Freeganism

I just recently encountered the term freeganism, used to describe a movement of people committed to reducing waste. From wiki, "Freegans embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation, and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity, and greed." Wow, doesn't that sound wonderful! Indeed, while it is a cool new term, it is an idea that is rooted in the founding works of many of our religious traditions. It has become much easier to be a freegan with the social networking provided through sites such as Freecycle or FreeAlert. People are empowered to share quality used items with other individuals, and since everyone can both give and receive, the desire to make a profit is removed. In my experience it is actually a cleansing feeling to give something away!

Another aspect of freegan life is dumpster diving, an activity that I have had recent encounters with, following the lead of two professional dumpster divers, Dee and Becky. Dumpster diving is a rare win-win for the individual and the environment, as "waste" food is used to feed families, reducing the impact on both the pocketbook and the environment!

A great introduction to freeganism can be found on GroovyGreen's blog, check it out. I certainly do not qualify as a freegan, as I am still stuck in the consumer model our economy is built around, but as I continually deconstruct my own consumerist mentality, I hope to begin my freegan novitiate.

Dumpster Diving Panera

This past weekend my family finally took the plunge. After hearing the success stories of several locals who are professional dumpster divers, here and here, we made our first raid on the dumpsters behind Panera bread in Gainesville (we stayed away from Chantilly lest we run into our competition and start a fierce turf war!).

With my son sitting in the car chattering about being "sneaky," my wife on the look-out, I managed to snag several large bags of bread, bagels, and rolls! We brought our loot home, where we sorted it out and packaged it for freezing. It was an impressive haul! I have heard it said "once a dumpster diver, always a dumpster diver," I am afraid that may be the case for us! The one point of frustration encountered was the fact that I started a low carb diet last week, so I cannot partake of any of the goods for a couple weeks, and only in limited quantities after that... I guess it is time to dumpster dive behind the local steak house!

Here is a pic of our haul.



And here are my dumpster diving companions standing proudly in front of the haul.



Previous post on dumpster diving.

Dumpster Diving

Recently a group of friends went on a top secret night-time mission to the local Panera bread. Their target: Bags of discarded pastries and bread that are thrown out each night. Having enjoyed the "fruits" of their labor for several weeks, I am a firm believer in the benefits of "dumpster diving." Browsing through the blogosphere today, I found a great article written by another D.C. local about his dumpster diving experiences and "philosophy." Check it out, it is a great read and entertaining!

I am not sure I have ever dumpster dived, unless you count grabbing old couches for my college dorm rooms. However, after the experiences of my friends and reading this article, I realize that dumpster diving is very consistent with my growing commitment to sustainable living, a cheap way to get great food that I would not otherwise purchase, and it appears to be (mostly) legal! I will draw the line at sushi though, even cooked it would pass my food risk assessment radar!