Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1891251,00.html
“Why the middle classes go scavenging in dustbins”
THE Thanksgiving holiday is over and the frenzied Christmas shopping season has begun. This is bonanza time for the tribe of rummaging Americans known as “freegans”.
The anti-capitalist freegans — the name combines “free” and “vegan” — are so appalled by the waste of the consumer society that they try to live on the leftovers, scavenging for food in supermarket dustbins.
While I would say that basing my entire existence on what I scavenge out of the garbage is a bit much but I would be highly suprised if 'loyal readers' have not, on ocasion, seen something that their neighbors put out for the garbagemen and taken it home. Many things that we of the preparedness mind would find usefull of nice-to-have many people find useless after a certain amount of time. Examples – lotsa of time people give away canning jars. My local newspaper carries a 'to give away' section and theres almost always chickens, rabbits, freezers, refrigerators, scrap lumber and that sort of thing. When I see homes being remodelled or repaired I always cruise the alleys behind the place looking for scrap 2×4's and that sort of thing. Matter of fact, the shelves for my ammo cans in the bunker were made entirely from slavaged 2×4's.
I do, however, draw the line at food. Sure, canned food would be ok if the cans are in good shape and their integrity has not been breached. But the rest Id rather not take my chances with. When I lived in NYC I did a short stint as a security guard at a McDonalds in Times Square. One of the jobs was to , at the end of the day, go out to the dumpster and poor bleach over all the contents to keep homeless people from rummaging through it.
Theres no shortage of websites to give 'how to' lessons and 'success stories' from people who have found _____ while dumpster diving. I only bring it up because for some things that you and I might find usefull, its worth checking out. Especially check out your local paper in the classifieds to see if they have a 'to give away' section
