Why Live an Anti-Consumerism Lifestyle?

Last year, I had the privilege of interviewing a student freegan (who wishes to remain anonymous), from Cornwall. Freeganism is a subject that I have had an interest in for a while, but have known little about due to its social abnormality.

‘Freeganism is an anti-consumerist lifestyle whereby people employ alternative living strategies’ (Miller, V&M, 2009: N/A). This ‘ideology’ first started in the U.S. (known as Dumpster Diving), and in short, is the act of salvaging from bins.

In the UK, we throw away ‘ten million tons’ (Daily Mail, 2007) of edible food a year. ‘Supermarkets…legally…throw food out that is past its expiry date… and when you think about the growing number of families…that…struggle to afford food, you start to see why myself, like many other Freegan’s, engage in this sort of activity.’ (Anonymous, 2013)

Although the politics behind this lifestyle is sad, there are many advantages to it. It means that less of the food is wasted, and so less goes to landfill; it’s a rewarding lifestyle, but best of all its free! But why aren’t more people doing this?

Well the first reason is probably floating around your head right now: Why would you want to eat out of a gem ridden bin!? Secondly, perhaps you are too afraid of what others would think of you, and worry about your status in society. You also might consider this act as stealing, or you may just simply not have the time to hunt for fresh food every day.

But I ‘eat like a king. I eat high quality foods that I could never afford to buy in shops such as Marks and Spencer’s, and Waitrose’ (Anonymous, 2013). Most of the foods that are thrown into the bins are dumped in, in carrier bags or boxes, which save them from touching the rotten goods below, and if you go searching as soon as the store closes, then you can pick them up fresh. However, most Freegan’s choose to search during the night in order not to be seen, though during the winter months it does get very cold.

It goes without saying that supermarkets and shops do not like the idea of people going through their bins, and unfortunately they are well known for going out of their way to stop this by throwing blue dye or glass all over the goods, making them inedible, which is such a waste!

‘However it’s not just food that I…salvage, I’ve found items such as clothing, children toys and household items….I can remember finding over £100 worth of butter still in their original box (Anonymous, 2013).

This sounds like a great opportunity to get free food, and like my mother always says ‘You don’t know you’ll like it until you try it’! However, it is advised to read up on tips about Freeganism before you go out. Stay safe!

Bibliography

Anonymous. (2013) Topic: Freeganism. [Interview: 19/10/2013]

Miller, F and Vandome, A, and McBrewster, J. (2009) Freeganism. Unknown: Alphascript Publishing

Daily Mail (2007) Two Million Tons of Good Food Thrown Away by UK Families Every Year [Online] Daily Mail. Available from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-490956/Two-million-tons-good-food-thrown-away-UK-families-year.html [Accessed 19/01/2014]

Dumpster

Driver Paradise. (N/A) Unknown [Online]

Dumpster Diver Paradise. Available from: http://dumpsterdiversparadise.com/

Once Registration Has Been Warranted. [Accessed 19/01/2014

Further Reading

PDF Download: Interview with Anonymous Freegan