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"Freegans"


PalacePrincess

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http://freegan.info/

What is a freegan?

Freeganism is a total boycott of an economic system ....The word freegan is compounded from "free" and "vegan".....

in other words, these people sustain themselves by picking things out of the garbage. non-animal things. a rather elaborate step beyond spange-ing... is it dreamy political conviction? a useful practice that helps all mankind? or maybe just a bit heady & gross?

thoughts?

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I'm sure there is a continuum of freegans, but the ones I've known of are usually quite logical about the whole thing, and really seem to have a genuine political goal.

Usually, they know of dumpsters wherein you can find perfectly good products that were discarded by corporations for policy reasons, and they go and collect this "wasted" product.

They seem to genuinely believe that they are part of the solution, as they recapture otherwise unnecessarily discarded valuable products. If they are being genuine, I think it's great. If they're just being cheap bums ... who am I to judge? They're not hurting anyone.

"One man gathers what another man spills."

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Our neighbour in Toronto used to be a collector/recycler of the most admirable calibre. However, he was an unabashed carnivore (and would frequently get really drunk, irritable, and loud), and tended to be a total prick to anyone he didn't take a liking to or to whoever disagreed with him in any way. Is there a term for that?

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yeah...I kept thinking about our neighbour when reading through that link. I think he'd be pissed off to be considered part of a 'movement'...he was really just a selfish/self-interested bastard...that being said, I did recognize his usefulness as an urban forager in such a huge and wasteful city as TO....he booted around on his bike around Forest Hill areas on garbage days, collected good stuff, then proceeded to have almost 24/7 weekend-long garage sales where he pulled in almost a grand each time. So yeah, he was living off the spoils of a spolied group, but unfortunately did not embody the altuistism that these Freegans seem to.

I also imagine these Freegans to be our modern day 'gatherers' (and who knows how hard-wired into us that drive is), but I can totally imagine the thrill of a good discovery!

btw Stone Mtn...totally apropos quote...well done!

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