On Dumpster Diving Summary

In his essay, “On Dumpster Diving”, Lars Eighner describes his three years homeless with his dog Lizbeth, surviving off stuff he scavenged from dumpsters. In it he describes his methods for finding edible food and what he looks for to make sure the food is safe to consume and unspoiled. One of the topics he brings up is how a lot of what he finds is from dumpsters near college campuses due to how careless and wasteful he perceives college students to be with their food and other belongings. While some of his criticisms are valid towards a small portion of college students, it is unfair to ascribe these behaviors to all students in general. A majority would agree with his criticisms and be amazed to learn how much is wasted.

It is important to differentiate between the type of college student that is the target of Eighner’s criticism in his essay and the average college student. Eighner mentions here how he specifically targeted areas that he knew affluent college students lived in and would be bountiful to scavenge from:

The area I frequent is inhabited by many affluent college students.

I am not here by chance; the Dumpsters in this area are very rich. Students throw out many good things, including food. In particular they tend to throw everything out when they move at the end of a semester, before and after breaks, and around midterm when many of them despair of college. So I find it advantageous to keep an eye on the academic calendar. (Eighner 89)

These are the types of students that Eighner has had experiences with and based his criticisms on, affluent students who, as Eighner describes, lived off their parent’s money and have no regard for the stuff they needlessly waste due to not having to pay for it on their own so they develop no sense of value and appreciation for what they throw

away.
Eighner describes some of the food and other items thrown out by these affluent college students that he commonly finds:
Yogurt, cheese, and sour cream are items that are often thrown out while they are still good. Occasionally I find a cheese with a spot of mold, which of course I just pair off, and because it is obvious why such a cheese was discarded, I treat it with less suspicion than an apparently perfect cheese found in similar circumstances. Yogurt is often discarded, still sealed, only because the expiration date on the carton had passed.
Students throw out canned goods and staples at the end of semesters and when they give up college at midterm. Drugs, pornography, spirits, and the like are often discarded when parents are expected-Dad’s day, for example. And spirits also turn up after big party weekends, presumably discarded by the newly reformed. (Eighner 89-90)
His critical views on college student’s waste are based off these students who are well off and go to college just to party and have it paid for by their parents, students who don’t appreciate the value of this stuff since it’s not their own money and they’ve never gone hungry before or been short on money.
The criticism of these types of students is understandable and there’s nothing unfair or harsh about them, this type of behavior is something that should be discouraged. There is a poverty epidemic in the US and many people struggle to meet basic needs and often go hungry from lack of food, so this kind of wasteful behavior should be condemned. In fact, a large majority of college students face financial issues themselves, students who aren’t as well off and can’t afford to waste food so carelessly. It’s hard to see such waste when a lot of these affluential students could easily make use of the food since a lot of times it’s still edible, or if they don’t want it to donate it to charity for those who are in need and could make use of it. It’s accurate that some college students do engage in this type of behavior but the type who do are in the minority, as a lot of students aren’t from well off families that pay for their education and encourage such lifestyles. Many are from less well off or middle-class families and want to advance themselves in life so they have to work to put themselves through college and develop a sense of appreciation for what they buy since they know what it’s like to go hungry while the affluential students have never faced that.
The typical college student isn’t going to college to party and have their parents pay for it, so it’s unfair to attribute this type of behavior to them, it is not representative of them at all, it’s representative of a small portion of the student population who are privileged enough to be able to afford it. A lot of college students go to college to better themselves and further their education so they can get a better paying job and live a better life, so they’re not well off in the first place. Many of them struggle to stay afloat, especially nowadays with high education costs and low paying jobs. It’s not uncommon for a typical college student to rack up tens of thousands in debt simply to finish their education. Many students simply could not afford to throw away a lot of these things that would be considered a luxury under their tight budgets.
It’s easy to see all of this waste from a few students and say it’s representative of the typical student since it’s pretty hard to think about all of the stuff that isn’t wasted and taken for granted. Eighner visits the areas with affluent college students for a reason, they have more food to scavenge since they’re the ones more likely to take all of this stuff for granted and toss it away, while your typical student will be less picky and more careful about what they do toss. The typical student has to live on a budget and be frugal, the stereotype of poor college students who can only afford to eat ramen exists for a reason, it’s more representative of the average student than ones who are able to afford all of this alcohol and drugs and expensive perishable foods they can toss away without remorse.
Due many college students being financially constrained, most would see this type of behavior as wasteful themselves, after having to live frugally and sometimes having to go hungry. Not only is this characterization unfair to the typical college student, most would agree with Eighner about how much perfectly good food is thrown away is shocking and unnecessary. A lot would discourage such waste and advocate for more conscious decisions about what you buy and throw away due to having to pay for the food themselves and learning to appreciate the value of it because of that.
While Eighner’s characterization of college students is true for some, the small minority of college students who come from families who can support their college education spending habits to be able to afford this lifestyle, it’s simply not accurate for your typical college student who has to work a job while in college and take out loans just to finish their education. The typical college student goes to college to improve their education so they can get a better job. They struggle to make it through college and live on a tight budget, many even condemn this wasteful behavior themselves since they know what it’s like living paycheck to paycheck and going hungry, they know the value of food and how to be frugal. It’s unfair to judge all college students based off the wastefulness of a few, especially when most would be outraged by the wastefulness.