or at worst, michelin shit)
l0ssFPS | 2 hours ago
The 40 trillion US debt is the Federal government's debt, not total US consumer debt.
Believe it or not, the guy dumpster diving is not economically literate. Who could've guessed that?
Blide | 3 hours ago
The national debt would be even worse without the consumer economy. People buying useless stuff is what drives job creation and generates more tax revenue.
The national debt is largely a result of a lack of taxing at this point. Taxes keep getting cut while the expectations on the government either continue to remain the same or grow.
Mozzarella-Cheese | 2 hours ago
While you are correct about it driving job growth, cheap unless stuff does not build sustainable prosperity. Its like a quick sugar high that can fuel high growth quickly, but does not actually nurish you. We need to continue to keep buying cheap stuff to keep these people employed instead of building a system where we need to work less for the same level of prosperity
Infinite_jest_0 | 2 hours ago
Exactly, and then you wonder how is this possible that you work 60 hours week with twice the efficiency and still are poorer. That's how. You work making stuff that is not needed or wasted
[OP] Far_Low_229 | 3 hours ago
The only people buying useless stuff are those using credits cards to do so. Making stuff just to make jobs so we can buy more stuff is unsustainable, both from an economic and ecologic perspective.
baronoffeces | 2 hours ago
Ya or maybe not starting useless wars, or grifting the market
TGAILA | 3 hours ago
One person's trash is another person's six-figure business. Goodwill and other thrift stores benefit by selling donated merchandise. If you know the value of certain items, you may be able to find a niche market for them.
[OP] Far_Low_229 | 3 hours ago
Stevens is emblematic of why this country is wallowing in debt. We run on overspending. Economic growth should be tied to population growth. Instead it's more correlated to how much crap we can buy and throw out, or put into storage.
SkinnyBill93 | 3 hours ago
That only lays blame on the consumer, the tax code incentivizes businesses to write off unsold merchandise as losses rather than marking them down.
This is why you'll find dumpsters behind retail locations full of brand new stuff.
ZestyHairball | 2 hours ago
How specifically?
SkinnyBill93 | an hour ago
We're talking about the fabled "write off" so companies are able to discard merchandise at full value and write it off as a loss against their profit.
So imagine a companies tax burden is 15%, selling anything at a discount higher than 15% doesnt make a ton of sense if they can just save the money by discarding it for tax purposes.
This isn't applicable to every industry but for retail it very much applies.
ZestyHairball | an hour ago
Say an item costs $100. If you write it off, you'd lose $100 and gain $15 in tax write offs leaving you at a net -$85... If you sell the item at cost, you'd be at $0.
SkinnyBill93 | an hour ago
Yeah but the merchandise doesnt actually cost its retail value, in some cases the $15 might actually be profitable.
ZestyHairball | 59 minutes ago
Yeah you don't get to write off retail value.... you writeoff COGS.
Mozzarella-Cheese | 2 hours ago
While I do agree that I find the modern consumption economy pretty disgusting, I think the other commenter pointing out tax cuts is more correct. If youre worried about national debt I would encourage you to look at land use and infrastructure spending. Obviously we need infrastructure spending, but we treat roads and bridges as assets not liabilities needing to be maintained. Look up 'strong towns' if you want some good analysis on the financials of our current suburban growth model
[OP] Far_Low_229 | an hour ago
Good point.
TGAILA | 2 hours ago
There is a growing economy for storage business too, as many people find they need to rent extra space to keep their belongings.
[OP] Far_Low_229 | 2 hours ago
You mean extra space to keep the stuff they buy don't use.
PunishedMedlock | 2 hours ago
Economic growth tied to population growth is so how the world worked until the 1800’s. Now it’s improved growth from technological advancement
[OP] Far_Low_229 | an hour ago
The only way I interpret improved growth is technology that saves labor, having spent 17 years doing market research into same. Labor savings means less work and that means less disposable income there for technological growth ultimately works against economic growth (aka buying stuff and throwing it out,) unless...socialism. The horror!
