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Nov 14, 2007 8:13 pm US/Central
Dumpster Divers Fight Waste
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 News) ―
They are former Fortune 500 executives, tenured professors, students and parents. They look like everyone else, but the clothes they wear – and in some cases, the food they eat -- has been scrounged out of a dumpster.
Jeff Ferrell is a professor of criminology at TCU in Fort Worth. Ferrell, like a growing number of people all over the nation, gets what he needs from what others throw away. The practice is called Freeganism.
"Anything that others buy, I get from dumpsters," Ferrell said. Ferrell spent a year out on the streets as a dumpster diver researching for his book "The Empire of Scrounge."
People who practice Freeganism are making a political statement by giving up money and not buying anything. Everything from their clothing to their home furnishings and transportation is found in dumpsters.
"Their argument… is that anytime you buy something you're, in a sense, playing into a system that exploits workers and creates global poverty," said Professor Ferrell.
The concept was born out of Veganism, which is the practice of avoiding products and food made from animals. The Freegan philosophy just takes it a step further.
Another hallmark of Freeganism is a willingness to embrace food that has been pulled from the dumpster, said Professor Ferrell.
Adam Weisman is a Freegan in New York City, perhaps one of the best places to scrounge. "We do all the things that capitalism tells us that we're not supposed to do," he said.
Weisman and his fellow Freegans set out a few times a week to scrounge for food, and in the Big Apple, there's no shortage of apparently fresh finds.
To find out how much fresh food could be found in North Texas dumpsters, a CBS 11 camera crew went dumpster diving with Professor Ferrell.
Here's what was found after an entire day of scrounging:
a couple of Oscar Meyer Fast Franks in a Bun
2 1/2 pizzas (Pepperoni, Canadian Bacon, Sausage)
Chicken Wings
Cinnamon Sticks
Seedless Grapes
Celery
Bananas
Acorn Squash
Lettuce
Health officials warn against eating anything out of a dumpster for obvious reasons like germs and food decay.
Ferrell said common sense goes a long way when it comes to diving for food. "If you sniff a package, you can pretty well tell whether you want to eat it or not," he said.
While he admits he doesn't follow the entire Freegan philosophy by diving for his food, Professor Ferrell does dive for most everything else. He said he looks forward to retirement so he can dumpster dive full time.
There are more accessible ways to apply the basic Freegan principles to your life and cut back on consumer waste. For example, instead of throwing away things like clothes, furniture and food, donate them to a shelter so they can be reused.
Click here for more information on Freeganism.
The concept is also used in some online groups known as FreeCycle. People post online notices of items they want to get rid of but don't want to throw away.
Click here for a list of FreeCylce groups in Texas.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
