Freeganism, according to Wikipedia, “is an anti-consumerist lifestyle whereby people employ alternative living strategies based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources.” From what I understand, people who consider themselves die-hard freegans could be seen dumpster-diving (ie. picking around in other people’s garbage), using a barter/trade system with neighbors, or foraging through land-fills. A bit radical I’d say, but what a novel idea! Now, DON’T get this wrong – you will NOT see me dumpster-diving or digging through other people’s garbage, but DO think about how much money and waste you could save if sometimes you just thought a little more like a freegan, than a consumer. I can think of a few times this year that Tim and I have been a bit freegan. Just recently Tim was able to talk to a business he works with that has 55 gallon plastic drums they are willing to get rid of. We bought spigots for the drums and now Tim will install them under the downspouts to collect rain water. Besides the cost of the spigot, the drum was free, and so is the rain water (hopefully this will put a nice dent in our water bill!). Another free thing is sharing flowers, bushes, or sapling trees with others. For instance, I have several perennial plants around the house. Once they get bigger, I would gladly divide and share for the exchange of a different plant. By doing this you can get a variety of plants in the yard without dropping money at the store on plants that aren’t established (and who knows if they will survive). These are just some ideas to recycle, share, and save money. There are lots and lots of opportunities out there. If you have any, please share on the “comments” link below.
-L
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Interesting blog. I guess Doug and I are Freegans in some regards. When we lived in Madison it didn't take us long to figure out that people put good items to the curb a few days before garbage pick-up. We, and others, would drive around certain neighborhoods and see what was available and we actually picked up quite a few usefull items. My favorite is a small black walnut hope chest that was constructed with cut nails (very old) and stuffed with horse hair!
Tim do you remember the time in FDL when thatlady died and her kids put everything from her home in a dumpster in the driveway. They just didn't want to bother with a garage sale or Goodwill. A real shame really because she had a nice stuff. Finally her daughter realized how silly that was and they placed the items out on the driveway with a free sign. There were lots of people taking things.
Now to my real question about this post. Tim, how did you drill the holes for your spigots and did you use caulk to seal them? I have been wanting to use this idea to connect our water barrels so we can pump into one and fill 4 or 5 of them. This would also allow us, when watering the garden, to pump out of all the barrels instead of one at a time. But since we got 3" of rain in the last couple of days I guess it's not at the top of the "to do" list any longer. Roxie
Tim will be posting a blog with directions on the spigot...we had some good advice from our local Home Depot plumbing department guy! -L
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