Dumpster Diver Discovers This Hot Ticket Item Destroyed Over Minor Scratches
He asked his followers for help getting the marker off the cup.
Published June 3 2024, 3:13 p.m. ET
Dumpster divers have been going viral on social media after revealing extensive food and product waste by popular companies. In 2024, a person rescued a brand new Stanley Cup, which a retailer had scribbled all over after discovering that the tumbler couldn't be sold due to damage. People were upset about the store's decision to waste the expensive product, especially since the issue was revealed to be very minor.
Fortunately, the dumpster diver was able to give the Stanley Cup a bit of TLC to get it ready for a new owner. Read what he had to say about the whole ordeal after he responded to some questions from Green Matters below.
One dumpster diver found a perfectly intact Stanley Cup destroyed for minor scratches.
The man behind the popular @dumpsterdiveking Instagram and TikTok accounts opened up to Green Matters about his find, admitting that he stumbled upon this treasure purely by accident.
He explained that he scored the Stanley Cup "in a pretty well-known retail chain store" while passing through Nashua, New Hampshire, a place he says he doesn't normally check while dumpster diving. While he wouldn't out the particular store where he found it, he did note that it was hardly the only prize he discovered that day.
"It was the only Stanley Cup but it was in a bag with a few other items," @dumpsterdiveking explained. The bag looked like it had been "damaged out" by the retailer. Damaging items out is the practice of destroying unsold or unsellable items so that they can be taken off of shelves and written off as loss for tax purposes.
However, the Stanley Cup was still in pretty good condition overall, which makes the decision feel more wasteful. "The cup was brand new it had a couple tiny, tiny scratches on it which I assume is why they tossed it out," he continued.
In the video he posted, you can see how badly the other items were damaged. The cloth items appeared to be destroyed beyond repair, as they looked like they had been sliced with a razor. This outraged many of @dumpsterdiveking's millions of followers, who commented about the wasteful practice on Instagram and TikTok. Unfortunately, this kind of waste wasn't surprising to a seasoned dumpster diver.
"I wasn't very shocked because I find a lot of stuff especially ruined from employees, but because of the Stanley craze and the fact that anyone could still use the cup I was pretty excited to find it," he explained to Green Matters, noting that there was one big obstacle to overcome before he (or more accurately, his daughter) could start to enjoy his new find.
Here's how to get permanent marker off a Stanley Cup, according to @dumpsterdiveking.
Fortunately, this user's followers came through with more than just anger and commiseration over what the unnamed retailer did to the cup. The @dumpsterdiveking told Green Matters they also gave him some good suggestions for how to give the Stanley Cup a new lease on life, including tips on how to get permanent marker off of the outside.
Among the suggestions thrown out were hair spray, hand sanitizer, deodorant, and using dry erase markers, which eventually worked to clean the cup. "It's is as good as new now and my daughter couldn't be more excited to own it," @dumpsterdiveking said.
So before you reach for your second (or third, or fourth) Stanley Cup, see if you can thrift one instead! There are plenty of ways to make old items like new.
