What should happen to items that either remain unsold or are returned or damaged?
Activists are exposing the wastefulness of retailers by rummaging through trash and posting their hauls on TikTok as a way to shame stores and raise public awareness. Coach, CVS, TJ Maxx, HomeGoods and Party City have all been criticized for throwing away or destroying merchandise. What should happen to items that either remain unsold or are returned or damaged? For example, should stores hold on to Halloween-themed mugs, plates, dog bowls and decorations after the holiday is over, even though they take up valuable space?
In “Dumpster Diving to Shame Stores and Fight Waste,” Steven Kurutz writes about the TikTok activism. The article begins:
At the third Duane Reade of the night, Anna Sacks, 31, a dumpster diver who goes by @trashwalker on TikTok, hit the jackpot. Half a dozen clear trash bags sat along Second Avenue not far from her home on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Kneeling on the ground, Ms. Sacks untied the bags with a gloved hand and, using her iPhone flashlight, pulled out her haul: Tresemmé hair spray. Rimmel London Stay Glossy lip gloss. Two bags of Ghirardelli sea salt caramels. Six bags of Cretors popcorn mix. Wet mop refills. A Febreze air freshener. Toe warmers. A bottle of Motrin. All of it unopened, in the packaging and far from the expiration date. “Oh, my God,” said Ms. Sacks, digging out a six-pack with one can missing. “My mom loves Diet Dr Pepper.”
The total value was perhaps $75, but money wasn’t the point. Ms. Sacks, a former investment bank analyst, films her “trash walks,” as she calls them, and posts the videos to expose what she sees as the wastefulness of retailers who toss out returned, damaged or otherwise unwanted items instead of repurposing them.
Fed up with the profligate practice, dumpster divers like Ms. Sacks have started posting videos of their haul on TikTok in recent years as a way of shaming corporations and raising awareness of the wasteful behavior. A search of #dumpsterdiving on TikTok brings up tens of thousands of videos that collectively have billions of views. They include a video by Tiffany Butler, known as Dumpster Diving Mama, who found several handbags in the trash last year outside a Coach store in Dallas, all of them apparently slashed by employees. Ms. Sacks bought the bags and made a TikTok calling out the fashion brand. After the video went viral and sparked outrage (and was picked up by Diet Prada), Coach said it would stop “destroying in-store returns of damaged, defective, worn and otherwise unsalable goods,” and instead try to reuse them. Most of the dumpster activists target mass retailers like CVS, TJ Maxx, HomeGoods and Party City. Luxury fashion brands tend to keep a tighter control over their excess inventory and sometimes pay to have unsold items burned. A video posted this month by Liz Wilson, 37, a mother of two in Bucks County, Pa., who goes by Salty Stella, shows a dumpster at a nearby HomeGoods store filled with Halloween-themed mugs, plates, dog bowls and holiday decorations. “This is absolutely horrendous,” Ms. Wilson told her 1.2 million TikTok followers. “The only reason these things were thrown away is because Halloween is over.”
Students, read the entire article, then tell us: What information in the article surprised you the most? Why? Have you ever seen items being discarded instead of being donated or otherwise repurposed? How prevalent do you think the practice is? Before reading the article, were you aware of the #dumpsterdiving TikTok trend? Had you seen any of the videos? What are your thoughts about the work these activists are doing? What do you think are the best solutions to the problems identified in the article? During the holiday season, what, if anything, could you do to reduce waste at home, school or, if you have a job, your place of employment? What suggestions do you have for others? Retailers sometimes throw out returned, damaged or otherwise unwanted items. What should happen instead?
In “Dumpster Diving to Shame Stores and Fight Waste,” Steven Kurutz writes about the TikTok activism. The article begins:
At the third Duane Reade of the night, Anna Sacks, 31, a dumpster diver who goes by @trashwalker on TikTok, hit the jackpot. Half a dozen clear trash bags sat along Second Avenue not far from her home on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Kneeling on the ground, Ms. Sacks untied the bags with a gloved hand and, using her iPhone flashlight, pulled out her haul: Tresemmé hair spray. Rimmel London Stay Glossy lip gloss. Two bags of Ghirardelli sea salt caramels. Six bags of Cretors popcorn mix. Wet mop refills. A Febreze air freshener. Toe warmers. A bottle of Motrin. All of it unopened, in the packaging and far from the expiration date. “Oh, my God,” said Ms. Sacks, digging out a six-pack with one can missing. “My mom loves Diet Dr Pepper.”
The total value was perhaps $75, but money wasn’t the point. Ms. Sacks, a former investment bank analyst, films her “trash walks,” as she calls them, and posts the videos to expose what she sees as the wastefulness of retailers who toss out returned, damaged or otherwise unwanted items instead of repurposing them.
Fed up with the profligate practice, dumpster divers like Ms. Sacks have started posting videos of their haul on TikTok in recent years as a way of shaming corporations and raising awareness of the wasteful behavior. A search of #dumpsterdiving on TikTok brings up tens of thousands of videos that collectively have billions of views. They include a video by Tiffany Butler, known as Dumpster Diving Mama, who found several handbags in the trash last year outside a Coach store in Dallas, all of them apparently slashed by employees. Ms. Sacks bought the bags and made a TikTok calling out the fashion brand. After the video went viral and sparked outrage (and was picked up by Diet Prada), Coach said it would stop “destroying in-store returns of damaged, defective, worn and otherwise unsalable goods,” and instead try to reuse them. Most of the dumpster activists target mass retailers like CVS, TJ Maxx, HomeGoods and Party City. Luxury fashion brands tend to keep a tighter control over their excess inventory and sometimes pay to have unsold items burned. A video posted this month by Liz Wilson, 37, a mother of two in Bucks County, Pa., who goes by Salty Stella, shows a dumpster at a nearby HomeGoods store filled with Halloween-themed mugs, plates, dog bowls and holiday decorations. “This is absolutely horrendous,” Ms. Wilson told her 1.2 million TikTok followers. “The only reason these things were thrown away is because Halloween is over.”
Students, read the entire article, then tell us: What information in the article surprised you the most? Why? Have you ever seen items being discarded instead of being donated or otherwise repurposed? How prevalent do you think the practice is? Before reading the article, were you aware of the #dumpsterdiving TikTok trend? Had you seen any of the videos? What are your thoughts about the work these activists are doing? What do you think are the best solutions to the problems identified in the article? During the holiday season, what, if anything, could you do to reduce waste at home, school or, if you have a job, your place of employment? What suggestions do you have for others? Retailers sometimes throw out returned, damaged or otherwise unwanted items. What should happen instead?
