Spring Break
Freeganism-beyond the hype of green movement
Maria Myotte
Issue date: 9/13/07 Section: Opinion
Freeganism is an emerging subculture that advocates opting out of the consumer-driven, "throw-away" society by using and eating its waste.
In the United States, we throw away a ton of stuff, but not all of it is grade-A trash. A lot of what we dump is useable and is trashed for aesthetic reasons, technological upgrades, obsoleteness, a change in taste or favorite color, or just to make room for our newest batch of stuff.
We all know the maxim: one person's garbage is another person's treasure, but the freegans live it.
They organize dumpster dives, memorize trash schedules, lead trash tours, and negotiate with hotels and retail chains to not call the law on their raids. Freegans do more than just subsist on their dumpster reapings.
They furnish entire homes, host spectacular discourse-oriented parties - because, of course, they are speculative of the television culture - and share delicious recipes adapted to the arbitrary ingredients they gather from the trash.
According to freeganinfo.com, the movement began in New York City in the 1990s as a pet project of the Wetlands Preserve, a NYC activist organization emphasizing animal liberation. The city remains a freeganist hub to this day.
In June, The New York Times reported on the freegan community in NYC,
focusing on an organized dumpster diving session at the NYU dorms the day after graduation.
The article suggested that freeganism's success in NYC is due to the city's extreme affluence - that they are combing the leftovers from the large wealthy population of the city.
This movement has also been popping up in other urban areas of the United States and across the world.
Marko Manriquez, a freegan in San Diego, told The New York Times that in Southern California "you can find just about anything in the trash, and on a consistent basis, too."
The movement, however, isn't just about living cheaply, it's an ideological statement.
Freegans severely limit the amount of money they spend, and subsequently, their contribution to the human rights and environmental abuses perpetuated by globalization.
In the United States, we throw away a ton of stuff, but not all of it is grade-A trash. A lot of what we dump is useable and is trashed for aesthetic reasons, technological upgrades, obsoleteness, a change in taste or favorite color, or just to make room for our newest batch of stuff.
We all know the maxim: one person's garbage is another person's treasure, but the freegans live it.
They organize dumpster dives, memorize trash schedules, lead trash tours, and negotiate with hotels and retail chains to not call the law on their raids. Freegans do more than just subsist on their dumpster reapings.
They furnish entire homes, host spectacular discourse-oriented parties - because, of course, they are speculative of the television culture - and share delicious recipes adapted to the arbitrary ingredients they gather from the trash.
According to freeganinfo.com, the movement began in New York City in the 1990s as a pet project of the Wetlands Preserve, a NYC activist organization emphasizing animal liberation. The city remains a freeganist hub to this day.
In June, The New York Times reported on the freegan community in NYC,
focusing on an organized dumpster diving session at the NYU dorms the day after graduation.
The article suggested that freeganism's success in NYC is due to the city's extreme affluence - that they are combing the leftovers from the large wealthy population of the city.
This movement has also been popping up in other urban areas of the United States and across the world.
Marko Manriquez, a freegan in San Diego, told The New York Times that in Southern California "you can find just about anything in the trash, and on a consistent basis, too."
The movement, however, isn't just about living cheaply, it's an ideological statement.
Freegans severely limit the amount of money they spend, and subsequently, their contribution to the human rights and environmental abuses perpetuated by globalization.
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