Revolution is fought on two fronts, one outside, one inside…Don’t mistake the struggle in the streets for the only struggle, or misunderstand the time we must take to nurture ourselves and one another as a distraction from it. Healing is a form of revolution, just as revolution is a form of healing, and doing what it takes to heal yourself can be truly revolutionary. (382)

Free Fixin’s: A Zine Dedicated to Garbage Picking is one of my favorite finds from my recent visits to the Toronto Zine Library. Written by Linda, the zine is a lovely collection of stories, advice and history of garbage picking and references to Toronto areas. I love this zine. Particularly the section “10 golden rules to garbage picking” which starts with “1. Have no shame”. For more recent adopters of garbage picking and dumpster diving, this recommendation is key. So much of our culture is dependent upon self-regulation and believing that any actions outside the mainstream are inappropriate, dangerous, disgusting, shameful. This comes up all the time when it comes to dumpster diving, particularly when it comes to dumpstering food. Food itself, already a source of shame and disgust for many people, is made doubly so when paired with the shame and disgust so often ascribed to waste. So having no shame is a good point – unlearning the consumer selves we’re socially and culturally trained to be from childhood takes time. I’d also add, this is helped with a good sense of humour. I’ve found that the best conversations I have about diving with non-divers happen when I remember how bizarre dumpster diving seemed to me at first. And, on the upside, many years after my first discovery, I have mostly unlearned shame in exchange for a disbelief that dumpstering doesn’t make sense to everyone.

Finally, for this entry, I’ll be taking about Kyle Brano’s Making Stuff & Doing Things: A Collection of DIY Guides to Doing Just About Everything (2006). This may be the most fascinating DIY guide I’ve ever read. Diverse, interesting and clearly written, there is something for everyone in this one. One of the challenges I’ve discovered about some DIY guides is the instructions aren’t always the clearest and they can be a touch hard to follow, but solid editing in this compilation ensure clarity. Split into sections – including “Gardening”; “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”; “Food and Drink” – this text has entries related to radical food politics, urban foraging and DIY food and drink production. And while I suppose I should be focusing on the “Urban Foraging” or “11 Places to Dumpster Dive” entries, I’ll be honest with you dear reader(s?). I’m way more interested in “Make a Record Bowl”. Surprisingly simple (and hopefully dumpsterable or affordable despite the re-rise in popularity of vinyl record collecting), I think this might be my next DIY project. If it turns out I’ll post a picture … if not I might post a picture anyway.

Till next time, take the best care and happy diving…or DIYing!

Until next time, happy diving (and zine reading)!

And I’m not sure how I feel about the presentation of these extensive freegan lives as an introduction to the movement. It is amazing that they have been able to make choices that allow them to disengage from paid work and devote their time to activism, but it does set the bar pretty high. It can be a hard enough to jump into a dumpster for the first time, never mind understanding freeganism as an expectation of foregoing consumer behaviour all together. I like to think of freeganism as I thought of vegetarianism when I was changing my eating practices 9 years ago. A process. Learning how to live a new life is hard work and perhaps it is better to ease into it, allow space for imperfection, stumble a little along the way…it took a long time to become consumers, it makes sense it’ll take some time to become something new.

Till next time, happy diving!

However, and here is where the comparison to Katz’s work seems to me most necessary, Hayes definition of family draws on a very traditional kinship system. In fact, one of the opening chapters looks directly to history to challenge contemporary gender roles in the home. Pointing to a past when families would remain connected to each other for entire lifetimes and the historic role of both men and women in homemaking, for Hayes a reason to look to the past. She argues that we have moved too far to independence (which requires increased consumption in order to sustain the home) and should reclaim the connections to family that were so important in communities over human history. I’m not sure how far I’m willing to go with her on this line of argument, though. She does note that not all people have families that are healthy, but I don’t think this argument is pushed far enough. While I certainly agree that consumer culture needs to be critiqued and changed, but I hope that radical homemaking will push our understanding of the home into new directions, rather than reproducing an idealized, nostalgic past. Here, attention to the importance of chosen community Katz points to makes these two books interesting companion pieces of sorts.

