General Attitude,Mood.in States to Divers and Reclaimers?

Am thinking of paying The States a working holiday that would involve some casual
dumpster diving for metals and other reuseables but am wondering what this would be like?
Most places in England are 'laid back'about it apart from the odd exception.
The majority of people have this concept of bins as nasty dirty places where nothing
of any possible value would be found.
Residential Skips and Business skips are often 'unguarded'though not always.
Anything left out in the rain is considered 'fair game'and very few people
will intervene to stop you reusing it.They may verbally challenge you but physical
intervention is extremly unlikely if you back off politely.Some give your their blessing and are only to glad to let you take it away or even get more out the garage!
Of course Im speaking generally.
Grey area laws are minor tresspass,aquiring by 'finding'(more applies to lost property in street
etc.
So would scrap yards buy metal etc from non citizens?
Would I be at risk of armed response violence or extreme reactions out of proportion
to the event?
Are Citizens and Businsses likely to be neutral or open to 'vagrants'diving their stuff and just 'shoo
away'or is it a case of making a citizens arrest and summoning the cops?

Not sure all I know is a state I.D is required to sell metals here........Never tried an I.D card from a different country

You need to check out your local scrap yards and find out what they require. The yard I go to requires a drivers license and a thumb print.

If you're going to dive in dumpsters, you better have permission.

Seems pretty expensive looking at the UK governmental website ... seems like you may also need a license in your local area( s ) of operation .
I do not know anything about scrap prices in the UK, but I would assume fuel is going to be a huge cost at around $9.27 /gal ( according to Google ) .

You need to check local laws to.
Don't want a nice charge to go back with eh?

I assure you, you try going in to dumpsters your not supposed to be in or there is signage up, you have a very high chance of being called out, approached, have cops called, etc. I doubt you'll get shot, then again...people have been shot for stepping on someones shoes. (Gangs, 80s, google it if you like).

You wanna hit business dumpsters...get their permission. If you can't, then you need to accept that an move on. If you don't an get caught you will be hit with trespassing most likely. If you decide to argue with said business or the cops, please record it.

I got plenty of popcorn for the ensuing hilarity.

Far as ID...I would imagine your overseas license would work, or passport for a yard. It's probably up to each yard anyways, so call first before you waste your time, or theirs. We get a lot of out of country folks normally on my sandbar, but I don't recall ever seeing any at the Yard bringing in anything. So can't say for sure, but I'd wager your passport would work.

Good luck, an...again...Local laws are the main thing. However they do it where your from, in another country or this one. Just cause Idaho will let you do something, doesn't mean Maryland or Florida will.

Sirscrapalot - My cooler got a good workout over New Years. It was 65 an sunny. I had to use extra ice. :(

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Am thinking of paying The States a working holiday that would involve some casual
dumpster diving for metals and other reuseables but am wondering what this would be like?

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You might need a work visa.

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Most places in England are 'laid back'about it apart from the odd exception.

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The US is very large and culturally diverse. You can't generalize. Customs and attitudes vary widely from place to place.

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The majority of people have this concept of bins as nasty dirty places where nothing
of any possible value would be found.

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Seagulls, Crows, Raccoons & black bears paw through the trash cans here. They leave a helluva mess. The raccoons & bears can be especially confrontational when you try to drive them off so there's always that instinctive thing to shoot them. On the other hand ... it's a gentler society in this part of the country. Cruelty to animals is frowned upon. There's a realization that those critters are just doin' the best they can to survive. They're no different than the rest of us. Taking any life is always the last resort ... not the first response.

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Would I be at risk of armed response violence or extreme reactions out of proportion
to the event?

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Instead of being a slave to your emotions and irrational fears ... use your noggin' and reason things through. People are people wherever you go in the world. Human nature is fairly constant. Has been all throughout history. What's the first commandment ?

In a nutshell .... armed response ??? Really ???? Common sense should tell you that this is not the way these things usually go down. There's generally an escalation of tensions leading up to a violent event. Once you understand that it takes two to make a fight ... you realize that you have much more control over the situation than you ever would have imagined.

Dude ... grow a pair. ;)

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Are Citizens and Businsses likely to be neutral or open to 'vagrants'diving their stuff and just 'shoo
away'or is it a case of making a citizens arrest and summoning the cops?

Reply:

Again .... it varies widely. I never known of a citizen's arrest but people do fall into the habit of calling the cops to deal with inconsequential matters that they should be dealing with themselves. It seems to happen more in the city where the police are more readily available.

