On Dumpster Diving By Lars Eighner

Waste Not, Want Not

Dumpster diving is a way of life for some, a hobby for others, and a disgust to most. The majority of society either scoffs at the sight of or turns a blind eye to someone rummaging through dumpsters. It isn’t where most people go to retrieve the essentials of life such as food or shoes. But there is a rather healthy percentage of our society who plunge ankle deep into another man’s trash looking for treasure. Many of those who go in search of valuables or food among the trash have noted that searching through the dumpsters at dorms and colleges reveal a surprising amount of perfectly edible food. This can place negative attributes on our nation’s population of college students. But, they aren’t the only ones to blame for

He shares his knowledge on where to look, what to look for, and how to look for it. Closing time at local pizzerias would often yield Eighner a bounty of fresh pizzas. Whether it was from pranksters calling in fake orders or an error on a pizza’s toppings, among the trash was usually a healthy supply of uneaten, wasted pizzas. Due to their tendency to be careless when tossing out the contents of their refrigerators and pantries, Eighner also frequented dumpsters in the areas where college students lived in order to find provisions. College students can be in the habit of throwing everything out when the semester is over or in preparation for an upcoming holiday. Often the food tossed in with the trash is well within its expiration or sell by date, or have minor flaws. All of this waste is a welcome sight to people like Eighner who count on others to quickly lose sight of the value of things. This behavior is characteristic of a majority of society, where it has been engrained in people’s minds since childhood, the action of “out with the old, in with the new.” An example of this can been seen in technological advances, such as smart phones. Every few months it seems a newer model is released to the public, and without hesitation or consideration of the perfectly good phone in their possession they MUST acquire the new one.

Their wasting of food is just another facet of college life, ranking up there with excessive partying. This may come from the newfound freedom of living on their own with their own set of rules, or it could be because there is no value in what they didn’t have to pay for themselves. Many college students rely on parents or other sources to pay their way through college, including footing the grocery bill. In situations like this where a young person doesn’t have an abundance of real world experiences, an undeniable chunk of appreciation is lost if work isn’t required to get something (like a stocked fridge) in return. Free things can void responsibility for many people and the consequences can have lasting effects no matter how minimal. In this case, food waste among colleges and their students has reached a point where it is no longer a choice to ignore. Studies have shown that the average college student contributes in excess of 140 pounds of food waste per year. That number is astounding and should be an indicator that a solution must be found for both the environment and its