At the equipment yard where I work, we have a dump pile in the back. People often set usable items near the pile and they disappear quite quickly. I'm definately not above grabbing a useful item out of the trash (my current commuter bike is a dumpster find). As kids, a friend of mine and I knew the trash pickup days for all the neighborhoods around us. We'd cruise up and down the alleys looking for bikes and other stuff right before the trash was picked up. This was late 60s/ealy 70s and the best find I remember was a Shwinn Stingray that was mint except for one broken spoke. And like many others, we shop at, and donate to, thrift stores on a regular basis.