Thread: Are you a "Freegan" ? Would you like to be ?

Freegans: There's Cash in That Trash
By Tim Chan

They gather in packs at night, usually just past dusk, and assemble behind buildings and alleyways. Empty bags in hand, they move at a steady pace, stalking large dumpsters and garbage cans for food, clothing and other treasures to be found. Often, they take home enough to sustain them for weeks on end.

Meet the freegans: a group of crusaders dedicated to saving the environment and saving money at the same time. They may have started as an underground community, but these days the group could include your next-door neighbor, roommate, or your boss. Their cost-cutting approach may be unconventional, but experts say it’s paying off and catching on.

“The whole idea of ‘green economics’ and cheap living has led to a renewed interest in freeganism,” says Jeff Ferrell, a professor of sociology at Texas Christian University and author of the book Empire of Scrounge. “It’s a great way to decrease harm on the environment while also keeping your costs down.”

What Is Freeganism?

A freegan is someone who avoids using money to acquire food and other goods. Spun out of the anti-globalization movement of the mid '90s, freeganism began as a reactionary lifestyle to consumerism, gluttony and greed. Freegans believed they could obtain food and other necessities for free, thereby avoiding big businesses and reducing their consumption of resources.

The word “freegan” takes its name from the word “vegan,” as members support a "cruelty-free” agenda that avoids meat and dairy. Today, freeganism also extends to non-vegetarians, as well as non-edible things like clothing, books and furniture.

Most freegans find things by dumpster diving or gathering outside a store and sorting through the trash. Others use a barter system to obtain goods and services, while some rely on collectives that promote the sharing of things like bicycles and cars.

Become a Freegan

If you want to do form your own group, Ferrell says it’s important to understand how your city works. “Before you go out, educate yourself about the rhythm and timing of your neighborhood,” he says. “Find out when the college dorms are being cleaned out, or when the donut shop throws out its food.”

Of course, a simple Google search can connect you with freegan groups in your city.

New York resident Peter Lee always had bread to eat in college, thanks to the local sandwich shop. The shop baked fresh loaves daily, and whatever didn’t sell would be thrown out. Lee spoke to the manager and found out what time each day a new batch of bread was taken out. He would then head over to the shop and bring home all the bread from the day before. “It was basically day-old bread,” recalls Lee, “so it was still fresher than what we bought at the grocery store.”

Common Myths

Although most people would find the idea of foraging for items in a dumpster unsanitary and unsafe, Ferrell says it’s important to remember that grocery stores have plenty of reasons to throw away food that is perfectly fresh, clean and edible. Ferrell says he often takes home bags of oranges that are thrown out simply because one of the oranges was damaged. Other times, grocery stores are clearing their shelves to make room for a newer shipment of a product.

Will Parson, a San Diego-based photographer, became a freegan after documenting a group of dumpster divers in the city. He says it's easy to find sealed food with an expiration date that is months away. “I've found dozens of gallons of milk one night, and dozens of bags of chips another,” he says, adding: “The excessive packaging around many foods makes it very easy to pick them from the dumpster unscathed.”

Another myth: Dumpster diving doesn’t really involve diving anymore. Ferrell says it’s easier to sort through boxes and garbage bags along the curb. But if he’s drawn to a particular dumpster, he’ll always bring along a long pole to help him reach what he wants. He notes that he always asks permission before sorting through someone’s trash. “Sometimes a homeowner will actually bring me other things from their house, once they find out what I’m doing,” he says.

Saving Money

Freeganism may have started as an anti-consumerist subculture but these days, its principles can be applied to the general public. “Once you get the hang of it, you can find just about anything in the dumpster,” says Parson, “so it's a good idea to think before buying something brand new that you might find used from a friend or discarded in the trash.”

“We’re like modern-day treasure hunters,” adds Ferrell. And as the saying goes, one man’s trash is another man's treasure.

http://www.mainstreet.com/article/li.../meet-freegans



5 Ways to Be a Better Barterer
By Farnoosh Torabi


Editor's Note: MainStreet's Farnoosh Torabi went on the Today show this morning to discuss the ins and outs of bartering. Here’s her take:

As bartering becomes more commonplace during this recession here are some key tips to help you make a favorable trade.


