"Join the ‘freegan’ movement..."

Join the ‘freegan’ movement

Dumpster diving, something that many look down upon is now becoming mainstream.

NBC nightly news, “60 Minutes” and “Oprah” have recently featured a college professor who not only dumpster dives but has a class on how to do it. You can find everything from televisions, CDs, books, microwave ovens and just about anything you can think of.

The supermarkets and department stores throw out food that may have a blemish or two. Every night I take a walk with my dog to my favorite restaurant right after the dinner hour and find my dog a dinner that is fit for a king and the beauty is that it is free. I only pick entrée-type food items (beef, chicken, pork and fish) for my dog that are still warm and less than one hour old.

It’s a fun hobby and you are helping the environment by recycling. There’s a new word that has transpired in the last decade, it’s called “freegan.” Freegans are people who live off what others throw away and who try to live outside consumer society and search garbage for edible foods and items.

Many of these people are wealthy and do it out of principal and as a fun hobby. Freegans are not just poor people or bums, they think outside the box.

Like with humans there is no set rule on what to feed your pets. I used to house-sit and everyone had their own special things to feed their four-legged companions. I used to mix hulihuli chicken with brown rice for one dog, another dog enjoyed canned cat food and lived to be over 20 years old, and one of the cats ate mahimahi and sweet potato everyday. Remember one man’s (pet’s) meat is another man’s (pet’s) poison.

In these rough economic times dumpster diving and becoming a freegan is an economic-stimulus package available to us all.