Dumpster diving is most often associated with bums and hippies, but for nearly a decade it's been the cheapest and most convenient source of everything from food to furniture for UAF students.

The Farmer's Loop West Transfer Station, across from UAF's Taku Parking Lot, was created around 1997, said Bob Jordan, Fairbanks North Star Borough solid waste manager.

"There was an older site just a little bit farther down the road, about a quarter mile on the same side, and the current site was built as a permanent replacement of the older site," Jordan said.

Throughout the course of each day, community members deposit their trash and find new treasures.

Every night, whatever remains in the dumpsters is hauled away, Jordan said.

Trash from the Farmer's Loop West site alone totaled 7,685 tons in the 2006 fiscal year, just a fraction of the 14 different sites combined deposits of 42,760 tons, Jordan said.

Those numbers are smaller than they would be without the recycling area, he added.

The transfer station is divided into dumpsters for trash and an area for recyclable items that people leave for other people to find and take, Jordan said.

Students have different rituals for finding treasure among both the recyclables and the trash.

"Usually, I look for books in the reuse area and then pull good stuff out of the dumpsters to move to the reuse area," said UAF student John Ashcraft, 26, who goes to the transfer station about once or twice a week.

For some students, their transfer station visit is a rigid, almost religious, activity.

"I like to park towards the entrance, and then walk counterclockwise, starting at about 6 o'clock, around the site," said Rebekah Johnson, 20. "It makes for a symmetrical pattern of dumpsters, recycled goods, and dumpsters again, and it's also a pretty efficient cycle. If I can't park at the entrance, I'll usually just drive around the site and then come back another day -- I'm there often enough that it's not a big deal."

Though Micah Trani, a 21-year-old UAF student, doesn't have a particular routine, he does say certain times are better than others, and that going often helps. Trani said he stops by three-to-four times a week, usually with friends.

"Sometime in the middle of the afternoon seems to be pretty good," Trani said. "Earlier this fall, when there were a lot of garage sales, Saturday afternoon after the garage sales was really good. People took stuff from garage sales unsold to transfer station."

And Trani knows what he's talking about, after furnishing almost his entire apartment, complete with a brand new TV, from things he found at the transfer station.

The transfer station offers far more than just couches and TVs, and for many students, it's their first stop when they need something.

"A guy my freshman year put himself through school finding computer parts and selling them for cheap," said UAF student Linda Burton, 22. "And a girl I know, her entire wardrobe came from the transfer station. I also know people who have fed themselves for entire summers off food they could find at the transfer station."

But the finds aren't always so practical, such as the half dozen toy telephones scattered about the reuse area recently, or one student's find of 10 gallons of good ice cream.

Ashcraft has found his share of unorthodox items, including a taxidermied white bear, a laser tag set, and an unopened box of chocolates.

"It's a lot more useful than just a dump," said Gavin Baker, 21. "It provides the community with the chance to recycle other people's stuff, which since people tend to be kind of wasteful, is a good thing."