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Dumpster Diving Essay

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Dumpster Diving: Thinking Dirty or Clean?

Although ideas like The Real Food Project are making great strides to raising awareness and reducing waste when it comes to food surpluses and what the major supermarket chains do with them, millions of metric tons of foodstuffs, not to mention other manufactured products, are going straight from the production line to the landfill with no discernible use in between. Dumpster diving may seem like a dirty concept, but if you’re taking unnecessary and harmful waste away from the landfills, well doesn’t that make it a “clean” practice?

Whether you’re a struggling college student (for whom I would definitely advise giving it a try!), or just an environmentally conscious adult, there are clear benefits to diving in to the dumpster of your local supermarket chain. For one, food isn’t the only item you can reclaim from a landfill, before it even gets there. Household appliances like phone charges, hair dryers and even the occasional bottle of vodka have all been reportedly gleaned from a successful dive, and those are some of the worst items to be trashing, seeing as they can, at very least, be easily recycled.

Moreover, rotting foodstuffs produce methane gas in landfills, which is a potent greenhouse gas and makes up approximately 40-60% of the gasses…show more content…
Fruits, vegetables and breads are all thrown out well before their time because their sale is based on aesthetic appearance, but just because a banana is starting to brown doesn’t make it inedible. In fact, even if you don’t feel like eating it now, you can just as easily throw that banana in the freezer and make banana bread later on! The same goes with bread items, most often just having hit its “expiry” date doesn’t mean it’s gone bad. Throwing a loaf or two in the freezer will prolong the life of bread extensively, which can then be toasted or made into French toast for a tasty morning
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