1. Reach out to local friends and family first. Scott Larsen and John Patton, co-founders of FriendlyFavor recommend first requesting barters from a trusted network of friends and family. It’s potentially safer than trading with someone you don’t know and more convenient since the trade can be local. It may also help eliminate costs like shipping and handling. “There’s something inherently a lot cooler to trade something with a friend or a friend of a friend,” says Larsen. In addition to FriendlyFavor, contacting friends on Facebook and sending emails out to your co-workers, friends and family is another way to reach your local network.


2. Search categorically online. After exhausting friends and family, turn to the web’s plethora of bartering outlets. Whether you’re looking to swap your electronics, books, old handbags or your house, there are a variety of free sites dedicated to specific barterers. For books, DVDs, music and video games there’s Swaptree. Your only cost is shipping your item. The site advises you use the post office's Media Mail service which lets you send almost everything for less than $2.50. If you want to swap un unused gift card for another one that’s more your taste, check out sites SwapAGift, TheGiftCardJungle and Plastic Jungle. For swapping clothes and accessories there’s SwapStyle and DigNSwap. And if you’re interested in staying in Europe for a week but don’t want to pay for housing, offer someone in Rome your place for theirs. Sites like HomeExchange, Homeswap and HomesForSwap are set up to facilitate the trade.


3. Be specific. The more specific and detailed your request, the better your chance of making a favorable trade. Don’t leave your request open-ended either. A posting on Craigslist has someone asking for “exercise equipment” but doesn’t say exactly what is requested. Be upfront about what you’re looking for. For example, if you want to trade your bicycle for some interior house painting, mention the make, model and condition of your bike with pictures, and then explain what kind of paint job you need. How many rooms? Are they providing the paint? Or are you just looking for labor?


4. Keep records. Have an agreement in writing in case anything goes wrong or doesn’t meet expectations. Also, a paper trail will come in handy during tax season.


5. File with the IRS. The IRS says individuals must file the fair market value of property or services received in a barter transaction. “Fair market value” is accepted as the value of the product or services you and the other party agreed upon before the transaction. This is recorded as income on Form 1040. If you engaged in bartering to benefit your business, and the value of the goods or services exchanged was more than $600, you need to report the exchange on form 1099, the “miscellaneous” form.

http://www.mainstreet.com/article/sm...etter-barterer

ok...I will barter! but eating food out of a dumpster is just plain gross!

I posted this in the new Frugal forum .... why did it get moved to N&I ?

Originally Posted by jasmine

ha ha, maybe because we don't want to be that frugal

Okay that made me laugh.

Originally Posted by jasmine

ha ha, maybe because we don't want to be that frugal

:

I think if I was hungry enough or my family was hungry enough I would do whatever I could to get something to eat for my family

In SC, simple diversions blunt downturn's impact
By Bruce Smith, Associated Press Writer Sat May 1, 2:08 pm ET

MARION, S.C. – In Marion, a tobacco town bypassed by the four-lane highway but not the Great Recession, more worshipers are kneeling at church, youth baseball rosters are thicker and the public library seems as busy as the local employment office.

About 100 miles to the northwest in Chester, folks are turning out for free arts shows while fishermen try their luck at one of South Carolina's state parks where attendance is up sharply.

Free and inexpensive diversions are helping people forget their worries in two South Carolina counties hard hit by the recession.

"About all you can do is go fishing," said Cecil Finklea, 50, of Marion, who is looking for work after losing his job with a produce company several months back. "I do go to church and I go a little more now. It keeps me out of trouble."

Marion and Chester counties are among the 65 most economically stressed in the nation with populations greater than 25,000 residents, according to the Associated Press's Economic Stress Index, a monthly analysis of the economic state of more than 3,100 U.S. counties.

