A lone green hunk of steel sits by the curb, covered in graffiti and rust. It may seem ominous and intimidating to the inexperienced dumpster diver, bringing to mind dirty diapers, moldy fruit, and unidentifiable substances, all fermenting inside to create what is universally recognized as the smell of garbage. But for James Seider and his freegan roommates what may be hidden in the dumpster amid the moist cardboard boxes and plastic bags on this crisp April evening brings a feeling of anticipation instead of disgust.

Scattered leaves of lettuce give the dig a cool and crisp ambiance. Each layer of the dumpster’s contents reveals a new batch of fruit cast out by the grocery. First the divers find enough to fill two plastic bags, carefully inspecting each piece for soft spots or mold that may show contamination. Using a street lamp on Geary as his only light source, a diver holds up a bell pepper and asks, “How about this one?” The divers dig deeper and discover an entire box of cilantro, which gives off the aroma of a good burrito. The cilantro goes into the bag it along with white zucchini, leeks, and bananas that are still green near the stem, but toward the bottom of the dumpster is the piece de resistance. The miniature flashlight held in Seider’s mouth spotlights on ruby red jalapeño peppers sitting in a green bed of lettuce and cilantro. Handfuls of peppers are put into cardboard boxes, each scoop unearthing more of the plentiful produce.

According to the website www.freegan.info, freegans are people who avoid spending money on anything that promotes the cycle of consumerism, a system that continues to throw out usable items in favor of new ones considered to be in sellable condition. Freegans also share the philosophy that almost everything bought and manufactured has some detrimental impact because of bad companies with unethical practices.
A study by the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that at least a quarter of the food in the United States goes to waste every year. One prime example of this wastefulness is what can be found in a grocery store’s dumpster.

Other dumpsters are not so plentiful. Although the next one about fifty feet down the block yields an unopened package of fresh dates, the diver reaches into the dumpster incorrectly and is only left with a hand slimed in goo from shattered eggs.

Sometimes the dumpsters may appear to only hold garbage, but upon closer inspection may offer something worthwhile. On another block, a dumpster is tainted with white plastic bags that display the dauntingly familiar look of a typical, residential garbage can. Cardboard paper towel tubes, empty wine bottles, and used paper towels fill the bin. However a little persistence brings an onion, two plastic grocery bags of unripe red plums, and a bag of shelled peanuts.

According to the San Francisco Police Department, it is unlawful to rummage through trash bins. During this diving trip, three police cruisers pass by the four guys leaning over the sides of the dumpster on the corner of the busy street, but there is nowhere for the divers to hide. Although the police see them in the act, they keep driving.

It is late in the evening, with bars and restaurants nearby, but people walk by without so much as a glance. Perhaps nothing is shocking in San Francisco, and five people hovered over a trash bin is nothing to blink an eye at.

Seider, a student at SF State, doesn’t consider himself a ‘true freegan,’ but does what he can to support the cause by cooking the food he finds to serve at the San Francisco sector of Food Not Bombs.

The organization Food Not Bombs has chapters across the United States and takes advantage of a wasteful society to feed the hungry. Nearly every day of the week, just in time for dinner, group members cook meals made from recovered food that otherwise would have ended up in a landfill.

Quinn Hechtkopf, who conducts dumpster diving tours, calls dumpster diving a strictly ‘tactile’ experience, but advises the people on his tours to wear latex gloves to avert the dangers of broken bottles and any other harmful materials one might find.

“For a while I was nervous to be going through [the trash] by myself— I was nervous to eat food from the garbage,” Hechtkopf says.

“It’s important to see someone else doing it,” Hechtkopf says of his trash tours. “You wouldn’t go through the forest and eat berries without seeing another person eating the berries.”

Hechtkopf says he has been a freegan for about a year, and works as a spokesman for www.freegan.info, the website dedicated to providing information about the freegan lifestyle and resource for many freegans to network. His goal is “to teach people that they have all they need to survive and more,” and that they still have time to do things they want to do, rather than work a salary job.

Hechtkopf’s day job as a volunteer at The Freegan Bike Workshop combines his knowledge of bicycles and freeganism, teaching people how to find the parts they need to build a bicycle from scratch. He also recently hosted the Freegan Fashion Show, which showed off original designs made from found scraps of fabric.
The twenty-four year old became interested in freeganism when he discovered the bounty of abandoned goods such as iPods, leather jackets, furniture, and electronics on the streets outside college dorms after finals were over.

But Hechtkopf says he understands it’s nearly impossible to live in this country without spending money on anything, and freeganism is more of a goal than a cut-and-dry standard of living. Some freegans are so dedicated that they squat in abandoned buildings, but Hechtkopf does pay rent for his Manhattan apartment, but reduces his rent to three-hundred dollars per month by sharing his room.

Although he has found many items that he has been able to use, Hechtkopf emphasizes the tragedy in finding so many usable things that have been thrown away. “There is still so much more waste out there,” says Hechtkopf. “I don’t find everything.” For freegans like Hechtkopf and Seider, the lifestyle goes beyond saving some green on food, it is a demonstration in taking advantage of the sins of society.