Technically, you are trespassing and possibly stealing but I've never heard of anybody getting busted for it. Usually people just get run off. Can be dirty, can be embarrassing but that depends upon what level of diving you are at. If you are looking for food, you probably don't give a rat's rear. Could be dangerous if there's broken glass and sharp metal objects in there.


As kids we'd get the aluminum cans out of dumpsters, stomp'em flat and bag them up and cart them down to the recycling center in borrowed shopping carts. I never considered looking for other cool stuff. I was ten.

Then in grad. school, a friend and I would go yard sailing(looking at yard sales) and also for free stuff by the road. Bookcases, chest of drawers, bedside table, lamps, etc. I fixed them up, refinished or painted them. A retired man I knew used to make decent money by cruising neighborhoods on trash day, getting the good junk, fixing it up and reselling it.