Dumpster Diving...

... or how to eat for free by diving into the overflow of the society. 

Most people don't know about the amazing quantity of food ending up every day in the garbages of supermarkets. One of my favorite activities at the moment is "dumpster diving", the practice of getting (fresh) food out of these garbages. It sometimes gives the feeling of being in an orchard or in a garden, with food just waiting for being picked or harvested. Moreover, there are plenty of fruits and vegetables in there, so I started eating healthy!

In reality, it is quite a sad story. Imagine bananas grown in South America, shipped to Europe, but finally ending up in a garbage although they are still perfectly edible. It is not only a shame towards the millions who starve around the world, it is also wasting the resources which were needed for producing and transporting this food: land, soil and labour for the production, petrol for the transport... So, using this food is not only about saving money, but it is also a way of reducing our impact on the environment.

Here two pictures after a diving session. It's a great work to save this food from being wasted, to clean it and spread it on the table for drying. And you can understand why I started eating healthy again:




A collection of links on this subject, mostly Youtube videos:

In English:
  Dumpster Diving: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VlFJsuBjA0
  Freegan Way Of Life (CBS News): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB56aGTgfVE&feature=fvw
  Anti Consumerism - A Freegan Story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5q_FAxDuWs
  Freegans Take green to the extreme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOEF75VwAtY&NR=1
  Eat free....Feel good: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD2C77TRrFs&NR=1
  Freeganism

In German:
  Frisch aus dem Mistkübel (ORF "Am Schauplatz", 4 Teile):
   Teil 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqhKci8Yb5w&feature=related
   Teil 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYQkFTONtKk&feature=related
   Teil 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr0hoOQe2ak&feature=related
   Teil 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7eZCkqccbA&feature=related
  Freeganismus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWROOeLg8FY&feature=related and also freegan.at