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On Dumpster Diving
Sep. 23rd, 2011 09:55 amLars Eighner lived on the street for three years during which he wrote letters to his friends explaining his circumstances. This then evolved into a series of essays on equipment he found in the Dumpsters. Lars later sent the essays to the Threepenny Review to be published. “On Dumpster Diving” is an excerpt from his bestselling book “Travels with Lizbeth” a memoir of his time homeless with his dog. For Lars, this is not just an essay that he had occasion to write, it is his story, a part of who he is.
Lars talks about his experience Dumpster diving as you would if you were giving helpful instructions based on personal application. There is a comradeship in the way that Lars talks about things throughout his essay. He tells you the basics on Dumpster diving,(what’s okay to eat, what you should be cautious of, the three stages every diver goes through, when to dive, divers etiquette, and little surprises you should expect and watch out for); but he also throws in a lot of personal experience and stories from his diving days. This makes everything more personal, like the reader and Lars were friends. He even confides to the reader his annoyances.
During their three years homeless, Lars and his dog Lizbeth got everything from Dumpsters. "Except for jeans, all my clothes came from the Dumpsters. Boom boxes, candles, bedding, toilet paper, a virgin male love doll, medicine, books, a typewriter, dishes, furnishings, and change, sometimes amounting to many dollars - I acquired from the Dumpsters" (199-200). Lars even ate from them.
Lars realized what a treasure trove Dumpsters could be a year before he became homeless. While his savings ran out and as he barely had enough money to pay for his rent, he started scavenging in the Dumpsters. Since he had no money for food, Lars had to learn what you could and could not eat from the Dumpsters. Lars developed three principles to follow when eating from Dumpsters. "Use the senses and common sense to evaluate the condition of the found materials, knowing the Dumpsters of a given area and checking them regularly, and seek always to answer the question, "Why was this discarded" (200). If the food in question has passed (to the best of your knowledge) all of these principles, it is safe to eat. Finding perfectly good foods in Dumpsters is not uncommon either. People often throw away food that is still in mint condition. Lars is grateful that people throw away good food but he also knows what a waste it is. So much stuff we throw away strictly because we do not want to deal with it.
Something Lars does not like dealing with is can scroungers. They, along with other scavengers, are a nuisance and a competition in the diving business. Although Lars does not mind the scavengers, he cannot stand the can scroungers. "Curiously, I do not mind my direct competition, other scavengers; so much as I hate the can scroungers. Can scroungers lay waste to everything in their path and will stir one of a pair of good shoes to the bottom of a Dumpster, to be lost or ruined in the muck" (204). Can scroungers do not pay attention to anything but cans and will pass up change without even noticing. They are so focused on finding what they are looking for and only what they are looking for, that they miss out. Our North American society is a lot like them.
Our North American society focuses on what it wants with no regard for the “little guy.” We overlook and do not pay attention to the people roaming our streets and sleeping in our parks. We forget the fact that they used to be people just like us. They were normal people with jobs and families. Lars was a college graduate. He graduated from the University of Texas in Austin; he also studied creative writing at the Corpus Christi Fine Arts Colony. He probably thought the same way as you do now. However, his time living on the streets has opened him up to new ideas. Lars adapted and was willing to let his experience teach him. Since he was no longer under societies influence, he was free to live as he pleased. In doing so he is able to bring us a new way of looking at Dumpster diving.
Lars brings to light a side of Dumpster diving that you probably have not seen or even thought of. Lars proves that the popular saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” is true when he states “almost everything I have now has already been cast out at least once, proving that what I own is valueless to someone" (207). As a result of his experience being homeless and having to survive off of the bare necessities, Lars has a very healthy mind set when it comes to owning things. He states that "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" (207). He is telling us that all the stuff we have, whatever the significance behind it, will pass away. It will get lost, broken, stolen or tarnished, but the memories and the good times that the object represents, will be with you forever.
Our world is full of material things. Things that once we have them we think they will make us prettier, more popular, happier, healthier or skinnier. When they do not work, or when they break or the next ‘something better’ comes along; they end up in the garbage. This leaves us fighting to get that next big thing all over again. Lars learned humility from having to dig for his breakfast in the trash. He learned to cherish the good days and rejoice and be happy about the small things that happen every day. Dumpster diving helped Lars learn how to live a content, happy life and he in turn wants to pass that knowledge onto us.
