Dumpster Drive is a file-sharing application that recycles digital files. The software was developed by recent Parsons grad, Justin Blinder Using dumpster diving as a model for recirculating unwanted objects, Dumpster Drive allows others to dig through files that you delete on your computer in a passive file-sharing network. Instead of simply erasing data from your computer, the software allows users to extend the lifecycle of their unwanted files and pass them on to others. To learn more about the program or download Dumpster Drive, visit dumpsterdrive.com.

Journalist Rebecca Bates explains Dumpster Drive as: "a file sharing application that mimics the act of digging through someone’s trash ... Let’s say you’re in possession of Beirut’s new single “East Harlem” and absolutely hate it (shame on you), and you wish to purge your hard drive of the song forever. Rather than dragging the file to your computer’s trashcan, you might instead choose to “dump” it into your Dumpster Drive folder. While this will delete the song on your computer, it will then become available for download by other Dumpster Drive users. Unlike other modes of file sharing, where files can be downloaded an infinite number of times by an infinite number of people, once one person has downloaded your dumped item, it disappears from the application altogether. Dumpster Drive therefore turns your electronic refuse into a limited commodity. You relinquish and claim ownership over digital files as you would trash in a dumpster, thereby rendering them a kind of material object."

Check out this short video that explains the idea, in case you didn`t get the Beirut example.