This tuesday evening I took a compost workshop at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. It was an interesting workshop run by Luke Hall. Most of the information I already knew, but it was great for filling in some gaps and refreshing my memory of other things. The workshop was worth it alone just because taught me a new term. Freegan. Maybe I live under a rock, but I had never heard of freegans before. And for those unenlightened folks like myself, here is a description of a freegan from freegan.info.
Perhaps the most notorious freegan strategy is what is commonly called “urban foraging” or “dumpster diving”. This technique involves rummaging through the garbage of retailers, residences, offices, and other facilities for useful goods. Despite our society’s sterotypes about garbage, the goods recovered by freegans are safe, useable, clean, and in perfect or near-perfect condition, a symptom of a throwaway culture that encourages us to constantly replace our older goods with newer ones, and where retailers plan high-volume product disposal as part of their economic model. Some urban foragers go at it alone, others dive in groups, but we always share the discoveries openly with one another and with anyone along the way who wants them. Groups like Food Not Bombs recover foods that would otherwise go to waste and use them to prepare meals to share in public places with anyone who wishes to partake. By recovering the discards of retailers, offices, schools, homes, hotels, or anywhere by rummaging through their trash bins, dumpsters, and trash bags, freegans are able to obtain food, beverages, books, toiletries magazines, comic books, newspapers, videos, kitchenware, appliances, music (CDs, cassettes, records, etc.), carpets, musical instruments, clothing, rollerblades, scooters, furniture, vitamins, electronics, animal care products, games, toys, bicycles, artwork, and just about any other type of consumer good. Rather than contributing to further waste, freegans curtail garbage and pollution, reducing the over-all volume in the waste stream.
I haven’t met any self-proclaimed freegans, so I have no real opinion on their manifesto. I do agree that we add a shameful amount of perfectly good items to the landfills. My sister and I used to call the weirdly disposable joke gifts our mother used to give us landfill fodder. I commend any group in America for trying to curtail the flow of goods to the garbage dumps.
NOW CASTING: FREEGANS FOR NEW CABLE SERIES!
Are you a passionate participant in the Freegan movement? Would you jump at the chance to model the principles of waste reclamation and minimization in a public forum? Are you excited about the opportunity to bring greater exposure to the Freegan alternative strategies for living, in the hopes of educating more Americans on its benefits?
If so, we want to hear from you!
A new television docuseries is seeking Freegans – both groups and individuals – to let us into their lives and shine a light on the Freegan lifestyle! We are looking for outgoing, expressive and dynamic people who are open to sharing their beliefs and showing the nation what this unique movement is all about. If you are interested in learning more about this exciting opportunity to teach others about the advantages of voluntary simplicity, please contact us!
For more information and to speak with a Casting Producer, please email freegancasting@gmail.com with your name, location, and a brief summary of your story. We look forward to hearing from you!