I would imagine that where dumpster diving is legal, doing it for the purpose of obtaining cast off cloth for robes would be allowable. But I’m primarily interested in whether it is allowable for a monk to obtain food by dumpster diving as the freegans do. The only thing that comes close to this I’ve found in the suttas is where Ratthapala asks one of his former slaves not to throw away old food but give it to him. This after his father failed to give him alms.Dumpster diving, commonly referred to in the UK and many parts of Europe as totting,[1] skipping,[2] skip diving or skip salvage,[3][4] is a popular form of modern salvaging of waste in large commercial, residential, industrial and construction containers to find items that have been discarded by their owners, but that may prove useful to the picker. It is not confined to dumpsters specifically, and may cover standard household waste containers, curb sides, landfills or small dumps. - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumpster_diving
Of course, this isn’t dumpster diving but he does seem to break a rule by asking for food, but in the context of thinking it would go to waste otherwise.Just then a slavewoman belonging to one of his relatives was about to throw away some old porridge. Seeing this, the venerable Raṭṭhapāla said to her: “Sister, if that stuff is to be thrown away, then pour it into my bowl here.”
https://suttacentral.net/mn82/en/bodhi
So, is dumpster diving for food allowable according to the vinaya? What about for robes?
My hope is that Venerable Dhammanando or someone else savvy in the Vinaya will be able to answer. Thank you for your time.