The other day I was watching Oprah and her show was about people living lifestyles on the edge. Her main guest was a woman who considered herself a Freegan. She claimed to live her life without buying into consumerism. She hadn't bought new clothes in over three years, and barely bought food or everyday convenience items we take for granted. To feed herself, she dumpster dived.In New York the Freegan movement is growing. They organize 'trash tours' that go out at night and dig through the garbage of supermarkets, bakeries and delis. The people on these tours are not poor or homeless, but rather concerned for the way we live. The camera crew followed her one night and what they found was shocking. Supermarkets threw out so much food! There were cereal boxes with a slight tear, barely bruised apples, cartons of eggs with a single egg cracked, and canned vegetables just a week past the expiration date. The food was perfectly fine. Madeline, the woman interviewed, believed that Americans are so conditioned to buying, that we throw away the perfectly fine to buy newer better things. She claims to collect about $100 to $300 worth of food in one hour. Madeline said "When you think about it, we work so hard, but for what? To buy more. Whether it's a house payment or a car or food, we just want to continue to consume. Freegans have decided to kind of try and turn their back on it completely and stop buying stuff." Is she right? Do our parents work hard just for us to consume?
Daniel and Amanda, another couple on the show, also follow the Freegan lifestyle. They say that America is 5% of the world, yet we use 30% of it's resources. They've found desks, approximately 2,000 envelopes, exercise equipment, and about 50 boxes of cereal, all of which they kept in their apartment. If they find something salvagable they can't use, they donate it back to charity.
Most people in America and probably especially in the North Shore have never heard of Freeganism or would consider themselves Freegans. I think these people are doing a great service to society, recycling things most people would discard. We live in a society where way too many things are taken for granted. I think in the future, more people will live like Freegans because of the resources we are currently wasting.
Are Freegans idealists or realists?
2 comments:
Freegan's are realists because they search through other peoples garbages and actually find serviceable food. The one thing i don't understand is why they are doing this in the first place.I think its really unbelievable that they are finding this kind of stuff. I think it is an idealistic view of yours to say that more people will live like freegans in the future, but who knows, anything can happen
I, for one, do know about the Freegan movement and I have been known to do my own share of dumpster diving. A really good event in Winnetka each April is the "throw away any trash" week...everyone empties their garages and basements and folks drive around looking for good, used free stuff. It's so much fun. I have found rugs, luggage, and doors. How is your book search coming for Jr. Theme?
Mrs.G
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