Besides their professional work, they make $3,000 a month by scavenging.

When Erin and Dave Sheffield aren't busy with their full-time jobs, they litter. The couple, who live in Buffalo, earn $3,000 per month by selling items they find in the garbage.

The Sheffield couple are among the increasing number of garbage mixers. Over the years, and especially during the corona virus pandemic, the popularity of shuffling trash cans has also increased. There are now trashcan dive meetup groups, dump diving Facebook groups, and even dumpster diving TikTokers.

But they have been scavenging for more than 10 years. Erin Sheffield, in a statement to Insider on the subject; “If you don't trash all that stuff, especially in the times we live in, it will all go to a landfill, whereas you can actually make money off of it,” he said.

WASTE COLLECTION INCREASED DURING THE PANDEMIC PERIOD
In general, Dave and Erin have been in the business for years, although many have taken up trash can diving during the pandemic. When they were both in college, he started searching the trash after seeing how many unused items students left behind at the end of the semester.

“When I met Dave, I realized we could sell something. If we found loads of brand new clothes with tags on them, we would try to sell them,” explains Erin, who works as a care coordinator for people with developmental disabilities. Dave, who runs his own manufacturing business, has spent the last few years optimizing trash can mixing techniques and increasing efficiency.

RESEARCHED WHERE TO COLLECT THE BEST WASTE
He made a map of all the different trash cans in the city and identified which ones usually had the best items, and began visiting them at least twice a week:

“Basically I have a few different routes and know good trash cans in different parts of the city so I don't even go to new trash cans anymore. I just go places where I know something is going to happen. So the longer you do this, the easier your job will be and the less time you spend and the more money you make.”

METAL Scraps SAVE THE MOST
While most of the items they find are resold on eBay and other online retailers, Dave tells Insider a third of their trash can dive money comes from selling scrap metal:

“I usually think; If I go diving into garbage cans for a few hours, the scrap metal I find covers my gas and my minimum wage. The rest I found is like a little sauce to resell on eBay.”

THANKS TO THE MONEY EARNED, THEY BUY A SMALL BOAT
Some of the most valuable items both Erin and Dave found in the trash are an actual Prada bag they sold for $500 and college textbooks worth $1,000.

However, the couple says they are now a bit picky about the items they find. When they come across unopened food, the couple usually take it home or give it to friends or neighbors.

The couple recently bought a small boat with their savings.