Dumpster diving, while not something we've ever done, is gaining popularity as a green (albeit controversial) way to reduce waste. According to an article on the Mother Nature Network, dumpster divers are helping to save 91 billion pounds of food waste each year. Would you do it?
We're not endorsing the practice. It can be dangerous, unsanitary, etc.
But if you are planning to give it a go, or have tried it already, you might want to take a few tips from that same Mother Nature Network article. Tips like:
What do you think about dumpster diving as an extreme green trend?
Learn more about it and get those tips with full explanations here.
Other Extreme Green posts:
• Mark Boyle Living Without Cash
• Green Extreme: Avoiding Debt Living in a Van
• 'No Impact Man' Colin Beavan and Michelle Conlin
Image: MNN.com
© 2010 Apartment Therapy
Thrown-out edibles is bad, but this is even more tragic! (especially considering the current cold snap!)
view kvh's profile
I'm not against dumpster diving for household goods (though I've never done it). People throw out a lot of perfectly good things. I AM against going there for food as an eco-friendly move. I mean, maybe if you're starving then yeah, go ahead and risk it. If not you're risking your own health for no reason... unless you look at the possibility of illness and death as being ecologically friendly. I mean, it is. You'd certainly be "reducing your footprint."
view satsukirebel's profile
When I do it I just cook it. You would be surprised to see how much food is still in the original package too. Cash and Carry discount supermarkets are the best.
view benfowler's profile
kvh: that is absolutely disgusting. It amazes me that so called "civilised" countries can let this kind of thing happen, and there's no government effort to stop it. Sigh.
A friend recently went to Vanuatu as a volunteer, and she said the thing that struck her was that everyone there is living in what we would view as poverty - huts with dirt floors, gushing with thanks over donated old t-shirts - but absolutely no-one was homeless, and everyone had food. Maybe not enough food overall, but they all had the same, no-one got left out. We could learn a lot from them.
view FoodieGreenie's profile
There was a point in my life when all of my food was dumpstered. You just have to be smart about cleanliness. Clean anything and everything that comes out of the dumpster and preferably cook it before you eat it. I never got sick from my food. It's not for everyone, but it was my only option at that point in time. It's a shame that something like (the last statistic I heard) 1/4 of all the edible food in the US is thrown out. If there's a spot on your tomato, cut it out and eat the rest. Don't throw the whole thing away. That's such a waste.
Waste not, want not.
view ratheartsbikes's profile