TUCSON, Ariz. — Most people have never heard of the word Freegan nor do they have any idea that a new movement has begun where people are making a statement to stop consuming at all costs.

Imagine depending on what other people are wasting to get your resources, rather than the grocery store.

Forty to 50 percent of all food goes to waste, according to Food Production Daily, a food processing and packaging Web site. A family of four throws out around $600 of food per year.

This is where Freegans get involved. They often dumpster dive or wait outside grocery stores to get the unexpired food that they will throw out for the day.



A manager at a local grocery store, who did not want to give out her name, admitted that by the time the food has reached the sell-by date, it is off the floor. Not everything, however, is thrown out. It depends on the item.

Wasting Food Statistics Consumer Side •91 billion pounds of food were lost by consumers and foodservice in 1995. •Foodservice and consumer losses accounted for 26 percent of edible food supplies. •Fresh fruits and vegetables accounted for nearly 20 percent of consumer and foodservice losses. Retail •5.4 billion pounds of food were lost at the retail level in 1995. •Retail losses were less than 2 percent of edible food supplies. •Dairy products and fresh fruits and vegetables accounted for half of retail losses. Done By USDA —

When items do get thrown out, they immediately go into a compactor and are hauled away. Freegans would not have access to food from this particular local market.

Pattrice Jones, coordinator of the Global Hunger Alliance, appreciates the efforts Freegans make.

“One of the many changes that would have to happen to solve hunger is significant reduction of usage in affluent nations,” Jones said.

Jones said she believes that there is excessive consumerism present in this country. Many people who practice "freeganism" do so by making it possible to live on a very little amount of money.

Though Freegans are consciously trying to use products that would otherwise be wasted, the movement inspires so much more. Let’s face it, not everybody is going to stop going to restaurants, the grocery store and begin dumpster diving for their meals.

“However, one person who is freegan in his life may be encouraging 20 people who they know to radically reduce,” Jones said, adding that she has personally become more conscious of her consumption by knowing Freegans.

“This is a choice that is rooted in the wish to devote as much of their time as possible to meaningful and creative productive work," she said. "The Freegans I know are the least judgmental people I have ever met."

Jones' advice for making one change that can reduce consumption is to become a vegan. She says you can feed 20 vegans for one person that eats meat.

“Every time you eat an animal, you eat all of the grain and soy that was fed to them and all the water they had," she said. "Livestock’s operations contribute more to global warming than even transportation."

Beck Cowles, ecologist at the University of California at Berkeley, said that the amount of trash greatly contributes to the amount of things wasted that Freegans might partake in.

“One thing is that wastes materials and energy are packaging alone," Cowles said. "Cardboard parts, paper, and metal we buy are all super wasteful. With freeganism, you are not only getting things for free, but avoiding packaging."

Cowles said recycling and reusing are great because items that are sent to a landfill are compacted so tightly that even food does not decompose. Those nutrients could be going back in to the soil.

Cowles highly recommended recycling metal, because of how wasteful it is.

“There is so much energy that took to mine (metal) and process it, which makes it so valuable," she said.

Cowles encourages people to take their used metal product to a recycling center.

Cowles admitted that she has participated in many of the tactics that Freegans do.

“I think it is great we have a movement where people make an effort to stop consuming," she said.

Cindy Rosin, employee at Freegan.info, wants to clear up misunderstanding about the movement.

“I guess the misconception that we often encounter is that 'freeganism' is just dumpster diving," she said.

Rosin said that there are many other things Freegans do without participating in "the system," such as community gardening, wild foraging, squatting on abandoned building and transporting themselves without driving.

This movement really explores all of the alternatives people can make without buying anything. Although, this movement is ideal for reducing the impact on our Earth, any conscious decision to reduce helps make our Earth greener.