A dumpster diver found a treasure trove of electronics in the garbage of their apartment complex.
The lucky person took to Reddit to document their find, writing: "This is my magnum opus of dumpster diving."
The resident of Viborg, Denmark, landed two MacBooks, two iPhones, and a watch.
"Wow what an absolutely incredible find!" one user said. "... I just can't believe people would throw out working devices!"
The poster detailed that the neighbor who discarded the items also tossed prescription drugs and that they took steps to confirm their well-being.
Dumpster diving fills a void in the absence of a circular economy. (The European Commission announced in 2022 plans to fast-track its Circular Economy Action Plan.) Many people find it easier to trash unneeded or old things rather than find a new home for them.
It's concerning when any usable product ends up in the trash, but at least this wasn't food waste, which accounts for $408 billion in losses in the United States each year and requires an $18 billion annual investment, according to ReFED.
In Denmark, households (18%) rank second behind construction and demolition (54.8%) in waste generation. Large appliances are the No. 1 source of e-waste in the European Union, while IT and telecommunications equipment come in second. Denmark was 18th of the 27 EU countries in e-waste recycling rate, according to the European Parliament.
The EU has restricted the use of lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, and other harmful materials in the production of electronics and electrical materials because they can cause major environmental and health problems.
Recycling electronics takes effort, but it helps conserve resources and natural materials, and companies like Best Buy and Target, just to name a few, have programs in place to help consumers with the process. The Environmental Protection Agency states that recycling electronics keeps air and water pollutants from reaching the environment and can save energy.
People who want to recycle laptops and other gadgets should remove their batteries and delete all personal information from the devices. To avoid getting rid of an object, owners can upgrade hardware or software instead.
"Congrats on the great/incredible find," one commenter wrote. "Even better able to keep all the stuff."
Another said: "I had a similar thing happen… my child's school was throwing out 4 old Mac desktops. They were about five years old but totally usable. I gave them to some families in need and kept one in my kitchen that I used for 3 years."
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