Tuesday, March 19, 2013



Dumpsta’ Divin’

   Every time I watch a documentary I end up pouring my eyes out, quivering my lip, and looking around the room to catch the gaze of someone just as anxious to change the world as I am. When I read what the movie “Dive” was about, I was excited because I didn’t know much about dumpster diving at the time. However, the call to action is statistically alarming, and nothing prepares you for the reasoning and the heart that many divers have. Understandably, when something is unfamiliar or unknown, we’re afraid and don’t always display our best selves. Reading this, I’d like you to keep an open mind while I share with you my experience, information on diving and its importance.
  My two best friends are a couple of hippies that walk barefoot to Burning man, swear by medicinal marijuana  and believe that buying food from the grocery store is supporting a dictatorship. One day they rang me asking if they could prepare a meal for us in my kitchen. Excitedly, I agreed. They strolled in with Winn Dixie bags full of eggs, cheese, bacon, spinach and the likes. They started to make quiche; an egg and cheese pie dish. Moreover, they casually explained that they’d received this food for free. I thought to myself, “Of course they did, they probably grew it, along with all the other Mother Teresa acts they like doing”. My friend raised an eyebrow, watching me drink a 6 dollar coffee, and raised her lips to form a smirk and said , “We got it from the dumpster!” Not knowing what to say, I over exaggeratedly yelled back “Oh! COOL!” While I cracked the egg that now looked more like poison than an edible treat, I decided I’d have to eat this meal: there was no getting out of it. I wasn’t one to seem like I was better than anyone else, so I smiled, ate, and helped washed the dishes.  So, as a skeptic myself, who reserved dumpster diving meals for the homeless, I encourage everyone to try it. But don’t just dine with a fork and spoon; make sure you serve it up with some knowledge, too.

  Scavenging; or dumpster diving, is a growing trend in the hippie community. It’s also a source of food for homeless and a hobby for binners, freegans and conservationists. Basically, there’s something in dumpster diving for everyone. Supporters are typically anti consumerism and all about saving the world, and some still think of scavenging as dirty and reserved for the homeless. When in actuality, it’s reserved for those who are knowledgeable about how much food we’re actually wasting. In the Film “Dive”, Seifret scavenged dozens of whole chickens, steaks, eggs, potatoes and strawberries in one dive. So much that he had to freeze it so it didn’t go to waste (Dive!).  Although divers don’t limit their quests to just food, many search for anything that’ll serve them a purpose. “Binners” search for recyclable materials in dumpsters, and exchange the scraps for pennies on the dollar. Then there are “freegans” who want to reduce their ecological footprint by living only from dumpster dived goods (Pickup). When divers start reusing food and other resources that were destined for land mills, it becomes a lifestyle; or an environmentalist quest. Arguments against dumpster diving often focus on the cleanliness aspects of scavenging. Some divers are even against the actual meaning that some give the activity; and just use it as a way for survival. Meaning, they’re not worried about cleaning up after themselves or taking more than they need. These divers are the black sheep of the community, often not abiding by law enforcements and giving a bad representation for everyone.
  So, why should you care about reusing things or even eating from the garbage? With over 3,091 active landfills in America, and over 10,000 old municipal landfills, that’s a ton of trash going to waste (Lee). And according to the Environmental Protection Agency, in 2008 one person produced on average, 4.5 pounds of waste. To put that in perspective, Discovery Channel states that the total accumulation of trash in one day from America equals 6,750 blue whales (Planet Green). So why not be resourceful and live by that quote, “Another person’s trash is another person’s treasure”? What we dispose of speaks volumes as to who we are as people, and so does what we do with it.
  Although I was hesitant to bite into something expired, I learned that there’s a purpose behind dumpster diving, and that it’s not just for the homeless. Instead of scavenging being an environmentalist quest, it should be a human quest. Until everyone in the world has food in their bellies and landfills are disappearing, I think dumpster diving may be the only way to help clean up our planet.

References

  • Dive! Jeremy Seifert, Compeller Pictures 2012
  • Lee, Fred G. “Landfills: Hazardous to The Environment, January 2007, Retrieved from http://www.zerowasteamerica.org/landfills.htm, March 2013
  • Pickup, Oliver. “Meet New York’s Freegans…”August 2011, Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2022338/New-York-Freegans-enjoy-worlds-cheapest-barbecue-food-salvaged-entirely-dustbins.html, March 2013
     
  • Planet Green members, “Pollution” April 2012, Retrieved from http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/america-produce-trash, March 2013


5 comments:

  1. Amazing essay Ophelia! I love how you are so descriptive in your writing!
    Moreover, I agree with you when it comes to scavenging...but perhaps I'm just biased lol
    #ProudScavenger

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  2. I liked your essay so much because it was personal, you have had your own experience with dumpster diving unlike the other's essays I have read.

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  3. Good essay I love your use of personal experience and your title.

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  4. I love your paper I also felt the same way about the expired food but I don’t know if I would go to the extreme like the movie but thing that I have already bought maybe but grate job on your paper

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  5. I liked reading your essay because you where very descriptive. I also like how you included your own personal experience with dumpster diving and how you shared your honest first reaction. Since that is the way that most people would react to that situation, it is great that you included that. I also liked your title! Good job!

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