Payton Vicknair
Mrs. Parkinson
English III B
13 April 2016
Removing The Stigma In Dumpster Diving
Lars Eighner wrote a book about his adventures being homeless. We read one of the chapters from his book where he talked about dumpster diving. I know you just cringed at the thought of someone living out of a dumpster. It’s all gross to us. But the way Eighner wrote his novel didn’t make me gag or think about a dumpster as a dirty, rusty old metal bin filled with nasty maggots and rats. He made it sound like he was very experienced in what he was doing and it didn’t seem bad at all. It actually made us the reader who is living well seem like the wasteful people who could get much more out of our food and other objects we own. Eighner says, “After all, the finding of objects is becoming something of an urban art.” (713) He doesn’t see “scavenging” as bad anymore and more like saving. He would keep track of when colleges would go on breaks because the student would throw out food before so it wouldn’t spoil and it was perfectly good food.
Eighner really makes me think. I don’t think about the stigma of people who dumpster dive anymore, but more how I can stop wasting my food and donate the food that I don’t need to homeless shelters so people who do scavenge don’t have to be watched and judged by the people walking around them who don’t understand the meaning of Eighner’s way of life.