The nearest police station in this area is 40 miles away so we tend to deal with the petty things ourselves. For example: My wife works as a clerk at a local grocery store. She's dealt with armed men on a couple of different occasions over the years. One ... she and her friends just laughed at because he was just an insecure coward and they all knew it. The other was a druggie that was behaving oddly so she send him on about his business and informed the sheriff so that he could do a follow up investigation.

One of the county sheriff's stopped in for gas awhile back and we got to talking. He said that the vast majority of his calls come because somebody is having a bad day. It's more car wrecks and domestic dispute situations. What criminal behavior that there is ... is generally related to drug and alcohol abuse.

In a nutshell ... take whatever you see in the British media with a grain of salt. It's not like you would be dumpster diving in war zone here in the states.

Dumpster story for yall....

I got the boot from a very sketchy dumpster the other day. Its in an industrial park in unincorporated area. When they see you coming down the ally, the workers scatter and hide and stuff, very shady....They are there days, nights and weekends always. I went there cause noone was around. i got out and walked to the dumpster and the door cracks open and a guy says the cops have been called. Couldnt even see the guys face. I knew he was on b.s. cause no way he called the cops and had a conversation with dispatch with in 5 seconds. So i left anyways. I believe its a chop shop.

Did this deter me, No. I will just skip that dumpster like i always did in the past.

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Originally Posted by hills

In a nutshell .... armed response ??? Really ???? Common sense should tell you that this is not the way these things usually go down. There's generally an escalation of tensions leading up to a violent event. Once you understand that it takes two to make a fight ... you realize that you have much more control over the situation than you ever would have imagined.

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The European media thinks Americans shoot eachother for the fun of it - I'm not joking.

Only way this person will get shot at, is if 'eh trespasses into someone's back yard or garage ... that is a possibility since 'eh most likely won't realize that "Freedom to Roam" laws don't exist in the 'States .

As stated above common sense, knowledge of the local law, and asking permission reduces the chances for problems.

Trespassing charges, charges of theft, and someone itching for a fight or that does not believe their trash stinks would be my biggest fears. Although many states have laws similar to "stand your ground" few individuals would shoot outside their own home and only in self defense. "Stand your ground" originated in English Common Law before the right to bear arms was removed.

The U.S. Supreme Court passed judgement that garbage at the curb is public domain. The ruling gave law enforcement the right to search through trash without a warrant and also allowed it to be used in court. Ruling that it was public domain also gave individuals the right to help themselves with the location of the trash being the deciding factor.

https://www.hvshred.com/2010/07/cour...public-domain/

With efforts to recycle, many communities passed laws that restricted access to local public employees. This did two things, protected their profits from recycling and still allowed police to access the trash. This avoided conflict with the Supreme Court ruling. I wonder what the communities would do if the FBI went through someone's trash.

https://www.straightdope.com/columns...ns-my-garbage/

To be on the safe side I always ask except for community clean up days. The trash man even point me in the right direction because it reduces their work load. The bottom line is, I do not think going through trash would be high on my priority list, if I traveled to Europe.

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Originally Posted by Patriot76

As stated above common sense, knowledge of the local law, and asking permission reduces the chances for problems.

Trespassing charges, charges of theft, and someone itching for a fight or that does not believe their trash stinks would be my biggest fears. Although many states have laws similar to "stand your ground" few individuals would shoot outside their own home and only in self defense. "Stand your ground" originated in English Common Law before the right to bear arms was removed.

The U.S. Supreme Court passed judgement that garbage at the curb is public domain. The ruling gave law enforcement the right to search through trash without a warrant and also allowed it to be used in court. Ruling that it was public domain also gave individuals the right to help themselves with the location of the trash being the deciding factor.

https://www.hvshred.com/2010/07/cour...public-domain/

With efforts to recycle, many communities passed laws that restricted access to local public employees. This did two things, protected their profits from recycling and still allowed police to access the trash. This avoided conflict with the Supreme Court ruling. I wonder what the communities would do if the FBI went through someone's trash.

https://www.straightdope.com/columns...ns-my-garbage/

To be on the safe side I always ask except for community clean up days. The trash man even point me in the right direction because it reduces their work load. The bottom line is, I do not think going through trash would be high on my priority list, if I traveled to Europe.

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a lot of places have rules about it being the property of the collection company if the container is marked with a company name