On Dumpster Diving Analysis

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I was able to connect with On Dumpster Diving by Lars Eighner because of a couple experiences I have had with dumpster diving. One being about five or so years back when my dad owned a business right beside a Staples Office Supply store and they would share a dumpster that was placed between the two stores. Often I would go there as a kid and do things to try to help out for a little extra money. One of the main things my dad would have me do was take out the trash around the store to the dumpster out back. On multiple occasions when I went out to the dumpster I would find perfectly good stuff that Staples would just throw out because there was a little scratch on it or if someone returned something and they could not sell it again. Office …show more content…

This story explains the science behind dumpster diving and the different techniques people use to scavenge for treasures that was once other people's trash. The author, Lars Eighner, talks about the pros and cons of searching through dumpsters to find food or other items that could be useful when you do not have much money to spend on essentials. Lars Eighner told multiple stories of crazy things he would find that people would just throw away. He Explains why a college campus is one of his favorite places to scavenge through dumpsters because of all of the spoiled kids who are very wasteful and just throw stuff away. He says, “Students throw out canned goods and staples at the end of the semesters and when they give up college at …show more content…

This is a common question that people who dumpster dive often ask. This is also a question I would ask myself about the lady I witnessed in Hawaii. She would often find half eaten foods sticking out of trash cans and begin chowing down on them without any hesitation. I was not sure if the things she ate were safe for her to eat or not, but i figured she probably knew what she was doing because she seemed to be confident in her actions. In the essay, On Dumpster Diving, it says, “Eating safely from dumpsters involves three principles: using the senses and common sense to evaluate the condition of the found materials, knowing the Dumpsters of a given area and checking them regularly, and seeking always to answer the question, ‘Why was this

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