Homelessness is increasing every year and effecting Americans of different age, ethnicity and religion. In Lars Eighner “On Dumpster Diving” he explains what he went through while being homeless. He describes how and what foods someone should be looking for and to always be conscious of what one is eating because there is always a reason why something has been thrown out. He continues to go into detail about other items that can be found in the dumpster like sheets to sleep on and pieces of paper to write on. Things that can keep him busy through the day. Eighner carefully explains to his readers how being a dumpster diver has become a life style for the homeless and this is how they survive. It’s a way of living and they are comfortable doing it. “I began dumpster diving about a year before I became homeless” (Eighner 713). He tries to bring us into the world of being homeless. It is hard to imagine what it would be like in that situation, and how could surviving as a dumpster diver be a way of survival? As a dumpster diver, Eighner is able to tell us what is ok to eat and have and what is not ok for your health. His essay starts by uttering some guidelines of what is and is not safe to eat. “Eating safely from the dumpsters involves three principles: using common sense for evaluating the food, knowing the dumpsters of the given areas and always ask, “Why was this discarded?” (Eighner 714). Eighner was born Laurence Vail Eighner in Corpus Christi, Texas, on November 25, 1948. When Eighner became homeless in 1988 after leaving a job he had been with for ten years as an attendant at a state hospital in Austin, Texas. “For three years he traveled back and forth between Austin and Los Angeles with his dog Lizbeth, earning what mo... ... middle of paper ... ...This is a very powerful article taking his readers into the world of being poor and homeless, and what people experience every day that could never be imagined. Eighner says in one of his last paragraphs that, “many times in our travels I have lost everything but the clothes I was wearing and Lizbeth” (Eighner 724). He also states that he and the wealthy have the same attitudes about knowing there is more where what they came from. Eighner is so powerful and doesn’t care what others think of him. He is just trying to survive like everyone else. To have such a carefree attitude is very moving. Works Cited "Travels with Lizbeth: Three Years on the Road and On the Streets." Publishers Weekly 260.34 (2013): 57. Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Jan. 2014. Eighner, Lars (1992) "On Dumpster Diving," New England Journal of Public Policy: Vol. 8: Iss. 1, Article 7.
He starts by giving a lot of personal examples (Pizza shop example), then talks about other people who try it (The stages of beginning to dumpster dive), and explains how dumpster diving is a lot better than the more accepted picking up of cans (comparison to a wino). He then delves into the ethics behind dumpster diving (looking at prescription bottles and such), and then if one, presumably the reader, wanted to try it how they would do so (pole with hook on it). He ends with some deep insights into dumpster diving and his way of life. I think that the way he organizes his essay, and his overall tone, are to convince the reader that dumpster diving is not as bad as everyone things, and to make people actually interested in trying it. He first
As depicted by Mayberry (2009) Lars Eighner began dumpster diving for food a year before he became homeless the first time in 1988 and again in 1995 but prefers the term scavenger, which he feels is a “sound and honorable niche” (p.351). It is not clear from this excerpt why he started scavenging for food long before he became homeless nor what led to him become homeless either time, however one could surmise that it was from lack of resources to purchase food to eat and living expenses. Pearce (2013) continued to state on a phenomenon that “one may in fact still have housing but may not be able to afford much more than the monthly payment”, consequently if one continues to pay for the housing, he or she may have less available in terms of food and end up relying on other sources of food as Lars Eighner did by scavenging dumpsters (para. 12). Eighner went on to state how he was able to discern edible foods from non-edible such as eating yogurt past the expiration date if it was still sealed, however with all the precautions he took still got dysentery at least once a
The majority of people waste food on a daily basis. In fact, in the U.S. alone there is an estimate that over half of the food produced goes uneaten; meanwhile there are people who are in need of food, and it ultimately goes to waste (Dockterman). For example, in his essay, “On Dumpster Diving,” author Lars Eighner writes about his experiences of dumpster diving with his pet dog, during his years of homelessness. According to Eighner, much of the food and materials he came across in the dumpsters were in usable shape, and many items were new. Clearly there needs to be a change in American food waste, in current and, hopefully not so much in, future generations. In order to bring about change in this misuse of food, Americans need to be conscious
Lars' on dumpster diving is not a piece which is meant to be taken in a pitiful way. At the end of the essay he himself says he feels sorry for those that he scavenges from, those that put sentiment into material wealth. He goes into great detail on his dumpster diving exploits. The message of this essay is one of resilience and to make do with what one has. Examples are used quite frequently, the pizza shop or the fire ants, but also his language when he says "he may wipe off the egg yolk off the can but he cannot erase the stigma of eating eating garbage".
