I've never had to dumpster dive for lack of money with which to buy food. What I love about the concept of it is not only that it's free food, which is always nice, but also that it's a bit different. It's not your everyday activity, and you never know what you're going to get, it encourages you to try more things and be open minded, and gives you a whole new respect for food. Unfortunately it is at present illegal in my country, as rubbish is considered to still be the property of whoever threw it out until it is collected.
This is a law that really bugs me; I get that companies may not want to lose customers due to them not wanting to buy what they can get for free, but I believe that people who frequently dumpster dive probably couldn't afford food otherwise, and so would just go without or steal it, both of which are obviously worse than somebody taking food deemed not good enough for sale.
Dumpster divers have a bit of a bad reputation, which doesn't help, for being people with no respect for other people's property. Unfortunately I must say that in many cases this is probably right; in the process of getting food people will not worry about the state in which they are leaving the area; leaving rubbish lying around, and graffiting et cetera...
But in my opinion there is no sufficient reason for which a law should be in place on the matter... The government these days puts in place too many laws, I don't think that anarchism would be perfect by any stretch, due only to the fact that then the greed of everybody would come out in the world, as opposed to now where it's only that of the few people with political power... But I do think that an anarchistic society could deal with some matters far better than they are at the moment... Of course, I am not only speaking about dumpster diving, but the government can get a lot of things wrong. I know it's impossible to please everybody, but it doesn't seem to truly please anybody! Maybe I'm just being difficult though...
I don't like dumpster divers, they are like "hey, look at me I am so original that I don't have to buy stuff, I don't care of your economy". Blah.
ReplyDeleteAye but the vast majority of dumpster divers don't flaunt it in front of people, as it's often frowned upon... Heck, I never talk about it irl,
ReplyDeletedumpster diving is like a box of chocolates, except with garbage
ReplyDeleteHahaa not bad... Though, garbage is in the eye of the beholder!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting view point on dumpster diving. If I didn't hate getting my hands dirty, I might consider doing this for fun.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. It shouldn't be illegal.
ReplyDeleteI've done this twice now in UK supermarkets. They threw away 40 cans of tuna with 2 years left on the best before date, because they now were sold in 4 packs, not 5. Stupid. +Follow
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't try it unless completely necessary. Unless it's "garbage" like the poster above me mentioned. That's just wasting food.
ReplyDeleteIt is great fun, it's exciting, free, and you get souvenirs! I hate to see anything wasted, whenever the shop I work at throws anything out I ever pocket it or bag it individually and leave outside to come back to get after work if it's big
ReplyDeletePeople waste a lot of usefull things ^^
ReplyDeletei remember watching tv it showed a family that did dumpster diving. they were a middle class family and doing that saved them a few bucks a year
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThe store I worked out threw out alot of things that weren't expired/perfectly fine. If only I was able to grab it before it went into the trash compacter. They actually destroyed the products then threw it out.
ReplyDeleteI am constantly amazed by what people throw away.
ReplyDeleteEugh destroying them first is so much worse. My manager once tried to get me to open up all shampoos and stuff we were throwing out, and squirt them all around in the bag to discourage the dumpster divers we'd been having... I couldn't be bothered arguing with her (she's too dumb to be worth it...) so I just lied and said I had :D
ReplyDeleteVery good read! I agree with your point of view.
ReplyDeleteI always wondered why like McDonalds couldn't just give their food to the homeless or something. There's gotta be some invisible waiver people sign if they invest in old but still good food. Bullshit lawsuits would ensue, which is probably why they can't. Sad.
ReplyDeleteI agree totally! following and supporting :D
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame to waste like that, and it happens not only in supermarket, but also in big companies, they throw away tons of computer materials just because it's old.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to be that if the customer is informed of the fact that food is past its date then it's ok to sell (to an extent), and is certainly ok to give away. There are charities (such as Food Not Bombs) that benefit from food that would otherwise be wasted; collecting donations from shops and giving it to those in need. These types of things are great in my opinion, but I can't understand why a shop wouldn't want to support these charities, as many don't!
ReplyDeleteThat's actually quite interesting. I don't think I'll get into that, but if you plan to post more about I'll definitely be reading it :D
ReplyDeletei like your blog. keep up the good work
ReplyDeleteI've never participated in this particular activity either.
ReplyDeleteI think as long as the trash picker doesn't make a huge mess, there should be no reason for this to be illegal. I usually trash pick furniture, building material and electronics for repurposing/recycling at the risk of arrest.
ReplyDeleteI may well post more about it, I'm planning to do some over Easter so if I get anything good I'll be sure to mention it :3
ReplyDeleteI used to dumpster dive as a kid just for the sake of it but now I find it kinda grose. Just doesn't smell right
ReplyDeleteThe smell can be bad, but what you actually take is generally bagged separately and so not linked to the smell...
ReplyDeleteInteresting hobby.. be safe.
ReplyDeleteInteresting article.
ReplyDeleteI do dumpster diving at the end of the school year, and have ended up with textbooks, TVs, carpet, and other stuff that is good for dorm rooms that people just toss. Never dumpster dove for food though
ReplyDeleteI don't think I could ever bring myself to do that.
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