This article came up yesterday on MSN — it’s titled, “Freegans: They Live Off What We Toss in the Trash.” You also might have seen it on Oprah, apparently.
Freegans are folks who try to get everything for free, from the trash or giveaway, including food.
The article is garnering a lot of comments. Some praise freegans’ political motives, being uber-frugal and resisting our consumer society. Others are recoiling at the potential germiness of eating food that’s been who-knows-where.
Now I wouldn’t call myself a freegan by any means. On the other hand, I have done a bit of trash-picking in my day. I’m certainly not above pulling things out of the trash, and sometimes neighbors help by leaving things on the curb with time to take them away before trash crews arrive. Our fire pit was a curbside find, and the bench on my front porch was made partly from an item discarded by one neighbor, with cushions nabbed from another neighbor’s cat-destroyed sofa, left out on large-item day.
As a child, I had a favorite sweater that my grandpa nabbed from the side of the road and washed. In college, I found a fabulous men’s suede jacket in the bottom of our (empty) apartment Dumpster; it served me well for 10 years.
Food? Well, the only time I’ve eaten food that was thrown out was when my father-in-law brought over several big bags of discarded produce from a natural food store that they’d given him for compost. As we were chucking it all into our pile, we found several perfect eggplants and a couple of bell peppers. It seemed a real shame to waste them, so we scrubbed them up and put them in dinner, to no ill effect.
Is this something you would do, or ever have done?
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Comments ( 8 )
First off, I must have missed that this was its own separate site and not on WordPress anymore (I get updates via Twitter now).
Yes, I have freeganed before now that I’m in college and me and my roommate are equally pretty poor. We found our current coach by the complex dumpster, which was in pretty good condition but the owner didn’t want to take it with him while moving out so he just left it behind. Happy to say we rescued that couch!!
I don’t know about things like food, I’m not THAT frugal!
Dawna added these pithy words on
Apr 18 09 at
7:21 am
I’m glad you found it again! I posted a couple of times about the switch, but it is tricky to bring everyone over.
Cheap Like Me added these pithy words on
Apr 18 09 at
8:01 am
We three wooden chairs, a laundry basket, some nice hangers and some plastic pull drawers found at our apartment dumpster. My husband has been known to take food from the garbage- but usually only when he knows who put it there and it is still in some sort of wrapper. I had no idea there was a name for us! = ) Jk- I don’t think we could sustain ourselves completely . . . but it is rewarding to make treasures out of someone’s trash!
Taryn added these pithy words on
Apr 18 09 at
9:11 am
I dumpster dive quite a bit. I’ve found my sofa, my dining room table, and many smaller practical items, like a vinyl patio cushion that I use for my kneeling pad when I’m in the garden. I would draw the line at used mattresses, underwear, and discarded food. I also have a hard time thinking they find shoes to wear. I mean how many times do you find just one shoe on the side of the road, never a pair.
aemcdraw added these pithy words on
Apr 18 09 at
9:47 am
I also have found many useful things in someones’ trash or by the side of the road that have been given new life in my home. As for food, I think the decision has to be made at the time it is found, just as you decided to use the eggplants and peppers. I work part time for a catering service and it is appalling to see how much food is thrown away even after giving the employees much of it to take home. Some people must live by being “fregans” and others just do it because it makes more sense than wasting what can be utilized to its fullest extent.
Patricia added these pithy words on
Apr 18 09 at
1:15 pm
I would and I have and I probably will again.When I see perfectly good food items in their wrappers no brainer. I have picked out perfectly good furniture, clothing even a bicycle out of the dumpster, so I say yup. I would.
rob added these pithy words on
Apr 19 09 at
12:30 am
I am definitely a frrgan when it comes to furniture, cane baskets, clay pots, etc. I only buy them for free during council cleanups. In fact, I think I am addicted to this because I get a great high when I find things and am going to have to cut back which will be hard.
cherrie added these pithy words on
Apr 19 09 at
5:02 pm
I would for furniture or crafty things. I live near a shopping center and I’m tempted to check their dumpsters but am afraid what would happen if someone caught me. I don’t think I’d do it for food though. I had food posioning once and I’d never want to do anything could make me relive that experience again.
Condo Blues added these pithy words on
Apr 20 09 at
5:04 pm
