Germany

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"Containern", as dumpster diving is called in Germany, is just easy - no chemicals and relatively little trouble with police/security (it might depend on a region - for example, the Bavaria land and its main city Munich are more conservative than most of other German lands). Dumpster diving is somehow tolerated, and some vendors from local food markets purposely leave a completely excellent produce so that dumpster divers would have a better and safer meal.

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[edit] Cities

[edit] Legal note

First of all, dumpstering in Germany is illegal. You have to know this, and you mustn't be surprised if police comes to check your identity. The best way to deal with these situations is to be conversative: talk to them, explain what you are doing, why you are doing it and ask what is bad about that.

There are known cases of store employees coming out and angrily asking to stop dumpster diving, however, when talked very politely to, they leave dumpster divers in peace (see for more info here, in German).

If you get accused of dumpstering, it might be a good idea to answer "Oh good, I always wanted to tell people why I do that", and you can talk to the supermarket administration about that, do demonstrations while other people are shopping, etc. See more info on workshops for creative anti-repression.

[edit] Stuff

In living areas it is quite common to walk the street and find some furniture and other stuff in good shape right on a sidewalk. Some really cool people even include user's manuals and spare parts. A sign that reads "zu verschenken" (which basically means "for taking away") might be attached.

Good stuff doesn't stay very long, and it usually takes one or two days for the city-recyclers to come and clean it up, so be quick.

[edit] See also (in German)

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