Lars Eighner's On Dumpster Diving

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There are plenty of articles that discuss in great detail the conditions and many aspects of dumpster diving, but there is a fundamental difference between diving for survival and diving for profit. Lars Eighner, the author of “On Dumpster Diving”, tells stories of multiple instances of his dumpster diving experience. Eighner also explains exactly what it’s like to be homeless and to rely on scavenging through garbage to survive in order to get your next meal. On the other hand, in the article “Dumpster Divers: Scavenging is About More Than the Trash” by Elana Dure, she discusses that dumpster divers believe to think they are scavenging for treasure, not just for pleasure and enjoyment, but for profit. Both are “making a living”, but one group …show more content…

They become so used to it, that they even start to go through individual garbage cans in front of homes. Eighner states, “My strongest reservation about going through individual garbage cans is that this seems to me a very personal kind of invasion to which I would object if I were a householder. A dumpster is somehow less personal” (Eighner). I personally agree with this, because there is a significant difference between a dumpster and a individual garbage can. There are personal belongings of that house alone, which seems to be a invasion of privacy of the homeowners. It is not a large dumpster full of everyone’s trash as a …show more content…

I felt guilty for throwing away items that were in such good condition, because I know some people would give the world in order to be able to own the stuff I have. The economy has gotten so bad, that it’s almost impossible for somebody to find a job that pays more than simple minimum wage to support themselves, along with a family. My heart aches for people who have to live this way, and I give a lot of respect to the people who can actually do

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    He starts by giving a lot of personal examples (Pizza shop example), then talks about other people who try it (The stages of beginning to dumpster dive), and explains how dumpster diving is a lot better than the more accepted picking up of cans (comparison to a wino). He then delves into the ethics behind dumpster diving (looking at prescription bottles and such), and then if one, presumably the reader, wanted to try it how they would do so (pole with hook on it). He ends with some deep insights into dumpster diving and his way of life. I think that the way he organizes his essay, and his overall tone, are to convince the reader that dumpster diving is not as bad as everyone things, and to make people actually interested in trying it. He first

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    Eighner writes, “Long before I began Dumpster diving I was impressed with Dumpsters, enough so that I wrote the Merriam research service to discover what I could about the world “Dumpster”. I learned from them that “Dumpster” is a proprietary word belonging to the Dempsey Dumpster company.” He was so fascinated with Dumpsters, that he learned the definition, which is a fact. A definition can be adjusted; however, it is not completely revised. Definitions are definite. Eighner states, “Eating from the Dumpsters involves three principles: using 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 seeking always to answer the question, ‘Why was this discarded?’” He uses his senses to analyze the condition of the things he finds logically. Dumpster diving requires the ability to critically think about what can and can not be eaten. Eighner writes, “Although very rare with modern canning methods, botulism is a possibility. But botulism is almost certainly fatal and often the first symptom is death.” He uses knowledge to understand what the expectations of some foods, especially canned foods, should be. While Eighner uses all three persuasive appeals in his writing, ethos is the most

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    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...

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    According to Mayberry (2009) Lars Eighner, a graduate of the University of Texas, became homeless in 1988 and again in 1995 (p. 351). Some of the accounts from Travels with Lisbeth (1993), a book by Lars Eighner, depicted what he went through and what he found during his homeless state. A homeless person must eat and sleep but may not know where or when this might happen next. The human will to survive enabled Eighner to eat food from a dumpster, reach out to other for handouts, and sleep in places other than a bed with covers.

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    590 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

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    In the text “On Dumpster Diving”, by Lars Eighner is about a man who speaks of being a homeless man joined by his pet, named Lizbeth. Not exclusively does he clarify his procedures living out of dumpsters, yet in addition the lessons he has learned as a scavenger. Above all I think the genuine message he was attempting to get cross over is that we waste more than we think we do, and it's in our nature as humans. He had built up a great deal of involvement in recognizing on what was protected to eat and what wasn't. He specified eating from a dumpster is the thing that isolates the dilettanti from the experts. Eighner passed by three standards, presence of mind, knowing the Dumpsters and checking them consistently, and looking for dependably

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    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

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    1233 Words  | 3 Pages

    This is a common question that people who dumpster dive often ask. This is also a question I would ask myself about the lady I witnessed in Hawaii. She would often find half eaten foods sticking out of trash cans and begin chowing down on them without any hesitation. I was not sure if the things she ate were safe for her to eat or not, but i figured she probably knew what she was doing because she seemed to be confident in her actions. In the essay, On Dumpster Diving, it says, “Eating safely from dumpsters involves three principles: using 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 seeking always to answer the question, ‘Why was this

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    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.

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