The index calculates a score from 1 to 100 based on a county's unemployment, foreclosure and bankruptcy rates. A higher score indicates more stress. Under a rough rule of thumb, a county is considered stressed when its score exceeds 11.

Marion County, home to 34,000 in the northeastern corner of the state, had a March score of 20.99, while Chester County, with a population of about a thousand less, had a score of 19.84.

The pursuit of an inexpensive escape isn't limited to the South Carolina counties: The Ida Public Library in Belvidere, Ill., reports an increase in usage of materials across the board, particularly DVDs. Surrounding Boone County had a stress score of 22.6, ranking it the No. 20 worst, after it was hit hard by layoffs in the automotive industry.

"It's cheaper than buying and it's cheaper than going to a video store," said Connie Harrison, the library director in the city about 75 miles northwest of Chicago.

Harrison said library computers hooked to the Internet are always busy, largely with people filling out job applications on line. Some people have also told her they've quit buying books.

"It seems to me there's a lot of fiction reading going on, which would kind of follow the escapist type of thing," Harrison added.

In South Carolina, Johnny Cross said he and his sons ages 11 and 14 find entertainment at home since he lost his job last year at a company that makes emergency vehicles in Marion, a city of moss-shrouded oaks and old homes named for American Revolution hero Francis Marion.

"We have a Bible study almost every night. On Saturday night we do what we had been doing — we look at the TV, cartoons mostly," said Cross, 38, who has printed business cards offering his skills at anything from lawn-mowing to carpentry. "I try to stay away from all that other worldly stuff. And on Sundays we go to church."

Tobacco farming was long the life blood of Marion, but the industry waned in the 1990s and was followed by major plant closings in the past decade — including the shuttering of a Russell Stover Candies factory that laid off almost 850.

While the recession has deepened the financial pain, it's also helping some find deeper meaning in life.

"Just the past few months looking around there are a lot fewer empty seats in the pews," said Marion Mayor Rodney Berry, a deacon at the biggest church in the county, downtown's Marion Baptist Church.

"We're far from out of the murky waters — as we speak we have the state's highest unemployment — but when you're in that situation, people do look for something to hold on to and so often it's the spiritual realm," he said.

Berry said registration for city youth football, basketball and baseball is also up.

Chester, a city about 10 miles off the interstate connecting Columbia, S.C., with Charlotte, N.C., has lost about 2,000 jobs during the past decade. Kids there once could expect to grow up and make a good living in one of several textile mills, but those jobs are gone.

Among many empty storefronts downtown is the office of the Arts Council of Chester County, a group that director Lauren Medlin says is having its best year in recent memory.

Its offerings, many of them free, are popular in a town where entertainment options are slim. They range from a spring garden party to ghost story programs in fall, as well as regular art exhibitions and book signings.

"We try to offer events nearly every week," she said. "We try to offer free things because we know people can't afford it."

Attendance at South Carolina state parks was up 10 percent during the first quarter, which officials attributed to people seeking cheaper entertainment.

"We are a bargain. We're $2 a car to get in," said Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism spokeswoman Dawn Dawson, who said there were record campsite reservations Easter weekend.

The county library in Marion is also seeing a flood of foot traffic, whether it's for checking out books or using the Internet.

"We stay busy all the time. People are coming in and filling out applications online and looking for work," said reference librarian Pat Koch who said on busy days, it can be a 90 minute wait to get on line.

The two South Carolina counties recently received some good news. A window manufacturer for mobile homes is bringing 125 jobs to Chester, while a landing gear company plans to bring 560 to Marion County.

Finklea says just stopping in at the employment office across town several times a week and searching for a job helps him cope.

"Sometimes I feel better, but they ain't taking no applications a lot of places," he said, adding it's hard to find a job at 50 and wishing he had made better choices as a young man.

"I wish I had gone on with school like my mama told me," said Finklea, who dropped out in the ninth grade. "She told me to go to school and she begged me to go to school. But I hung out with the fellas and drank."



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100501/...Njc2ltcGxlZGk-