Lars ends his essay with “I am sorry for them" (207). Lars is sorry for all the millions of people that do not figure it out. Who keep going after the next big thing and throwing it out almost as soon as they have it. Who live out the consumer life to its fullest, and go through life not knowing there is a better way. Lars does not want you to be part of the people he feels sorry for. So why not take a page out of his book? Who knows, Dumpster diving might do you some good.
Lars talks about his experience Dumpster diving as you would if you were giving helpful instructions based on personal application. There is a comradeship in the way that Lars talks about things throughout his essay. He tells you the basics on Dumpster diving,(what’s okay to eat, what you should be cautious of, the three stages every diver goes through, when to dive, divers etiquette, and little surprises you should expect and watch out for); but he also throws in a lot of personal experience and stories from his diving days. This makes everything more personal, like the reader and Lars were friends. He even confides to the reader his annoyances.
During their three years homeless, Lars and his dog Lizbeth got everything from Dumpsters. "Except for jeans, all my clothes came from the Dumpsters. Boom boxes, candles, bedding, toilet paper, a virgin male love doll, medicine, books, a typewriter, dishes, furnishings, and change, sometimes amounting to many dollars - I acquired from the Dumpsters" (199-200). Lars even ate from them.
Lars realized what a treasure trove Dumpsters could be a year before he became homeless. While his savings ran out and as he barely had enough money to pay for his rent, he started scavenging in the Dumpsters. Since he had no money for food, Lars had to learn what you could and could not eat from the Dumpsters. Lars developed three principles to follow when eating from Dumpsters. "Use the senses and common sense to evaluate the condition of the found materials, knowing the Dumpsters of a given area and checking them regularly, and seek always to answer the question, "Why was this discarded" (200). If the food in question has passed (to the best of your knowledge) all of these principles, it is safe to eat. Finding perfectly good foods in Dumpsters is not uncommon either. People often throw away food that is still in mint condition. Lars is grateful that people throw away good food but he also knows what a waste it is. So much stuff we throw away strictly because we do not want to deal with it.
Something Lars does not like dealing with is can scroungers. They, along with other scavengers, are a nuisance and a competition in the diving business. Although Lars does not mind the scavengers, he cannot stand the can scroungers. "Curiously, I do not mind my direct competition, other scavengers; so much as I hate the can scroungers. Can scroungers lay waste to everything in their path and will stir one of a pair of good shoes to the bottom of a Dumpster, to be lost or ruined in the muck" (204). Can scroungers do not pay attention to anything but cans and will pass up change without even noticing. They are so focused on finding what they are looking for and only what they are looking for, that they miss out. Our North American society is a lot like them.
Our North American society focuses on what it wants with no regard for the “little guy.” We overlook and do not pay attention to the people roaming our streets and sleeping in our parks. We forget the fact that they used to be people just like us. They were normal people with jobs and families. Lars was a college graduate. He graduated from the University of Texas in Austin; he also studied creative writing at the Corpus Christi Fine Arts Colony. He probably thought the same way as you do now. However, his time living on the streets has opened him up to new ideas. Lars adapted and was willing to let his experience teach him. Since he was no longer under societies influence, he was free to live as he pleased. In doing so he is able to bring us a new way of looking at Dumpster diving.
Lars brings to light a side of Dumpster diving that you probably have not seen or even thought of. Lars proves that the popular saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” is true when he states “almost everything I have now has already been cast out at least once, proving that what I own is valueless to someone" (207). As a result of his experience being homeless and having to survive off of the bare necessities, Lars has a very healthy mind set when it comes to owning things. He states that "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" (207). He is telling us that all the stuff we have, whatever the significance behind it, will pass away. It will get lost, broken, stolen or tarnished, but the memories and the good times that the object represents, will be with you forever.
Our world is full of material things. Things that once we have them we think they will make us prettier, more popular, happier, healthier or skinnier. When they do not work, or when they break or the next ‘something better’ comes along; they end up in the garbage. This leaves us fighting to get that next big thing all over again. Lars learned humility from having to dig for his breakfast in the trash. He learned to cherish the good days and rejoice and be happy about the small things that happen every day. Dumpster diving helped Lars learn how to live a content, happy life and he in turn wants to pass that knowledge onto us.
Lars ends his essay with “I am sorry for them" (207). Lars is sorry for all the millions of people that do not figure it out. Who keep going after the next big thing and throwing it out almost as soon as they have it. Who live out the consumer life to its fullest, and go through life not knowing there is a better way. Lars does not want you to be part of the people he feels sorry for. So why not take a page out of his book? Who knows, Dumpster diving might do you some good.
