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Have you ever thought about the possibilities of becoming homeless? I think about that almost every day; I try to comprehend and picture in my head the life as someone that lives on or off the streets of New York. New York isn’t one of the cleanest places in the United States, but it sure has one of the highest percentage rates in the U.S. for homeless people. In the 21st century, people raised in the U.S. are not taught about the struggles of homelessness and what they have to go through to survive; most people don’t plan on becoming homeless and became homeless due to the fluctuation in the market and various other problems. Also not only the homeless, but people in depth (people struggling to pay bills or drug addicts) and other people suffering also has to survive.
In the essay, “On Dumpster Diving”, Eigner, Lars describes how he became homeless and how living on the streets is very difficult; he had to resort to eating from the trash and used this term called dumpster diving. Equally, I was interpreting a line caught my eye and astoundingly, I allude myself to him because we were similar in some ways. (13-14) “I began Dumpster Diving about a year before I became homeless. I prefer the term “scavenging” and the use of the word “scrounging”. People dumpster diving, Eigner describes is the way life for homeless people, that’s how they live. Eigner also wasn’t the only living thing that was dumpster diving, also little critters and animals that were homeless or abandoned. I have never done that, but I see people do that all the time because I live in the city. If I ever became homeless I would definitely resort to dumpster diving because I have seen many homeless people and some of them I remember them when I was a child. I thi...
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...egularly, and seeking always to answer the question, “Why was thus discarded?” Narrator advises to avoid such foods as game, poultry, pork, and egg-based meals. Soft drinks testing should be based on their fizzing vigorously. Being a scavenger, one has to notice the least signs of visible contaminates. Being a scavenger is very hard work and dissatisfying so people that think it’s easy trust me it’s quite the opposite.
In the future homelessness rates will have gone up and have to resort to either dumpster diving or use violence America is getting scarier and scarier as each year progress. It makes me think how will my grandkids, great grandkids, great-great grandkids and so on live.
Works Cited
Eigner, Lars “ On Dumpster Diving” 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology Ed. Samuel Cohen. Fourth Edition Boston & New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014. Page 139-151. Print.
Although Eighner reveals that his chosen lifestyle was to live on another's refuge, he kept in accordance with his acts of superiority and snobbishness by excluding himself from the term "Dumpster Diving." Instead, he preferred to be called a "scavenger because of its frankness in the term." (Eighner, 1993). Furthermore, Eighner, explains that there are rules to abide by when successfully "scavenging" through dumpsters, "using the senses…knowing the dumpsters of a given area…. [and] Why was this discarded?" It is the explanation of the three guidelines Eighner asserts to be superior to 'can scroungers' (Homeless people who rummage through the dumpsters for money). The author further elaborates his snobbishness by revealing that he has tried the heinous lifestyle of "can scroungers," and deduced that only a few dollars could be obtained. Moreover, Eighner states, "one can extract the necessities of life from the dumpsters directly with far less effort than would be required to accumulate the equivalent of cans." (Eighner, 1993). The author stereoty...
The author, Lars Eighner explains in his informative narrative, “On Dumpster Diving” the lifestyle of living out of a dumpster. Eighner describes the necessary steps to effectively scavenge through dumpsters based on his own anecdotes as he began dumpster diving a year before he became homeless. The lessons he learned from being a dumpster diver was in being complacent to only grab what he needs and not what he wants, because in the end all those things will go to waste. Eighner shares his ideas mainly towards two direct audiences. One of them is directed to people who are dumpster divers themselves, and the other, to individuals who are unaware of how much trash we throw away and waste. However, the author does more than direct how much trash
Seifert reaches out to chains such as Trader Joes Grocery to ask and they refused to answer these questions. However, they had locked dumpsters to prevent anyone from taking what they consider to be trash. Lots of foods and meats that Seifert and his team find are indeed salvageable. Seifert’s teammate explains, “if one egg is broken, take it out and save the rest.” This is the attitude that most dumpster divers have.
