A woman has been dumpster diving in bins for 10 years – saving over 8,000 items from landfill.

Charlotte Bayford, 43, is an account manager by day, but spends her evenings digging through bins of unwanted items in bins outside charity shops, supermarkets and university accommodation.

For anything she doesn't want to keep for herself, Charlotte uploads items for free on Facebook Marketplace and Freecycle, to help give them a new home.

Finding everything from shoes, fish bowls, laundry baskets and even food for her next meal, eagle eyed Charlotte wants to do "something good for the planet" with her finds. "

She uses a ‘grabber' to fish out items and gets an "adrenaline buzz" from finding discarded treasures. "

Charlotte, from Colchester, Essex, said: "I kept watching it on YouTube, watching Americans do it. "

"I was thinking, ‘I want to get out and do that'. "

"There's so much waste happening at the moment and if I can save things from landfill that's fantastic. "

"It's not only doing something good for the planet, it's good for the community too. "

"It sounds odd, but you do get an adrenaline buzz when you find something good. "

"Everyone loves something free. "

"If I can find a pair of shoes in a dumpster that I can wear to work that's fantastic". "

Starting her quest in 2015, Charlotte followed in the footsteps of her late grandfather Robert Bayford, who had "always been a skip diver". "

She said: "Sometimes it's just a case of having a look. "

"Before I got this job I was going for interviews and having a look in town, and went round the back of the high street and there it was. "

"I just took the bag and walked down the street. "

"I look in charity shop bins, Tesco Express and the university as it's quite close to me. "

"Lots of the international students at Essex University don't want to take their bottles of shampoo or perfumes with them. "

"I found a three pack of Heinz beans in a dumpster. "

"I wasn't going to food shops until February - I looked in a Tesco bin and there's so much stuff in there. "

"I went to the Co-op and made dinner the next day with what I found". "

Estimating she has recycled over 8,000 items, Charlotte's most expensive find was an original Victorian writing desk.

"It had the ink wells and some of the pens with the nibs. "

"I looked them up and they're selling on Ebay for £200. "

"The weirdest thing I've found is [...] a lot of the overseas students, they throw out a lot of medicine. "

"I wonder what that is, but I can't read it". "

Charlotte began sharing her finds on YouTube in 2015, with her Facebook page ‘Dumpster Diving in the UK' amassing over 91,000 members.

"It's definitely to do with the cost of living," she said. "

"I'd rather give it away just to get it out of the house otherwise I'd end up with a house full of stuff. "

"I use the Freecycle app. "

"You put what you've got on there for free. "

"A washing basket I found last week someone came and got it". "

With her catchphrase being "I got it in the dumpster" Charlotte has found M&S jeans and tops to wear in the bins, but most of her wardrobe is bought from a local charity shop where everything sells for £1. "

"People often say, ‘you go on your own?' "

"It's perfectly fine, most people aren't bothered. "

"It's lit up where I search and I've mostly got my car nearby". "

Sharing her finds on YouTube since 2017, Charlotte has had her fair share of negativity from commenters.

"I deleted a few comments this morning. "

"I'd taken food out of a bin and somebody said, ‘Are you homeless?' "

"I try not to take it to heart. "

"A lot of my comments were about wearing gloves because I forgot to wear gloves. "

"I've never ever found needles. "

"Now I have gloves. "

"At one outing recently, I did jump into the dumpster as there were trainers at the bottom. "

"I forgot to take my grabber. "

"You've just got to make sure you have good shoes on as you're not sure what's at the bottom"."