In Lars Eighner's essay "On Dumpster Diving," he describes his experiences with the phenomenon of dumpster-diving, which he began approximately a year before he became homeless, and presumably continues to this day. The phenomenon of dumpster diving involves rummaging through things people throw away and either eating or retaining it. Eighner, in this essay, notes the varying rules and experiences he has for his own ethos regarding dumpster diving; according to him, as long as it is done responsibly, it is an efficient and sustainable way of life. Eighner's philosophies steer far away from conspicuous consumption and toward responsible, picky scavenging; in his essay, he notes the relative safety, responsibility and sense of satisfaction that cones from the phenomenon of dumpster diving, though he does not spare the feelings of the ones who do throw things away. In my perspective, Eighner seems to look down on those who do not dumpster dive, turning his call for more responsible consumption into somewhat of a self-aggrandizing manifesto on his own smug greatness. While Eighner has very good points to make about how to scavenge, and what it does for him, he cannot help but compare himself favorably to even other dumpster divers. To that end, his essay does not entirely convince, because it seems more to congratulate himself than to instruct others on how best to dumpster dive.
The safety of dumpster diving is one of the issues Eighner tackles in his essay. When discussing the need to collect food, and determining what is safe to eat, and how to determine this. Some hard and fast rules for the road include examining canned goods, lingering outside pizza parlors, and looking for the reason why a food was thrown away. However, despite the treasures he regularly finds in his dumpsters, there seems to be a price paid, especially given all that effort and time. "No matter how careful I am I still get dysentery at least once a month, oftener in warm weather. I do not want to paint too romantic a picture. Dumpster diving has serious drawbacks as a way of life" (Eighner, p. 5). It is perhaps because of these drawbacks that Eighner is very sensitive about how society views dumpster diving.
Eighner discusses the social acceptability of dumpster diving, and just how much people look down on him or do not. Eighner does not seem to think it is a bad thing; "I am a scavenger. I think it a sound and honorable niche, although if I could I would naturally prefer to live the comfortable consumer life, perhaps – and only perhaps – as a slightly less wasteful consumer, owing to what I have learned as a scavenger" (p. 1). This ties in very well with the notion that wasteful and conspicuous consumption is starting to undo our world and our country - the way in which we live has been shown to be incredibly wasteful, to the point where a global food crisis is on the rise (Stuart, 2009). While millions of people go hungry, certain industrialized nations (like America) are overproducing and hoarding food, letting it go bad; dumpster diving as perptuated by people like Eighner is, admittedly, one way to address on a microlevel these unique problems.
The phenomenon of dumpster diving itself is treated with some care by Eighner - while he admits that he fully committed at one point to the pack-rat philosophy, he feels bad for those who simply cannot help but collect good items for contingencies. In Lewycka's article "So I'm a Skip Addict," she describes this pack-rat mentality: "Maybe we don't need new stuff all the time. Maybe, like them, we can save and repair and recycle" (Lewycka, 2009). This cuts to the heart of the discussion regarding what people need and what people can use - if you can repair an object and put it to some use, by all means take it. However, you cannot get too carried away or you will not have any room left for anything. Eigher notes, "Once I was the sort of person who invested objects with sentimental value. Now I no longer have those objects, but I have the sentiments yet" (p. 9). This commentary upon hoarding through dumpster diving notes the necessity to not fall into your own brand of conspicuous consumption, picking and choosing virtually anything that could be put to some use someday. To that end, Eighner is a very responsible person with his diving, taking only what he needs and suggesting others do the same.
Eighner's essay is, perhaps unsurprisingly, filled with quite a bit of vitriol concerning the average consumer, whom he sees as wasteful. When mentioning someone else who is eating from his food and asking if something is safe to eat, Eighner is offended. "This question has always made me angry. Of course I would not offer my companion anything I had doubts about. But more than that, I wonder why he cannot evaluate the condition of the crackers for himself" (Eighner, p.2). Despite it, to me, seeming a perfectly innocent question, Eighner takes it as evidence of distrust of his lifestyle and of incuriosity on the other's part. This, to me, reveals a bit of insecurity about Eighner; he knows that dumpster diving is socially unacceptable, and he rankles at questions that cast doubt on his omniscience.
Eighner regularly flaunts his intelligence and foresight in his prose; "Yet in spite of the element of chance, scavenging more than most other pursuits tends to yield returns in some proportion to the effort and intelligence brought to bear" (p. 9) Because he does so well with scavenging, the implication is that he brings the greatest amount of 'effort' and 'intelligence' to bear. His final line of the essay, in which he is "sorry" for the "rat-race millions who nightly scavenge the cable channels looking for they know not what," shows a tremendous contempt for those who are wasteful (p. 9). Despite his claims that "I avoid trying to draw conclusions about the people who dump in the Dumpsters I frequent," his admonishment of dishonest athletes and fickle women enduring breakups is present in the essay anyway (p. 9). While Eighner seems to try and avoid disrespecting those who do not scavenge, he does look down upon those who do not.
The sense of responsibility that Eighner sees in his dumpster diving, both toward himself, his dog Lizbeth, and all of modern society is addressed - he feels as though people waste entirely too much food for arbitrary reasons. According to research, American has long been alled the "throw-away society" and nearly 40 to 50 percent of all food produced is thrown away (Harrison, 2004). As a result, Eighner posits scavenging and dumpster-diving as a potential solution to these problems, and even links it to increasing trends in cities to become a full-on subculture. "The finding of objects is becoming something of an urban art" (p. 1). Eighner even notes the intrinsic rewards that come from dumpster diving, as opposed to his experience in the world of consumerism: "I think of scavenging as a modern form of self-reliance. In any event, after having survived nearly ten years of government service, where everything is geared to the lowest common denominator, I find it refreshing to have work that rewards initiative and effort" (p. 9).
In conclusion, despite the relative smugness of the material, Eighner makes some very good points in his essay. His approach to safety is somewhat sensible on the surface, but a bit more reckless once the details of the consequences to his health are revealed. Eighner notes the social unacceptability of dumpster diving, but believes that it is somewhat of a noble profession. Despite these lofty goals, Eighner also spares a little disdain or pity for those who conduct their lives without dumpster diving, ending his essay by feeling "sorry" for them. Instead, Eighner feels a sense of responsibility toward the goods that he steals - since someone else is not using it, he is no longer contributing to the overall consumption of Earth's resources nearly as much as others. In doing so, he notes the wastefulness of industrialized society and posits a few suggestions that might reduce consumption.
Works Cited
Eighner, Lars. "On Dumpster Diving," in Travels with Lisbeth. 1994. Print.
Grifter. "Dumpster Diving - One Man's Trash." 2600, Summer 2002. Print.
Harrison, Jeff. "Study: Nation Wastes Nearly Half Its Food." UA News, November 18,
2004.
Web.
Hoffman, Abbie. Steal This Book. Grove Press, 1971. Print.
Lewycka, Marina. "So, I'm a skip addict - avocado bath suite, anyone?" London Evening
Standard, July 02, 2009. Print.
Stuart, Tristram (2009). Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal. WW Norton,
2009. Print.