PunishedMedlock | an hour ago
How is the technology you’re using to respond to me saving you labor.
photon1701d | 2 hours ago
my brother in law works at a certain store. he says often they tell him to throw out certain products. he says it's stuff that is still knew. he would take some of the stuff home and sell on ebay or market place. he now parks his truck next to the bin so he can take more of what he wants. He said pays for all his golfing and trips he and my sister take. Some weeks he makes more on sellng "garbage", than his pay cheque.
a0wner1 | 2 hours ago
His company will sue him if they catch him for stealing.
photon1701d | an hour ago
they know he does it. he was told to dispose of it. going through dumpsters in Ontario is not illegal, provided there are no signs or it was locked. My computer repair guy says he keeps his unlocked as they throw out old computers and parts. Next morning, much of it is taken. Says it saves him money on disposal fees
a0wner1 | an hour ago
Good
vetruviusdeshotacon | 2 hours ago
Funny how it's supposed to go to a landfill but if someone else wants it it's suddenly stealing
maria_la_guerta | an hour ago
They have obligations to suppliers to toss inventory when asked. Allowing their own employees take it home and sell it directly contradicts that. All the power to your brother in law but it's not really a conspiracy.
Habaneroe12 | an hour ago
I was retail and a guy was stashing knives by the dumpster instead of throwing them in so as to retrieve them later the GM saw and he was fired
Sea-Ambition-451 | an hour ago
sure, the guy hit the lottery a couple of times (190 chairs with a value of $1000 each wow wow wow) and specifically targets ultra-rich dumpsters (samuri sword, lmao). Stalking office buildings getting shut down is really a perfect way to get stuff, but unfortunately that is office supply stuff, not generally an easy resell.
But the reality is that selling "junk" is extremely difficult and time consuming. And you need the space to store stuff, then often you have to ship it.
I've done estate sales for years (and probably a main source for the diver in the story, hitting dumpsters after estate sales of mansions) and it really is difficult to even get sales. You do throw 95% of the stuff in the dumpster because you really just can't do anything else.
Hell, goodwill won't even take most of the stuff.
There is a very planned out chain of events for all the stuff. On site estate sales (over several days), photo and list stuff on ebay/marketplace/etc/etc, have a booth at flea markets, go to recycle to claim any money (copper for instance), then finally donations, and still most stuff is still there and it goes to the dumpster.
thewimsey | 23 minutes ago
The $1000 value for the chairs was their cost when new (and maybe not the cost the business paid, either).
Depending on the condition, they may be a really good deal for someone to buy used.
But consider the logistics - he has to find a way to transport the chairs to his storage space. He has to have a storage space. And then he has to pay to ship them to whoever wants them, which is not cheap (except for local buys).
nimblybimbly3000 | 10 minutes ago
Estate sales are a scam; they asking brand new or even more than new prices it’s a joke.
thewimsey | 31 minutes ago
It’s worth pointing out that $140k is his revenue, not his profit.
He still has to ship the stuff out to the people who buy it, which is - in the case of furniture - not cheap.
Unoriginal- | 2 hours ago
In this thread, affluent Redditors who have never held a retail job learn that companies would rather waste or destroy their product rather than give it away or at a deep discount that harms the brand.
>Stevens primarily operates near office parks and luxury condominiums around Nashville, Tennessee. Since March 2024, when he started dumpster diving, he’s found and sold hand-crafted Persian rugs, high-end office chairs and even samurai swords
Imagine if this dude finished his education and pursued legitimate roles that paid six figures, but that’s hard to do when you’re a drug addict.
I’m not sure when opioid addicts became heroes or sources of inspiration
Desalzes_ | an hour ago
hard to do when the education system is a scam and with AI would you be confident in pursuing a career and paying a fuckton of money for it with the chance of it dissapearing?
TheBanishedBard | 8 minutes ago
So...
What are the odds his rich parents are driving around ahead of him and seeding his dumpsters with valuables? I find that these heavily promoted and publicized vlogger lifestyles always have rich family behind the scenes.