4 Easy Ways to Be a Freegan

Reader Comments
Back to blog

Did anyone have a parent who grew up during the depression? In the south, the depression lasted longer than other areas of the country. My mother grew up on a farm in northeastern Arkansas. I remember her reusing plastic bags and aluminum foil. She would wash them along with the dishes and leave to dry. I have never taken to dumpster diving, but when times are tight, I know how to pinch up.
You will spend less if you stay home. Don't go shopping unless you really need something. Window shopping is a waste of time and you will be tempted to make an impulse buy.
Never buy anything unless you have to have it that week, even if it is only a box of envelopes. Shop at a smaller grocery store. You will spend more at a larger store. Clip coupons and use online souces for coupons.
Challenge your cooking skills, buy finding ways to reuse all leftovers. Stay home to eat. Eating out is expensive.
I do agree with this article that buying sodas,etc is a waste of money. Water is the best, most natural, good for you beverage in the world. Eight or more glasses a day will keep you happy and healthy.
Yard sales and side of the road finds are great. Learn to sew for mending and making new things. Practice reverse snobery by braging on how little you spend rather than how much.
When my children were small, I sewed their clothes until I discovered the consignment shops. The used clothing shops were less expensive than sewing. I only went to Kmart if I couldn't find what they needed elsewhere.
Never shop without a list. Make the list ongoing during the week as items need replacing. Attach coupons to the list. If possible,go by yourself as kids and husbands can be distracting.
If it is not on the list, don't buy it.

Carolann Robertson of GA 9:55AM September 29, 2008

I don't know "Bob", but I did read his post carefully. He is not insulting a way of life that reuses, he is objecting to the title of "freegan", saying that people who DO adopt that way of life would probably prefer to be called something a little more distinguished. The title of "freegan" sounds like "vegan" and brings up all the wrong images. Not all, but many vegans have become so from an idealism that they're "better" than meat consumers. People whom this article is calling "freegan" are doing so to not because of idealism, but necessity, thrift, and a dislike of waste. What he's pointing out is that the driving forces behind Vegan and Freegan are dynamically different, therefore, the two should not be associated so closely by name.
Basically, the lifestyle is not lousy, just the name.

Mo of TX 9:14AM September 29, 2008

Wow Bob, did you learn all those big words in college? I wasn't aware that self-righteous was a bi-word for the poor. Not all freegans are middle class, and not all vegans are self-righteous. (See, I went to college too!)
Oh, and those of you referring to taking items desined for the trash as 'stealing', take a long look at yourself in the mirror, in this economy, it could be YOU doing it tomorrow. And no, if something was bought with tax dollars, and is desined for the trash, the person taking it is in their rights, do they not pay taxes too, therefore making it theirs?
And those doing it hopefully have enough of a brain not to be taking things out of a chemical plant/lab's trash. Experienced divers know what to take and what not to. It's pretty obvious when a fruit or vegetable is spoiled. Much like some of the commenters here.

PoorTXMother of TX 8:19AM September 29, 2008

I agree about "good things" being thrown out in the trash! I,myself,have saved a a lot of "good things" from being wasted. Mostly trash bags of neighbors --- here & there. Before I give a partial list of what was found,I want other readers to KNOW that I did SHARE.Now,back to the partial list(this includes all of the neighbors bags): still frozen deer meat,a laundry container that fits between a washing machine & dryer,2 cell phones,dishes,shoes,mastomy bras & inserts(I didn't keep those.or the shoes),flour,corn meal,hot chocolate,bread,a hand mixer,a matching rubber mat(I guess for the kitchen)& a metal stool that has helped me out alot when I need some extra height
(I'm 5'4"),towels,washcloths,dish towels,even a 13-gallon trash can that has a lid that swings!
Here in my town,trash-picking in the dumpsters are against the law,I was getting pop cans out,& some stupid man reported me.
Oh well! That's life. I forgot how to say the first word in French. Although,I DID find one of those big,round laundry
baskets,& a pair of children's shoes.I gasve tdhem to my niece for my great-nephew. That was wa-a-a-y before the cans.
My mother & I ,both are "savers". We hate for things to go to waste.

