I ♥ Garbage

Hey! Blog isn’t dead! I still exist and I still pull...

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 01:48:53 -0500

Hey! Blog isn’t dead! I still exist and I still pull things out of the trash. Things like cigarette/rolling paper cases that I can use to store my sundry non-tobacco products.

I often don’t post all the individual pieces of...

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 07:32:00 -0400

I often don’t post all the individual pieces of brik-a-brak I find, as they always seem so unremarkable at the time I find them… but I realize looking about my apartment that I have a ton of pretty things everywhere, and it’s rather refreshing.

(everything in the above picture was dived… shelf upon which they’re resting included)

Rawr.

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 19:04:10 -0400

Rawr.

Beep beep! This truck is delivering a shipment of freedom!

Sat, 28 Jul 2012 23:29:03 -0400

Beep beep! This truck is delivering a shipment of freedom!

Did boots just spontaneously go out of fashion last week or...

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 08:41:12 -0400

Did boots just spontaneously go out of fashion last week or something?

Ah! Now, this is the sort of summer haul I’m used to!

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 15:12:47 -0400

Ah! Now, this is the sort of summer haul I’m used to!

Apparently my future is either going to involve clock repair or...

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:07:43 -0400

Apparently my future is either going to involve clock repair or steampunk.

Why Vegans Don’t Join Freegan Omnivores

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 14:04:30 -0400

letthemeatmeat:

When vegans are challenged on the impact that their consumer vegan lifestyles have on the planet — the destruction to animal habitats caused by supporting agriculture, the fossil fuel burned in all stages of food production, the animals that are killed in the harvesting of grains, etc. — they typically admit that their diets are not entirely death-free, even though there are no dead animals on their plate. “But,” they will add, “at least I have less of an impact than you.”

Sure, the industrial production of vegetables, grains and beans is often deadly for insects, mammals and fish, and it’s certainly not carbon neutral, but compare the damage caused by eating these foods directly to the suffering and destruction wrought by omnivores who inefficiently funnel those grains and beans through animals first. Veganism isn’t perfect, vegans admit, but it is the best way for anyone to reduce their negative impact on the world while still surviving.

Unfortunately, this isn’t true. Freeganism would reduce their impact even more… even if they were still eating animal products.

Read More

An interesting article which honestly touches on some of my problems with veganism, although I do not agree with all of its points

I think the fact that I’ve found more than one jar of...

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 01:30:00 -0400

I think the fact that I’ve found more than one jar of money in the garbage highlights why the greater part of the world just might think poorly of America.

I can now allegedly smell like Bergamot, tea, lavender and/or...

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 01:21:47 -0400

I can now allegedly smell like Bergamot, tea, lavender and/or strawberries.

My apartment’s new guardian.

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 18:52:04 -0400

My apartment’s new guardian.

I’ve been losing a few followers, I suspect as I...

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 21:34:00 -0400

I’ve been losing a few followers, I suspect as I haven’t been updating much. Basically, I’ve been finding an assortment of random items like this every night for a while, but nothing has really grabbed me as bloggable.

Certainly not after the human teeth, anyway.

It’s a very rare individual whose hobbies include both...

Thu, 17 May 2012 16:20:23 -0400

It’s a very rare individual whose hobbies include both dumpster diving and making things out of bones, and who can therefore be gleefully excited about finding a jar of extracted human teeth. I am glittering special snowflake of the natural world.

Dream maker HUM HUM is lovely dog

Sat, 12 May 2012 21:10:16 -0400

Dream maker HUM

HUM is lovely dog

Do you open up the garbage bags or just look on top of them? Do you wear gloves or anything?

Sat, 12 May 2012 19:38:57 -0400

I’ve outlined my methods of diving here and here (Yes I do open bags, although generally I don’t rummage around until I’m at home with hand sanitizer and my numerous boxes of disposable gloves. I love my gloves.)

Why do I even buy food in May and June?

Sat, 12 May 2012 19:32:53 -0400

Why do I even buy food in May and June?

Problem: Tacky post Cinco de Mayo sombrero. Solution: Rats!

Thu, 10 May 2012 08:59:00 -0400

Problem: Tacky post Cinco de Mayo sombrero.

Solution: Rats!

demonliza: DID IT ANYWAY, BITCHES.

Thu, 10 May 2012 07:38:51 -0400

demonliza:

DID IT ANYWAY, BITCHES.

riverlillyriver reblogged your link: Greengrassz: “so MTV contacted me to be a part of their...

Sat, 05 May 2012 18:48:00 -0400

riverlillyriver reblogged your link: Greengrassz: “so MTV contacted me to be a part of their TrueLife show about people…

Really? Because every city I’ve been to the homeless people congregate where the good food dumpsters are. Whole foods and Trader Joe’s are near everything else in town, where the homeless also congregate.

I suppose that my experience differs from yours then. I tend to find the few commercial dumpsters I frequent usually have myself as the only customer (although I admit to being primarily a residential diver) and that the neighborhoods its safest and most plentiful to dive in are overwhelmingly mid to upper class.

I also have found in my time volunteering with shelters and charities addressing homelessness that people who don’t have a fixed abode tend to have a hard time making use of things that need to be prepared (large loaves of bread, cook-able grains etc…) which is why I support community actions where those with more resources collaborate not only in helping and prioritizing homeless divers (who should obviously come first) but also in processing and redistributing food items that aren’t immediately useable without a kitchen. While I’m not a huge fan of FNB, I think that shedding light on the group and similar organizations could actually propel new divers toward addressing hunger issues in addition to leaving them enthused about free stuff - which is why I advocate divers discussing the practice publicly in depth, rather than attempting to remain forever mute about it (which is really unfeasible in the information age).

Also, I must say that I’m a little curious as to why you seem to assert that that the bulk of new divers will be people who don’t “need” to dive. Plenty of people facing issues of poverty have access to TV and not all people who face hunger are absolutely destitute and homeless. Plenty of people who seem too “well off” to dive to a casual observer may actually need food badly.

Greengrassz: “so MTV contacted me to be a part of their TrueLife show about people...

Sat, 05 May 2012 16:00:37 -0400

Greengrassz: “so MTV contacted me to be a part of their TrueLife show about people...:

greengrassz:

“so MTV contacted me to be a part of their TrueLife show about people with strange habits. Apparently dumpster diving is a habit ? LOL”

We should all send them letters to not showcase dumpster divers on the show. Showing it on MTV would create a BOOM in dumpster diving that would leave all the…

Something that often troubles me is that dumpster diving for certain articles is often a privileged activity and that people don’t always recognize it as such. Most poor people who genuinely need to forage for their survival lack transportation to popular freegan hot spots, and the stores that are generally targeted by white lower middle class bohemians (Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods) generally don’t have branches in high poverty areas.

The truth is, that even if MTV’s coverage caused a spike in diving, it is unlikely that these new freegans would be cutting into the same food sources used by the genuinely needy - as, let’s be honest… they wouldn’t feel comfortable in “those neighborhoods.” It is more probable, instead, that they’d be intruding on the turf of people much like themselves.

What I think would be more beneficial than petitioning MTV to not exploitatively report for it’s exploitative reporting show, would be to send letters encouraging the media giant to offer a more balanced view of non-impoverished freegans versus those actually facing crisis situations, and to perhaps pay a nod to attempts to confront this dynamic, such as public servings by groups such as Food not Bombs (which is laden with its own problems but is probably the sort of thing MTV could manage to wrap it’s consciousness around).