Jeremy Seifert’s documentary, Dive!, goes behind the scenes to show that there are billions of pounds of food waste a year in our country when 1 billion people a day are starving worldwide. Seifert originally began his dumpster diving to show that his family of three could not only salvage good food to eat from the trash, but they would also save more
The understudies additionally disposed of medications, erotic entertainment and spirits. Eighner says that people throw away perfectly good stuff. Its majority contains much value, however he just gathers things that he can utilize quickly. Eighner writing style says a lot about his lifestyle, it shows that when he first started he did not realize that we as people throw away a lot of good things that can be fixed or that we waste a lot of food when their are others that need it more. He believes that whatever he finds has more value than it does to someone else. At the time when he was not homeless it made him realize that some things at the time were not worth acquiring, and know he think it holds so much value even though he was person that invested in materialistic things.
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
There is no shame that everybody had at least stereotyped once in their lifetime. Stereotyping is a common thing that happens whether someone does it intentionally or unintentionally. Some stereotyping causes mixed emotions; anger, sadness, humor, inspiration, many more. Though stereotyping will never be wiped from existence, many people have told their stories and seen from different perspectives when stereotyped. Take, for example, Judith Cofer and Lars Eighner.
Food is the most important thing to survive, but for homeless, it takes miracle to find food even for a day. Some people got food from begging on the street or buy food by the money they received. Others find food in unfortunate places; trashcan, picking it on the road, or eat others’ leftover. Even if there are chances of getting food from, some also starve and even lead to death. Because of food being so hard to find, 57% homeless spends at least a day being starve (“Statics” 2). For not receiving food and not eating regularly, it affects health conditions. They become sick easily. Once homeless gets sick, it is not easy to get back on track because they do not have anybody that take care of them. While the population of homeless increase, the death rate of homeless people also increase.
By applying the marxist lens “On Dumpster Diving” the reader creates an Ideology which is utilized in order to distinct two different types of people in society those who view things useless and those who so potential in useless things.
In the past decades, the booming housing market has caused the prices of real estate to dramatically increase causing the issue of homelessness to be on the rise. Many people who do live on the streets, resort to dumpster diving and finding trash to call theirs. In his article: "On Dumpster Diving" Lars Eighner, goes into depth about his experiences while dumpster diving. Eighner found many items in the dumpster that were still edible or somewhat useful. He began diving a year before he became homeless and has continued while he wrote his piece of work (Eighner 673). Eighner enlightens us with many instances of his journey dumpster diving while he was homeless.
Each and everyday people look for a way to help the community and environment around them. It could either be picking up trash around the local park, or cleaning up destructed areas, it could even be simply turning off the lights after you exit a room. How much does one really need? How might this affect the environment? One professor at Huston-Tillotson University, Jeff Wilson, took it a step further to answer that question. Wilson constructed an experiment called ‘The Dumpster Project’. Wilson moved from a large home into a dumpster. When journalist James Hamblin heard about this project he wanted to share it with the world. Hamblin uses the technique of in depth examination and expression to show the environmental impact and inspiring
He writes, “Although I hope to get off the streets so that Lizabeth can have a long and comfortable old age, I know this hope is not very realistic.” We pity the lack of a home with its warmth and familiarity for both the author and his dog. Even though we can see he does not mind being homeless and Dumpster diving, there is still a sense of emptiness that comes to mind. We pity those who are homeless because there is usually a negative connotation with being homeless. They were laid off, they have an addiction, or they are mentally unstable. Regardless of the fact that the readers’ know this is not the case, there is still the notion that people are deserving of things unless they have truly done something to not deserve it. Eighner continues with, “The things I find in the Dumpsters, the love letters and ragdolls of so many lives, remind me of this lesson.” The full context of the quote, is that nothing is really permanent. The author knows that harboring things while homeless is pointless because he has, “Lost everything but the clothes I was wearing and Lizabeth.” He can not really hold sentiment to objects considering he’s constantly on the move. While Eighner is not asking the audience to feel guilty or mournful that he has come across numerous, pitiful stories, the audience is still moved by the stories. It might even remind the readers
Step 3: 1. Eighner introduces his arguments through the use of narrative stories and his own personal experiences. He uses this technique to let the reader see firsthand how some people are able to survive off what is carelessly thrown away by others who take what they own for granted. Eighner illustrates this point on page 1, “The necessities of daily life I began to extract from Dumpsters. Yes, we ate from Dumpsters. Except for jeans, all my clothes can from Dumpsters. Boom boxes, candles, bedding, toilet paper, medicine, books, a typewriter… I acquired many things from the Dumpsters.”
In our nature, we have the habit of throwing as much stuff possible even if it’s something that is still usable. A small imperfection makes them liable to throw it away, yet there are people out there who have nothing to eat and are constantly hunting for food, even if it isn’t a real hot meal. They just need something to fulfill their digestive need. Food should be viewed with much more value and respect rather than ignoring and throwing it as if it’s trash and not life essential. The statement we constantly hear but fail to acknowledge is that “some people have it much worse” and there are those who really do. People who don’t have a cent to their name are going through dumpsters and eating the food that you threw out. There’s a huge amount of homeless people in our nation yet our government still fails to take action. It is for this reason that I believe the community should recognize homelessness as a problem and petition government to take action against it.