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Dumpster divers take what Boilermakers leave behind

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) –  Another man’s trash, is another man’s treasure.

“It’s like Christmas,” said Lafayette resident Sarah Miteff. “You never know what’s going to be in there.”

For Miteff, the weekend when Purdue University students move out after the spring semester is over, is the perfect time to move in on the treasures left behind.

“A lot of them don’t want to take it back (home) with them,” said Miteff. “So they throw it away, and so you have all these very gently used things in the trash everywhere.”

Miteff has been dumpster diving on campus for the last 10 years. With help from friend Laura Houze, they make more than $2,000 a year selling items thrown away by students.

“There’s just so much. That’s just so wasteful that the students are doing, and it’s just my way to help recycle these items,” said Miteff.

West Lafayette Police Lt. Bill Gallagher said although dumpster diving might seem like a quick way to turn a profit, it can be a risky business.

“They take their own risk in doing such,” said Gallagher. “We don’t discourage it, but we don’t encourage it either.”

Gallagher said dumpster diving is legal as long as it’s done on public property. His only request is that anything unwanted is put back in the dumpster.

That’s a rule that Miteff and Houze said they continue to follow.

“I know that people do judge people doing this, but it’s a way to supplement your income,” said Houze. “It’s very beneficial, I think, for the environment because this stuff isn’t going into a dump, and someone else can use these things.”

However, it’s not all for profit. Miteff and Houze donate a large portion of what they find to local charities.