{"id":471235,"date":"2026-10-20T04:24:31","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T04:24:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/471235\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T04:24:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T04:24:31","slug":"is-dumpster-diving-illegal-in-lubbock-texas-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/471235\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Dumpster Diving Illegal in Lubbock, Texas?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You ever spot something sticking out of the dumpster that looked too good to pass up? One man&#8217;s trash may be another man&#8217;s questionable living room furniture&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>But is it actually illegal to dig around for treasures in someone else&#8217;s dumpster?<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792470270_111_photo-1682627100541-2ab451e70601.jpeg\" alt=\"a couple of trash cans sitting in the middle of a street\" loading=\"lazy\" onload=\"this.parentNode.parentNode.classList.add('frame-loaded');\" onerror=\"this.parentNode.parentNode.classList.add('broken-image');\" fetchpriority=\"low\" width=\"5496\" height=\"3817\"\/>Photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/@fr0ggy5?utm_source=townsquare_carbon&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">fr0ggy5<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/a-couple-of-trash-cans-sitting-in-the-middle-of-a-street-iHJgv-B2WKs?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Unsplash<\/a>a couple of trash cans sitting in the middle of a street<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve been known to dumpster dive with the best of them, and I&#8217;ve never gotten in trouble for it.<\/p>\n<p>Have I just gotten lucky?<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s see what the law has to say&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Oof.<\/p>\n<p>Turns out, I might need to rethink hopping into the dumpster behind my favorite store&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/ecode360.com\/38871851\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lubbock City Ordinance 22.06.150<\/a>, it&#8217;s unlawful to scavenge, pilfer, or tamper with another person&#8217;s garbage container.<\/p>\n<p>There goes my retirement plan.<\/p>\n<p>(It was Beanie Babies, but you see how well that&#8217;s worked out.)<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792470270_908_photo-1552741957-4b321eb4acd2.jpeg\" alt=\"assorted-color trash bins\" loading=\"lazy\" onload=\"this.parentNode.parentNode.classList.add('frame-loaded');\" onerror=\"this.parentNode.parentNode.classList.add('broken-image');\" fetchpriority=\"low\" width=\"4896\" height=\"3264\"\/>Photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/@deefbelgium?utm_source=townsquare_carbon&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">David Libeert<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/assorted-color-trash-bins-aGxAsacQ1LY?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Unsplash<\/a>assorted-color trash bins<\/p>\n<p>Violating the sanitation code can also result in a misdemeanor fine of $15 to $200, and that&#8217;s not all. There are also <a href=\"https:\/\/statutes.capitol.texas.gov\/docviewer?docName=PE.30.htm\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">criminal trespassing laws in Texas<\/a>, so they could really stack those fines up on you if they wanted to. Not exactly worth it for a few tubes of makeup from Ulta&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>But&#8230;what about the perfectly good &#8220;junk&#8221; sitting next to the dumpster?<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792470271_654_photo-1775015167473-ccd60e7e8307.jpeg\" alt=\"Person standing near dumpsters filled with trash bags\" loading=\"lazy\" onload=\"this.parentNode.parentNode.classList.add('frame-loaded');\" onerror=\"this.parentNode.parentNode.classList.add('broken-image');\" fetchpriority=\"low\" width=\"6000\" height=\"4000\"\/>Photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/@diklein?utm_source=townsquare_carbon&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">David Klein<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/person-standing-near-dumpsters-filled-with-trash-bags-J7txx-Lj6tU?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Unsplash<\/a>Person standing near dumpsters filled with trash bags<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s where things get tricky.<\/p>\n<p>Before you haul away an old couch, mattress, or whatever goodie you deem acceptable to drag back to your lair, you should ask permission.\u00a0Chances are, they&#8217;ll be happy for you to take it away. If they aren&#8217;t, then perhaps it wasn&#8217;t meant for you.<\/p>\n<p>OR&#8230;they could be saving you from some kind of cursed item&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>But be careful, guys, nonetheless.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing ruins the excitement of finding a free lamp quite like being fined for it&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s Finally Fall! Check Out 16 Great Places To Grab A Bowl Of Soup In Lubbock<\/p>\n<p>These are the best places in town to get your soup on!<\/p>\n<p class=\"photogallery-credit\">Gallery Credit: Chrissy<\/p>\n<p>Forget Pumpkin Spice: Here&#8217;s The Fall Foods &amp; Drinks Texans Really Crave  <\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t mean to yuck anyone&#8217;s yum, but here in Texas, there are dozens of foods and drinks that we crave more than Pumpkin Spice. Here&#8217;s a look at the coziest, loveliest and most Texan fall treats to indulge in as the weather finally cools. <\/p>\n<p class=\"photogallery-credit\">Gallery Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Renee Raven<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You ever spot something sticking out of the dumpster that looked too good to pass up? One man&#8217;s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":471236,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[168,170,169],"class_list":["post-471235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lubbock","tag-lubbock","tag-lubbock-headlines","tag-lubbock-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}