Dumpsters
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has an article about a guy who scrounges in Dumpsters for food and other items.
The guy's not homeless. In fact, he is a printer who makes $1,400 a month. He just tries to supplement his income with a little scavenging.
And he doesn't go for half-eaten burgers and the like, he salvages packaged food that has been chucked by grocery stores or restaurants. Like if there's a six-pack of juice boxes that has one damaged box, a store may toss out the whole thing.
But this bit caught my eye:
God forbid that someone might actually be able to use garbage. City-owned junk belongs only in once place -- a city junkyard, definitely not in the hands of private citizens who would actually use it.
The other interesting bit is that some Dumpster-hunters trade tips and arrange meetings -- over the Internet:
Near the end, there's this unremarked passage:
The P-I says the story is
Yet there is nothing in this article that suggests that those interviewed are bitter, or angry, or disaffected. They have jobs. They have homes. They have cars. They have Internet access.
While it does jar one's sensibilities to read about people who have to dig through trash bins to make ends meet, it sort of seems like a win-win situation.
The guy's not homeless. In fact, he is a printer who makes $1,400 a month. He just tries to supplement his income with a little scavenging.
And he doesn't go for half-eaten burgers and the like, he salvages packaged food that has been chucked by grocery stores or restaurants. Like if there's a six-pack of juice boxes that has one damaged box, a store may toss out the whole thing.
But this bit caught my eye:
Technically, that garbage is off-limits. It's against the law to "steal" from Dumpsters. Even those who are paid to collect the garbage aren't allowed to nab a good find.That's right. If you want to salvage something that someone else didn't want, well, tough. The City of Seattle jealously guards the right to its trash!
"Once it's in the garbage, it's city property," said Stav.
God forbid that someone might actually be able to use garbage. City-owned junk belongs only in once place -- a city junkyard, definitely not in the hands of private citizens who would actually use it.
The other interesting bit is that some Dumpster-hunters trade tips and arrange meetings -- over the Internet:
An Internet-based "meet-up" group advertises monthly get-togethers for Dumpster diving in Seattle. The group, founded two years ago, has more than two dozen members, including a university student looking for sources for his senior thesis on Dumpster diving.Even our bag ladies are online.
The Web abounds with sites that offer advice -- on what to wear when you go diving (black hat, steel-toed boots), what to say if you get caught ("I'm looking for boxes"), helpful tools of the trade.
An online Dumpster-diving adviser known as the Dumpster Lady, for example, endorses the Unger Nifty Nabber grabber stick. "I can pick up a quarter off the bottom of an otherwise empty Dumpster with my Unger," she writes in her Frequently Asked Questions section.
Near the end, there's this unremarked passage:
At one promising site, he hops out and quickly sorts through the top layer: children's toy scissors, still in the pack; an unopened bottle of fabric softener; more steak sauce.I mean, here's a guy who, under today's social code of exalted victimhood, should have every reason to bitch about how his country has failed him. He's been reduced to scrounging in Dumpsters, for crying out loud.
He runs across a plastic American flag under a pile of refuse.
"How come this happens?" he shakes his head and secures the flag on the Dumpster so the Stars and Stripes can flutter free.
The P-I says the story is
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's ongoing series "Hard work, hard times: The plight of Puget Sound's working poor" examines the lives of those who live in poverty even though at least one family member works full time. Today we focus on one man's survival strategy: scouring Dumpsters for discarded treasures.It appears to be one of those series that has the unspoken undercurrent of "something must be done".
Yet there is nothing in this article that suggests that those interviewed are bitter, or angry, or disaffected. They have jobs. They have homes. They have cars. They have Internet access.
While it does jar one's sensibilities to read about people who have to dig through trash bins to make ends meet, it sort of seems like a win-win situation.
<< Home