I agree with his assessment about society’s throw away mentality due to the fact that I have seen it myself first hand. Recently I helped my sister move out of her dorm room at NAU and I was horrified to see all the things and edible food she was just dumping and what was worse, she wasn’t the only one. All of the kids were getting rid of perfectly good items in the dumpster, so it’s no wonder that dumpsters near college campuses are one of Eighner’s favorite places to scavenge. In his article on page 3, Eighner elaborates on student’s wasteful habits, “but in the case of discards from student apartments, the answer may be that the item was discarded through carelessness, ignorance or wastefulness.” I believe agree with Eighner that some people have a pack rat mentality while others just throw it away. My parents are a good example of this and I think it has something to do with the way that they were raised. My mom is a pack rat, holding on to everything as long as possible and giving away to charity what she doesn’t want anymore. She squeezes every last drop out of a toothpaste tube or a shampoo bottle, while my dad will throw it away half empty. My mom was raised in a single parent household, where money was tight and you used what you had… my dad however, was raised in a more affluent home and money flowed more freely. In fact, my mom does her own dumpster diving fairly regularly in our garbage can by rescuing stuff out of the garbage that my dad has thrown away, including belts, pants, shirts and hardly worn tennis shoes. She doesn’t keep the goods, but instead gives it to Goodwill or the church clothing drive. My dad is her antithesis and is definitely part of the throw-away society. My dad has little sentiment attached to stuff and like Eichner mentioned on page 6, “knows there is plenty more where what we came from.” After reflecting on
Once again, I was horrified to the amount of trash that was around the pond, as well as in it that I soon found out. This was my first official time going fishing, so all I was expecting to catch was a fish. Not long after being there, I felt a tug at the line, so I reeled it in, I had caught a cup. This same type of thing kept happening, and I was constantly reeling in trash, but no fish. At one point, I actually reeled in a shoe. I had always seen movies and pictures with guys catching boots and cans, but I had always just thought that it was a joke. I now know that it was a true depiction of the current waterways. This got me to thinking about the fish. What is happening to them? Are they being poisoned from all the trash thrown into the waterways? Are they getting buried underneath everything? To me Kaza's quote " it is not easy to gaze clear – eyed at these troubling manifestations of human activity," (63), is exactly right. After seeing this site, and thinking about the fish it was a hard concept to
The essay “On Dumpster Diving” by Lars Eighner describes his experience of being homeless. Eighner wrote it to teach people how to scavenge through Dumpsters. Additionally, the author explains his personal experiences on finding the correct foods, items, and money. His explanation will allow curious people and others wanting to start Dumpster diving an idea on the process. Humans throw out an abundance of food and items that enable homeless and financially poor to live from it.
Homelessness in the United States has been an important subject that the government needs to turn its attention to. There has been announced in the news that the number of the homeless people in many major cities in the United States has been increasing enormously. According to United States Interagency Council on Homelessness reported that there was an estimation of 83,170 individuals have experienced chronic homelessness on the streets of the United States’ streets and shelters on only a single night of January 2015, which is a small decrease of only 1% from the previous year (People Experiencing Chronic Homelessness, n.d.). The United States must consider this subject that most of the people underestimate it and not pay attention
Trash invades our world, and we can stop it by recycling. The movie Waste Land, tells the story of an artist named Vik. Vik goes to Rio to visit the people that work at the landfill. He believes that only bad and nasty people work at the landfill, however; Vik meets the pickers, the people that gather recyclables at the landfill. Vik bonds with the pickers, and he wants to sell his art to make better lives for the pickers. During the course of the movie, Vik’s perspective of the pickers changes, and a sense of ethos forms between himself and the pickers.
Dumpster diving is simply going through the personal items that has been thrown away by a person or organization to find something what might be useful for you. Dumpster is easy way when you target specific people of organization. If you target specific people it’s very easy that you have to keep on watch when they put garbage outside. If they kept outside which
Lars Eighner’s essay “On Dumpster Diving” describes his experience of being a Dumpster scavenger. Eighner began his Dumpster diving about one year before he became homeless. Since he needed to support living with his dog, Lizbeth, he not only ran out of his savings but also had to spend his infrequent income on rent. Therefore, he had to obtain and satisfy his daily necessities from the Dumpsters. During his experience as a scavenger, he gained a lot of knowledge from the art of Dumpster diving. He had enhanced his ability in distinguishing what was safe to eat and what wasn’t. Every time he found something in Dumpsters, he always asked himself,“why was this discarded?” He figured out what was a good time to find fresh food, like pizza, and
Still gasping, she rummaged through the bag – feeling, smelling and glaring at the contents as she sorted through the endless bags of waste wishing for something edible. One by one, she drew another object or item from the bags and placed them to the side. The steady pace gradually increasing to a frantic search. Rubbish was soon flying everywhere as she raided the contents. She could feel the plastic bowls, cutlery and cups slowly mounting to her side, whilst the mere slump of shrivelled compost lay dismally on her right. Her face screwed up in frustration. I have to keep searching, I’ll find something, she encouraged herself. She yearned for satisfaction. She yearned for the taste of something other than dirt and river
Although Lar Eighner, writer of “On Dumpster Diving”, began dumpster diving when he became homeless, he believes the act should be referred to as scavenging. When first beginning to dumpster diving, he felt scavenging was very challenging. Not only would one need to have some sort of athleticism just to lower their body into the dumpster, but knowing how to distinguish the food was as being good or bad was also a challenge. Not thinking highly
Jeremy Seifert writes, directs and produces an award winning documentary, Dive! Although dumpster diving has become popular lately, Many people still wince at the idea of sifting food from dumpsters. However the purpose is not to encourage dumpster-diving but to address the bigger issue of food waste in the U.S.
In a collection of eye-opening photographs, New York-based photographer Brendan Bannon shines a light on the startling poverty that has seen dumpsites become not just a place where waste is left to rot, but a bustling source of potential fortune
This great nation of awesome power and abundant resources is losing the battle against homelessness. The casualties can be seen on the street corners of every city in American holding an ?I will work for food? sign. Homeless shelters and rescue missions are at full capacity. There is no room at the inn for the nation?s indigent. Anyone who has studied this issue understands that homelessness is a complex problem. Communities continue to struggle with this socio-economic problem while attempting to understand its causes and implement solutions. The public and private sectors of this country are making a difference in the lives of the homeless by addressing the issues of housing, poverty and education.