Freeganism - Living the Freegan Lifestyle

Lately, there has been a lot of talk going around about a new sub-culture called freeganism or freegan. Freegan, a mash-up of words, combining free and vegan, has been hitting the already strict lifestyle of vegans in major metropolitan cities around the world.

So what exactly do freegan’s do? Well, imagine that you need a new pair of shoes or some more fresh produce for your family, rather than hopping in the car and heading down to the local superstore, you would wait until night fall and head for the dumpsters in your area. That’s right, freegan’s place their focus on ridding the world of corporate America’s wasteful nature and putting discarded items back to good use, along with saving money and focusing on a “simpler” lifestyle.

While the process of dumpster diving is nothing new to our country, in fact I have crossed paths with several people that make a living from reselling discarded treasures such as electronics and furniture, but I must admit that salvaging food may be a little over the top for many of us, certainly myself.

Now you are probably thinking that the people taking part in this frugal lifestyle are those that are less fortunate than many of us. This however is not the case at all. In a special aired on the television recently, one of the featured couples consisted of a lawyer and doctor in New York City, but these are not the only well payed freegans, no, actually it would seem that quite a few of the people participating in freeganism are by no means experiencing a shortage of money. It seems that people are not turning to this lifestyle due to a lack of finances but rather to more of a rebellion against consumerism.

I must admit that while some of the freeganism methods seem to make sense, I have a hard time stomaching the thought of eating food out of a grocery store dumpster. My life has not always been easy and I am, by no means, used to the finer things, but I do worry about disease and illness, which I can only imagine is a very real concern for people taking part in this lifestyle. Take a look at the video below and decide for yourself.

Well, after watching the video what do you think? Did it make you hungry or sick?

There is a lot to say about this type of urban foraging, the idea of living without any concern of money and schedules almost makes freeganism seem sort of surreal, nothing matters. Its almost as if they have found a way to float through life without all of the worries we face on a daily basis, but at the same time we have to imagine that it really takes a certain type of person to flourish in this lifestyle.

I wish freegans the best with their movement, I think it is a positive step in the right direction, the videos that have been shown on YouTube and the news, really manage to show us all how much is being wasted and that is surely a good thing. For now I will stand on the sidelines on this one, but at the same time feel a little more compelled to do my part. Thank you freegans!

Tags: dieting, dumpster diving, eating out of the dumpster, freegan, freegan food, freeganism, vegan, vegetarian