On Dumpster Diving Summary

Words: 586

Pages: 3

Open Document

The lifestyle of a Dumpster diver is one of many struggles, but ultimately one of contentment. In Lars Eighner’s “On Dumpster Diving”, the realities of scavenging are discussed at length - included, too, are discussions of what affect the conditions have on a person - most of which is not negative. Eighner believes that materialism is detrimental to any afflicted by it, and that wealth goes hand-in-hand with it - that neither are a necessity; he seems to be content to live the life of a scavenger, and even goes so far as to imply that it may be better than a “normal” life. During his time living such a life, Eighner observes that the life of the middle class (and perhaps some of the upper lower class) live unfulfilled lives, that, “Between us [the poor and the wealthy] are the rat-race millions who have confounded their selves [sic] with the objects they grasp and who nightly scavenge the cable channels looking for they know not what. I am sorry for them” (Eighner 95). Because those “rat-race millions” are so unwilling to let go of their possessions, their homes, or anything else, their lives remain a whirlpool of frantic work, leaving them without the time or energy to enjoy (or perhaps even truly experience) life. In the personal experience of many, the homeless people that are observed every day on the way to any given workplace (or other …show more content…
Although Eighner speaks about the apparent easiness of finding food during his homeless life, it is still something that much energy and time goes into - more than a person of “average” economic standing, anyway. Regardless the apparent bountifulness of food, it is still won at a cost, making the fruits of that labor seem all the

On Dumpster Diving Summary

Due to the high rate of homelessness in the United States, the act of dumpster diving has become a very common phenomenon. In his article “On Dumpster Diving”, Lars Eighner describes his experience as a dumpster diver. Throughout the article, Eighner explains the dangers as well as the benefits of being a scavenger. Eighner’s main point for writing the article is to document what he has learned while being a dumpster diver (Eighner 672-684). Eighner begins his account by expanding on which foods…

Words 543 - Pages 3

Summary Of On Dumpster Diving

In the book “On Dumpster diving” Lar Eighner talks a lot during his book, but certain things stood out to me. Eighner began dumpster diving when he became homeless, but Eighner doesn’t think Dumpster Diving should be called that, Eighner thinks it should be called scavenging. Eighner thought that Dumpster Diving was very challenging and go on to say that he lacks the athletic ability to lower himself down into the dumpster. Eighner also says how it was challenging to tell if food was good or bad…

Words 260 - Pages 2

Dumpster Diving Summary

reading for week one was very interesting considering they all had a specific interest. In the story on dumpster diving, it basically tells the story of the author, Lars Eighner who had a major lifestyle change by choice from being employed by the federal government and living a lifestyle revolving around normal things that society worships to living a lifestyle of scavenging through dumpsters and living off other peoples trash. The second story introduces the readers to the author Nancy Mairs on…

Words 572 - Pages 3

On Dumpster Diving By Lars Eighner Summary

For instance, Eighner points out that he finds many useful material from the Dumpsters, such as a new sewing kit, good books, magazines, and canned food that is eatable. It seems that people nowadays are unaware of their wasteful use of resources as they throw away too many new and useful material and even food that can still be used…

Words 689 - Pages 3

English 1301 Study Guide

English 1301: Composition I—Fall 2014 CRN#29131: MW 8:00-9:30, Room B-139 CRN#29206: MW 2:00-3:30, Room B-203 CRN#28983: TTh 9:30-11:00, Room B-125 CRN#28984: TTh 11:00-12:30, Room B-125 Instructor: Eva Foster Email: eva.foster@hccs.edu Learning Web: http://learning.hccs.edu/faculty/eva.foster Course Blog: Facebook group (details to follow in class) Office Hours: M 9:30-10:45, T/Th 12:30-1:30, available via chat & by appointment 3-hour lecture course | 48 hours per semester | 16 weeks Required…

Words 4013 - Pages 17