"Dumpster Diving" : Have you ever done it, and did you find anything really cool?

I Started doing it in college ( lots of kids with money, and they were quite wasteful) Actually going in a dumpster only happened once.- for a beautiful tramp-art table. Most items were out-in-the-open and I never opened trash bags.

When I move to Boston, more then half my furniture- nothing with upholstery (and even some of my clothes- laundered AND folded when I found them) were quite literally off the street.

I managed to keep my cost-of-living down and it also helped get me through college because art supplies can be ridiculously expensive- I actually found a $200 pad of watercolor paper- with only one page used- right on top of a garbage can. its quite amazing and dissapointing how wasteful people are. But good news for anyone willing to salvage. :)