Indeed, he lives from the refuse of others (par. 3). From this essay he shows his expertise, his intelligence, and his good will. Before, Lars depends of the “refuse” of others; he was so amazed with Dumpsters that he wrote the “Merriam-Webster” to find and understand the word Dumpster. He prefers to use the word scavenger rather than dumpster because it is “honorable” according to him.
He isconvinced that a lot of perfectly good food is discarded. Canned goods turnup fairly often in dumpsters and are among the safest foods. However, somecanned foods can cause fatal diseases like botulism. Dried foods such ascrackers, cookies, cereal, chips and pasta are usually safe to eat, once theyare free from visible contaminates. Raw fruits and vegetables are usuallysafe, except for the rotten ones.
Dumpster diving In this selection, the author, Lars Eighner, tells about his personal experiences and opinions of Dumpster diving. This story is explaining the pros and cons of the Dumpster diving lifestyle and how to benefit from living off the wastefulness of other people. As a pro, Eighner states, that people throw away good things all the time, except for his jeans, all his clothes, boom boxes, candles, bedding, he acquired from Dumpsters. (pg. 22) Knowing what’s safe to eat, good locations, and having some knowledge and experience serves as big tools.
He starts by outlining the guidelines of what is safe to eat. “The main principles involved are, using senses and common sense to evaluate the condition of food, knowing the dumpsters in a particular area and checking them frequently, and always wonder why the food was discarded”(357). He is convinced that a lot of perfectly good food is discarded. Canned goods turn up fairly often in dumpsters and are among the safest foods; however, some canned foods can cause fatal diseases like botulism. Dried foods such as crackers, cookies, cereal, chips and pasta are usually safe to eat, once they are free from visible contaminates.
There are several different stages to being a scavenger. The first is the New Scavenger, who is filled with disgust and self loathing and very ashamed to be seen Diving into Dumpsters. In which case they may try to lurk around, duck behind things or may even try to Dive at night, even though most people look away from scavengers and lurking only calls attention to themselves. The second stage comes with experience and the scavenger stops hating themselves. They begin to think they have the last laugh because they are finding perfectly good things in the Dumpsters and begin hanging on to things that they have no need of.
“Dumpster divers” are repulsive, unskilled people; this is the kind of assumption that Lars Eighner encourages people to dismiss in his piece, “On Dumpster Diving”. Many people have stumbled upon someone digging through a dumpster at some point in their lives. Their first reaction is usually to be disgusted or to pity the person doing the digging. They feel sorry for them, when they should be feeling sorry for themselves instead (Eighner 365). Those dumpster divers they pity have acquired skills to be self-reliant, unlike most of the population.
Through the passing on the story, I became aware that Eighner went dumpster diving, however, my views on him being intelligent or successful did not change. Although Eignher goes around dumpster diving he uses his knowledge to know what is good for him. Eighner knows what items are worthy enough to eat or keep as his dumpster diving varies from food to various objects and items. I actually think his views on dumpster diving is very smart. As Eighner spends his days dumpster diving, he uses his knowledge to improve things he may find.
It’s proven in the section on pages 151 to 153 in the book, where Rickey convinces Lafeyette to shoplift with him; he knew it was wrong, but he let the pressure of a negative influence get to him and joined in on it. Afterwards of course, he was deeply regretting doing it, and he apologized, but it just goes to show how bad influences are starting to change them. Sometimes though, it may seem like those negative influences are what’s keeping them alive and helping them keep food in their mouths. Around pages 155 to 161, we see that Lafeyette and Pharoah are going against the normal wishes of the police working around the stadium and watching cars, for a little spending money. It shows there that even though there’s negative consequences, there’s more often than not positive outcomes.
Knowledge of choices, age, participation and engagement. It is important to adapt the ways you work to overcome barriers, ie the use of physical and communication aids or finding help where
If children learn that littering is bad, they will obtain a good habit of throwing their trash into cans instead of on the ground. More organizations should promote throwing away trash so people understand the importance of keeping the environment safe. Volunteering to clean up streets and highways is a good way to help keep the community clean. Also, the fines for littering should be more intense. If people have to pay money out of their pocket for throwing trash carelessly in inappropriate places, then maybe they would just be responsible and throw their trash in