The people finding clothes, shampoo and household goods in commercial bins

People in the UK and US are searching commercial bins for discarded clothes, toiletries and household goods, saying the finds help them save money, donate to charity or make items into something new.

Darryl Baker, a 39-year-old freelance journalist and mother of two from north London, asked supermarket staff for permission to take clothes she found beside recycling bins. During a six-month stretch this year, she estimates she saved hundreds of pounds and found enough for new wardrobes for her children. She also gives items away and sells some: a men’s Barbour jacket recently fetched £30.

The practice, known as dumpster diving, has different uses for the people interviewed by the BBC. In London, stylist Millie Diamond salvages textiles and clothing to refashion, sometimes selling the results. She estimates that one dress she found was worth £600.

In Essex, Charlotte Bayford says she has not bought shampoo for eight years, relying in part on toiletries left behind by students moving out for the summer. She gives some finds to charity and says sealed food is also among the items she takes.

Jeff Ferrell, a 72-year-old sociology professor emeritus in Fort Worth, Texas, says he searches bins daily. He sells scrap metal and some other finds, gives items away, and estimates the value of his discoveries at tens of thousands of dollars a year. He says scrap brings him about $150 (£110) every two weeks.

The legality depends on where the items are and who owns them. Ferrell says some US cities prohibit taking goods from bins, while a Fort Worth rule allows removal only when bins are on public land. In the UK, solicitor Sunjay Versani says prosecution is unlikely in many cases involving genuinely discarded goods, but warns that putting something in a bin does not automatically make it free to take. He advises asking the owner or business for permission when in doubt.