In the article “On Dumpster Diving” Lars Eighner tells about his life experience as a homeless man and new lifestyle as a dumpster. Although, Eighner rather uses the word “scavenger” instead of dumpster driver. Telling his story, Eighner uses a literary device like exposition throughout the article in order not just to retell word to word story, but to explain all the details of his new way of life.
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At first sight, it seems a terrible unusual occupation, but he considers this activity a kind of art and a full-time job. Eighner tells that to be a good “scavenger” a person should navigate several steps by investing a lot of time and effort. He believes that the successful dumpster should follow some rules. One of the rules is to know a good place and time to look for food and other items that may be useful. Another rule is to know how to eat accurately from a dumpster.
Nowadays, no one is surprised by people who dig in garbage cans in search of food (pizza, water, fruits and etc.) or useful things. But it’s not at all unusual to see in this role not homeless and beggars, but quite decent formal dressed young people in their prime with Apple device. European and American freegans calmly and with dignity choose consumer wastefulness and products that are not yet spoiled in the backyards of supermarkets, pizza shop, bars and restaurants. They know where to search it. And the matter is not at all in financial possibilities – this is a deliberately chosen lifestyle. In a word, they are struggling with the consumer wastefulness.
People who collect uneaten leftovers from plates in public cafes are also not uncommon. Most of them, of course, are ordinary beggars, who cause a feeling of pity in someone, in others disgust, and in others both. But among this plenty, there are “utilizers” and those for whom such gathering is just a philosophy, a lifestyle. In a word, these people are followers of “Freeganism”, they deny all the principles of the existing “consumer wastefulness”, and essentially they know how to minimize their participation in the current economic system.
Dumpster diving or diving into trash cans is a way of getting food, clothing, sometimes a good device, furniture, etc., especially for “advanced” Americans and Europeans. And not only people who cannot buy a new bed, new device, a coat, pizza or a pack of cookies are engaged in this. Some begin to engage in freeganism, because, first of all, it is interesting to do something like that, forbidden, then they start doing it all the time, and secondly, who will refuse of free and completely new things even if they are found in a garbage can’such people are struggling with consumer wastefulness. Often used quotation: “The garbage of one person is the treasure of another person”. It perfectly describes the feelings of Eighner in this article. At one point, he said that sometimes consumers cast away completely new things and it does not mean that it is rubbish, just things ready to change the owner.
Freeganism is primarily a way of peaceful protest. Freegans pull out various vegetables, bread and other food and consumer wastefulness from the garbage. People see them and begin to wonder: why does this well-dressed man with dig into the garbage? They just are not satisfied with the current state of affairs, when in one part of the world people are starving and dying, and in the other – throwing food into garbage cans. Unlike consumers, they take care of this issue. Eighner also tries to consider this fact in his article.
There is no orderly formal exposition of a theory in the article, he just writes about the lifestyle of such a category of people.
Eighner also uses in his article such literary device as description, when he tells about the irresponsibility of young people in the use of frozen goods. Some consumers because of their unconsciousness or lack of skills in preparing really contribute to wastefulness. Eighner also criticizes the actions of the pizza shop, when the workers throw out the leftovers into the garbage, instead of giving people who need it.
So, in this article Eighner condemn the wastefulness of consumers who do not care about how irrationally it is. He tries to convince modern consumers that there are dozens of ways to use food and other goods with the benefit.
Another significant facet of the article by Eighner is that it is not necessary to be rich in order to have a fulfilling life. He is a good example of that, as he finds him happy with such a way of life that satisfies all his needs.
It also should be mentioned, that Eighner uses formal tone writing the article. The formal tone helps him to attract the attention of a wider audience of consumers and to emphasize the fact that if he is homeless, it does not mean that his opinion is insignificant or trivial.
According to Eighner, humanity is related to the environment of a consumer and predatory, and corporations, which in such a situation have a great influence, care only about profits. As a result, an endless stream of overproduction arises: the economy devours resources, turns them into goods, and throws away the unsold surplus, believing that it is easier for consumers to throw away than to sell.
Consequently, this article Eighner tells how important for every consumer is to care about their wastes. Eighner uses effective literary devices like exposition and description in order to argue the need of modern society of persistence, attentiveness and rationality. Finally, Eighner represents in his article a completely different alternative of life that others unlikely would support, and thus disperses the biased notion of dumpster diving.
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