Two Wilbur Cross High School students joined the scrum, as New Haveners dived into Yale Dumpsters in an annual spring shopping fest.
The occasion was move-out time at Yale, when hundreds of undergrads split town for the summer, leaving behind piles of discarded junk.
Some of the junk ended up in a Dumpster on High Street Wednesday, where eight people rummaged through it with enthusiasm.
“Hey, anyone want a purse?” called out one student.
Cross junior Sean Moore (at right in photo above, with senior Katrina Regan) said he found some clothes, a bottle of Peppermint Schnapps, and lots of single shoes. At about 4 p.m. Wednesday, he perched on the side of the Dumpster, outside the Yale post office, and looked for a missing Converse to make a pair.
“Anyone want some nuts?” he called out, rattling a three-quarters eaten plastic jar of salted nut mix. “Yummy!”
Katrina (pictured) scored an HP printer and called out to her fellow divers, two students from Southern Connecticut State University, to look for a missing cord. She also found a Bionaire hand-held vacuum cleaner.
Sean said this is his second year raiding Yale’s discarded goods.
“It’s good because you’re recycling,” he pointed out.
“What’s the saying: ‘One person’s trash is another person’s treasure’?” offered Katrina. “We’re an example of that.”
Yale also offers more formal Dumpster-diving at the Ingalls Rink, where recycled goods are laid out for Yale community members and not-for-profits to pick up, for free. The Yale 2011 Spring Salvage takes place May 18 and June 1 from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
(Find previous stories on the annual Dumpster ritual here, here and here.)
