A mum-of-four has revealed how she made more than £60,000 from re-selling items she found in the rubbish.
Full time dumpster diver and reseller Tiffany Butler spends five to six hours a day searching through big brand store bins.
The 32-year-old from Aubrey, Texas, US, has found everything from robot hoovers, makeup, food, furniture and even an antique clothes hanger worth £2,283 ($3000).
Tiffany hasn’t had to buy makeup or hygiene products for the past two years as she finds everything she needs in the trash.
She’s even managed to furnish her entire home with items she found in bins, from her kids' beds to a rug.
Tiffany’s hauls have enabled her to set up her own business where she has sold several items that she has found, such as headphones, rings, necklaces and even dog food.
She said: “I’ve probably found every kitchen appliance that you can imagine, but my favourite is a pressure cooker worth around £150 ($200).
“I’ve gotten Ninja Blenders, coffee makers, toaster ovens, pots, and pans, and lots of dishware and cutlery.
“Before they started destroying items, I’d get huge boxes of makeup from ULTA on a weekly basis, everything would be unopened.”
“I’ve found Nars mascara worth over £20 ($26), Kylie Jenner lip kits worth about £25 ($33), and Morphe eye shadow palettes worth more than £10 ($13).
“I found most of my furniture in the bin like my Ikea couch which retails at £228 ($300) and a brand-new dresser worth £152 ($200).
“I often go to a lot of pet stores too, and I’ve found everything from bags of premium dog food, and even live bugs which I feed to my lizard."
Tiffany’s hauls also include 60 Xebec Tri-Screen monitors with a staggering retail value of more than £22,700 ($29,940).
She’s also picked up a range of seasonal items such as Halloween costumes, birthday cards and Christmas decorations.
She said: “I’m a big fan of makeup and used to watch a lot of makeup tutorials on YouTube, until one day an advert for an ULTA dumpster haul came up.
“I gave it a watch, and told my partner, Daniel, 38, that I was going to have a look in my local ULTA bins to see what I could find.
“I was shocked to come away with boxes and boxes of makeup items, and it kind of spanned from there.
“With the amount I was bringing home, it became overwhelming, and I filled the garage up pretty quickly.
“I sold quite a few items on Poshmark and made about £3805 ($5000), but knew I needed a bigger space to store and re-sell items.”
Tiffany now has her own warehouse to store items in, which she is currently renovating and redecorating solely with items she’s found in the trash.
She added: “It’s crazy to think I’ve created a business from selling perfectly good items that I’ve found in the trash.
“Companies are just so wasteful, and it needs to stop.
“Everything they throw away is just covered by insurance, so they don’t care as they’ll get replacements.
“Their loss has become my gain now really.”
Tiffany documents her finds via social media, and even has her own website where she sells her items: @DumpsterDivingMama .
Despite dumpster diving being a controversial topic, Tiffany’s family, friends and following are extremely supportive.
Her four kids, Kaylee, 18; Mia, ten; Blake, nine; Ruxton, eight; alongside her mum, Pam, 55 and even her grandma Judy, 78, have joined in with her dumpster hauls.
Tiffany added: “My family and friends love that I dumpster dive and are always the first ones to want to know my recent finds.
“Whenever I have guests, the first place they want to go is the garage to have a nosey at items they may like to take.
“Lots of my followers are pretty shocked by how much is thrown away and have actually been inspired to look through their bins for items.
“A lot of them have bought items from me as well, which is nice.
“It’s insane how much big businesses and brands throw away; I hope that I’m doing enough in my area to prevent more going to landfill.”
EXAMPLE PRICE BREAKDOWN OF ITEMS FOUND
•Brand new dresser: £152 ($200)
•White Armoire: £2283 ($3000)
•Instapot: £114 ($150)
•Mamaroo: £190 ($250)
•Ikea Couch: £228 ($300)
•Laptop: £152 ($200)
•ULTA Makeup: £2283 ($3000)
•Pressure cooker: £152 ($200)
•Xebec Monitors: £22,700 ($29940)
