The other night I went out to dinner with some friends. We were in two cars, and my group arrived a little before the other. We waited for what seemed an extreme amount of time, and then my friend Jen came bouncing in, waving what appeared to be a flag of some sort. In reality, it was a scrap of fabric with Freegan mottos written on it in black magic marker. Freegan, you ask? No worries, I'm getting to it.
From my Boulder posts, you probably know by now that it is often appropriately called "the People's Republic of Boulder." In the words of my sister-in-law upon a recent visit, "Wow, I've never seen so many granola people gathered in one place." I concur, but even I didn't know the extent of it until Jen told me what happened when she parked her car. Apparently, as she was turning off the engine, she saw a man pop his head out of a nearby dumpster. If it were me, I would have gone out of my way to avoid eye contact, but one of the girls in the car recognized him for what he was... a freegan. So, we return to freeganism. A freegan, you see, is someone who dumpster dives for foods and only eats what others throw away. The idea is that we humans have a tendency to trash perfectly good food, and freegans want to eliminate all that waste.
Dumpster Dan was thrilled that someone knew what he was doing, and he spent the next twenty minutes explaining his rules for picking out food. He never takes fruit from the bottom of the pile, he never takes meat, and he only takes canned/bottled goods that are less than a few days past their expiration date.
Fascinating. I have to give the guy props, although I find his lifestyle shudder-worthy. If I weren't such a germaphobe, I might even test it out. But, seeing as how I'm nervous to eat a piece of fruit from the local farmers' market without soaking it first, I don't think I'll be taking up freeganism anytime soon.
Viva la Boulder!
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