A dumpster diver says she's found $2MILLION worth of thrown-away goods - including a $500 Dyson hairdryer, a $400 Le Creuset cookware and a $500 robot vacuum.<br /><br />Jennifer Lleras, 40, started digging around in the dumpsters 20 years ago at college.<br /><br />And while she's now a full time marketing agency owner with enough money to live on, she enjoys "rescuing" goods thrown away by stores so they don't go to waste.<br /><br />She sorts and donates most of what she finds to charities, schools, women's shelters and libraries, but sometimes keeps "treasures".<br /><br />Jennifer said she once found a $500 Dyson air wrap hairdryer, complete with all the attachments - in perfect condition - as well as a $500 Roomba vacuum cleaner.<br /><br />She's also saved a $400 Le Creuset Dutch oven, designer handbags and pricey jewellery.<br /><br />Jennifer's home is now kitted out with a full home security system, robot vacuums on every floor, a voice-activated bin and high-end cookware - all sourced from dumpsters.<br /><br />She often finds giant bags full of unworn clothes, beauty supplies, non-perishable food packages, books and school supplies.<br /><br />Jennifer said "nothing makes me happier than when I'm finding things I can donate" - but loves to find the odd luxury item that she'd never buy for herself, too.<br /><br />She sometimes ends up in tears at how wasteful big retail suppliers can be.<br /><br />Mum-of-two Jennifer, from Baltimore, Maryland, US, said: "I find it fun - it's like treasure hunting.<br /><br />"I go maybe once a week - I just go whenever I'm out running an errand, I'll go check out the dumpsters.<br /><br />"I have even gifted dumpster finds to family before - my sister loves when I find decorations and kitchenware to go in her home.<br /><br />"I don't think it saves me a ton of money because I keep things I like, not things I need.<br /><br />"But thinking of everything I've found, it works out about $100k a year."<br /><br />Jennifer first started the hobby after an art professor suggested she have a hunt through a dumpster for materials.<br /><br />Now married with a house, two teenage children and a successful marketing business, she still likes to have a rummage when she sees a dumpster.<br /><br />When she finds a haul of goods, she loads them into her truck before taking them back to her home to sort through. <br /><br />Even if items have sustained a bit of damage in the dumpster, she'll do DIY to make them useable again before she distributes them.<br /><br />Jennifer said: "I do keep a bit for myself but I'm not a hoarder.<br /><br />"My house isn't cluttered but if I find things I need or can use, I will hold onto them.<br /><br />"You can't dumpster dive anywhere - Maryland has quite relaxed laws around this so it's OK for me to do here.<br /><br />"I do get asked if I'm poor and that's why I do it - but it's just a hobby for me.<br /><br />"I do it more because I can help others than myself."<br /><br />Jennifer said: "It is really fun but sometimes it does make me sad - once I found a dumpster full of kids art supplies. That really affected me.<br /><br />"I get a lot of feedback from the places I donate to. They're very thankful."<br /><br />While she has often benefitted from her finds, she wishes she didn't have to.<br /><br />She said: "I wish I had the capacity to make legislation that would change things.<br /><br />"It's really sad that the stores could take this stuff and donate them somewhere they will be used but they don't.<br /><br />"Sometimes the stores even destroy things before they dump then, with paint or bleach, and it breaks my heart.<br /><br />"I find that even worse than throwing it away."
