Freeganism: Shopping For Free From Your Local Dumpster

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Here’s an interesting article in the New York Times about a growing movement called freeganism. Freegans are dumpster divers. While some do it for economic reasons, most dumpster dive for political reasons. By living completely on the trash of others, freegans claim they aren’t contributing to big corporations and they’re helping reduce their impact on the environment.

Freegans aren’t just dumpster diving for old home furnishings. They are also dumpster diving for food. Now, before you say ewwww, they’re not eating half eaten food with maggots growing on it. Many grocery stores throw out products when they pass the sell by date. But as I discussed earlier, just because a piece of food has passed the sell by date, doesn’t mean it’s bad. Because food is well packaged these days, freegans don’t worry about contamination while sitting in the trash. From what I’ve read, it looks like bakeries are the places to hit up. Because bakeries want to sell only the freshest product to their customers, they throw out bags of perfectly good bread on a daily basis.

I find the idea of freeganism very intriguing. Not only is it frugal (it’s free stuff), it would be way to buck the system. However, I think the biggest problem with freeganism is the time commitment. If you really want to find good stuff on a consistent basis, you have to go dumpster diving a lot. It also takes a lot of time rummaging through trash to find the good stuff. Going to the super market and handing over cash is definitely more time efficient.

For more information about freeganism, check out freegan.info.

So, would you all ever consider taking on the freegan lifestyle? If you’ve ever dumpster dived, what was your experience like?

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17 Comments

1. ChristianPF on 21.06.2007 at 10:57 (Reply)

   You know, I guess it just comes down to how you want to live your life. I try to do the absolute best I can with my resources, but I do not LIVE to be rich or pile up cash. I want to live an enjoyable life now and in the future. This is not how I would want to spend my time just to save a few bucks.
   But, for those who do, more power to you!!

2. strange bird on 21.06.2007 at 10:59 (Reply)

   Would I? Heck no! But I have considered growing a lot of my own food, and will probably do that someday.

3. PiggyBank Raider on 21.06.2007 at 12:36 (Reply)

   I love the idea of dumpster diving–mostly because I hate to think of so many good things going to waste (and filling up the landfills!). But Hubby would never join me, and it’s not an activity I’d do alone.

   I agree that the time commitment could be prohibitive.

4. Kenlie on 21.06.2007 at 16:53 (Reply)

   I think it’s a great idea to save $$, but not at the cost of diving into someone else’s trash. Self worth is important too, and I’m not sure how good I’d feel about myself eating food out of the garbage.

5. Kenlie on 21.06.2007 at 16:54 (Reply)

   Actually, I am sure…I’d feel a bit trashy.

6. Brittany on 21.06.2007 at 21:36 (Reply)

   I would never dumpster dive unless I seriously had NO food and couldn’t afford it. Like Kenlie said, my self worth is more important than saving a few bucks. In my experience with fundraisers and “bread runs” I did with my grandma as a child the bakery (inside of larger stores or smaller privately owned ones) will donate the stuff they would normally trash for bake sales etc. I doubt they’d do the same for individuals though…even then I couldn’t see myself in a dumpster.

7. Brett McKay on 22.06.2007 at 13:46 (Reply)

   Great comments everybody!

   ChristianPF- I agree. I would rather spend my time taking part in my hobbies or with my family than go dumpster diving. Then again, you could make dumpster diving your hobby and do it with your family, so it wouldn’t be taking time away from anything.

   Strangebird- I want to grow my own food as well. As soon as we get a place of our own, I’m definitely going to start a garden.

   PiggyBankRaider- Dumpster Diving can be dangerous if done alone. What would you do if you fell into a dumpster and broke your leg! You’re stuck, at least until the garbage trucks come.

   Kenlie- I find the idea of eating food out of the trash unappealing as well. But if it’s completely good food, I would just hate to see it go to waste.

   Brittney- I can see dumpster diving for food as a last ditch effort to survive. I don’t think I could do it as a regular means of supporting myself though.

8. Matt on 25.06.2007 at 08:16 (Reply)

   I actually know a woman — my former housekeeper — that started out “dumpster diving” behind bakeries and grocery stores, but in short order had an informal standing appointment at several stores where she’d meet the staff out back and go through crates of stuff before anything got put in the dumpster. She’d literally fill every bit of space in her car with perfectly good “expired” groceries. She’d keep some to take home, and then take the rest to one of several homeless shelters to be distributed.

9. Marc on 26.06.2007 at 13:20 (Reply)

   It seems to me, that if I were taking the perfectly good trash despite my having resources to provide for myself, that I would be depriving someone who has no resources of their food.

   I hope this doesn’t catch on.

10. Brett McKay on 27.06.2007 at 13:36 (Reply)

    I’ve thought about that, too. For many less fortunate people, foraging for food in trash is how they get by. Unfortunately for these people, freeganism is catching on. Just type in freeganism at YouTube and you’ll get several videos and newsclips about it being a growing trend.

11. Decidedly Unprestigous » Blog Archive » Savin’ Bucks - followup on 28.06.2007 at 13:44

    […] only just starting on reading the entries, but it looks fairly useful.  No way I’m dumpster diving […]

12. expensr » Blog Archive » Thrifty Thursday - How to Save on Food on 29.06.2007 at 15:58

    […] money is really tight though, and you can’t avoid the extreme, practices like freeganism are gaining traction. Your local grocery store probably disposes of food that’s reached its […]

13. Festival of Frugality: #80 | Money for the Rest of Us on 04.08.2007 at 19:54

    […] McKay presents Freeganism: Shopping For Free From Your Local Dumpster posted at The Frugal Law Student. Dumpster diving for food? Not something I’ll start […]

14. Stacy Ahrens on 27.02.2008 at 21:50 (Reply)

    I think it’s great that people are becoming more and more aware of how wasteful our country is. I think if stores would take these expired items and charge next to nothing for them, it would really take off. I guess that would really put a damper on the freegans. I am glad that people are using this food that has been thrown away. I don’t know that I could dumpster dive myself, but my hats off to you!

15. stamptax on 26.03.2008 at 02:01 (Reply)

    I like the idea of freeganism in principle, but I absolutely hate it in practice. I was the unhappy recipient of bedbugs this past fall because a tenant in my old apartment building was bringing in furniture from dumpsters. I didn’t want to freecycle bedbugs with the guy but had no choice in the matter.

    6 months later I’ve moved into a new place after losing all of my furniture and many other belongings.

    I’ve heard that NY has quite the bedbug problem . . . I don’t think it’s DUE to freegans, but I don’t see how they can be helping the matter.

16. anon on 28.03.2008 at 03:50 (Reply)

    I rummage thru dumpsters behind large businesses. I have found unopened bags of cat food, cat litter, a new stereo system, CDs, tons of furniture, unopened but out-of-seasons bags of halloween and christmas candy, unopened high-thread count sheets, unbroken and never used plates, etc etc etc.

    You people who are not doing this for fun are insane. I don’t eat food out of dumpsters, but the free stuff businesses throw away are amazing.

17. dumpster divers on 23.04.2008 at 08:56 (Reply)

    we acquire the majority of our food from dumpster diving, and it takes -much- less time than going to the supermarket (where you have to wander the aisles, avoid all the advertising, and then queue). it takes us five minutes to walk to our nearest supermarket and five minutes to take a few days worth of food from their bin. we even have photo evidence on our blog - http://www.emoware.org/dumpster-diving/

    so no, paying cash doesn’t necessarily save you time :]

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