Name with-held of VA 7:27AM September 29, 2008

Thanks, Bob, for the stereotyping. It feels pretty good to be told I'm adolescent for eating freegan -- even though I'm a fully grown woman, English teacher, married. Sure, I grew out of the veganism I adopted as a fourteen-year-old... and learned how to hop fences to find good, healthy food without having to pay for it and still feed my family. I fully acknowledge the privilege many freegans/vegans enjoy, and I know it's not something easily adopted by folks of all walks of life (a white person is obviously going to find it easier to get away with dumpster diving than perhaps a single mother or person of color), but using that as an excuse for better-off people to go on living wasteful lives is downright stupid. Rather than swapping out labels that ignorant people misinterpret, why don't we actually communicate and educate people in our daily lives (or at whatevver level we're comfortable at)? And leave the misinformed stereotypes and generalizations at the door, please.

Melissa of CA 9:46PM September 06, 2008

Urban Appalachian raises the notion of there being no high ground to scrounging, and this is an important point. "Freegan" is a lousy name for people who minimize waste. It conjures up the smug, adolescent, self-congratulatory "idealism" that is associated with vegans. This association may be attractive to lefty college students who already get a thrill out of proving themselves "alternative" or "radical," but it's a repellant association to the mainstream working people brought up on consumerism who are now looking for ways to economize. Appealing to the former group is preaching to the choir; this article should be directed at the regular folks of the latter.
---Besides, one would hope that even vegans will grow up someday and put away their self-righteousness, after they've learned that being a good person isn't as easy and formulaic as nominally adopting an ideology and following their self-congratulatory crowd. Attaching the notions of thrift, stewardship, and good resource management to adolescent self-righteousness makes it more likely that people who come to perceive themselves as grown-ups will associate these practices with self-indulgent immaturity, and abandon them in later life.

Bob of MA 12:15PM August 25, 2008

My mom routinely organizes staff meetings and "recycles" the leftovers. While some may see it as tacky, I think the extra hours she puts in setting up the meetings and going to pick up the food more than entitles her to snag anything that would have been thrown out anyway. The key here is to take only what you can use, because if you waste it what was the point?
My grandma recently cleaned out her pantry and asked if I wanted some canned goods. A few days later, a co-worker told me about a tenant in the apartment building she manages that was having health problems and had to stop working (SSI had denied her disability & food stamps claims). I was able to give grandma's canned goods to someone who definitely needed them more than I did.
Personal standards and germophobia keep me from reusing expired or discarded food items, but I have trash-picked many a fine antique - enough to fill my 3 bedroom house. I plan to sell my old aluminum storm windows the the scrap metal place to buy my books for the upcoming semester. I don't think there's any moral high ground here...freegans are just doing what us poor folk have been doing to get by for generations!

Urban Appalachain of OH 11:38AM August 05, 2008

Its not the "Same" as stealing! If it would have all been consumed, then who would be charged? Judgement of others is not considered nice. Also, in most cases, anyone willing to pack it up, is hungry enough in my opinion, to be deserving. Not many ppl, steal food, out of want. I don't condone stealing. I do however think, that many many people are struggling, even if they dont outwardly appear to. Let's worry about real theft, like everytime, I have to fuel up. Or, when a mother loses a child to this insane war. Leftover food, bon apetit!!!
God Bless

Suzanne of IN 8:26PM August 04, 2008

I am very glad to see that others are finally seeing what others waste and deciding to use it. I was brought up a dumpster diving freegan and have never been ashamed. Many thought we should be. I have been saving perfectly good wood from dumpster at home construction sites for a couple of years and will soom build my own house using other peoples so called trash. Why pay for what is free and should not go into the landfill.

Shannon of KY 6:54PM August 04, 2008

This is even easier than cruising Craigslist because you can subscribe to a local group and get daily post of things people are giving away rather than sending to the landfill.

Tony of CA 6:50PM August 04, 2008