And, as a follow up to my adventure in non-toxic housekeeping: castile soap does a terrible job at washing dishes. After four days of using the recipe, I was left with greasy dishes and an oily sink and have (temporarily) switched back to store bought dish soap. Though, I have a lead on another recipe and will keep you posted!

Till next time,

Happy Diving

I don’ know about you, but I can’t wait to see it!

Also, a note about this blog…I’ve been lazy about the way I’ve been titling my posts which has led to a little confusion. The last few posts are my responses to books I’ve been reading, the names and authors of which have became each post’s default title line. It was pointed out to me that this may imply the posts were written by them, but as of now, this blog is a solo project. But, that does bring me to what will likely be the first of many open calls – anyone who wants to join me in documenting trash, dumpster diving and Toronto food waste, drop me a line. I’d love to collaborate!

Till next time, happy diving!

While this book isn’t about garbage or food, I think it is worth including as a part of the overall life changing experience my research is turning out to be. I read this book for the first time a couple weeks ago (it arrived in the same package (and comes from the same press) as The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved. I’ve long been a proponent of avoiding chemical cleaners and using more natural solutions as often as possible. For the most part, a little vinegar and water, occasionally a side of baking soda does the trick in most situations. However, I’ve had a few challenges to removing chemicals and pre-packaged cleaners from the house.

Challenge one: mold. My bathroom is sadly prone to mold and last fall it became clear that drastic action was required. I did my internet research, but was unable to find a natural solution to getting rid of mold so ultimately resorted to a half and half water/bleach solution (which worked really well, as chemicals often do). This book has a less toxic option (utilizing borax and vinegar) which I’m hoping will keep the small amount of mold that has returned at bay.

Challenge two: old porcelain. Again in the bathroom, the tub and sink are old and exceptionally porous which makes them prone to staining. Up until now I’ve depended on a bleach scrub to keep the stains down, but have been really hoping to figure out a new way of cleaning them. I used some of the tips included in this book and while I haven’t perfected a new regime, early results are promising.

Challenge three: finding recipes for alternatives. There are a lot of cleaning supplies that I’ve always suspected I could make myself (namely dish and laundry soap), but have not found any recipes until now. Dish soap was a big frustration for me – I didn’t even come across any information about how dishes were traditionally cleaned, never mind a DIY option. Now, while Noyes book doesn’t provide me with information on how dishes used to be cleaned, it does include multiple options for non-toxic, easily homemade laundry and dish soaps. Added benefit, the base of peppermint scented castile soap in both of the recipes I’ve used means the house will be minty fresh a lot of the time.

The time to mix up the three recipes I’ve tried so far was minimal, though the gathering of ingredients was a little more challenging than buying a pre-packaged product. But the extra effort at the outset is worth it to me … I’m not comfortable having a dirty house, cleaning with chemicals or paying exorbitant prices for pre-packaged ‘green’ products, so making my own is the best option I’ve found. And did I say the whole house is minty fresh? It’s lovely!

I just finished reading this book and while the focus on dumpster dining is only a small portion of the text, it is fascinating and well worth the read. Katz brings together diverse aspects of American underground food activism and offers an insightful and fun read through bread clubs, raw milk, seed saving, neutraceuticals and foraging (amongst other contemporary food movements). His chapter on feral foragers brings together not only stories of Food Not Bombs and dumpster dining, but also looks at foraging for mushrooms, weeds, roadkill and insects. Also fascinating is the balancing of attention to health and dumpstering – much of the text is concerned with protecting health with quality and nutritious food. When Katz recounts his own dumpstering experience he notes how much quality produce he found (something he wasn’t actually expecting). I have the same experience every time I dive – so much produce, so little time! I am also reminded of my ongoing question of garbage metaphors and meanings – not only when does food become garbage, but questions and presumptions of junk food. His presumption was that the bins would be filled with junk food and I wonder if that presumption is linked to how we categorize the space of dumpsters as necessarily containers of junk(food).

Hoffman, John (1993) The art and science of dumpster diving. Port Townsend, WA.: Loompanics Unlimited.

I’ve become very used to thinking of dumpster diving (and dining) as a commonplace, everyday activity, but Hoffman brings this to a new level. This book is part memoir, part advice manual offering up a collection of his memories and experiences of a lifetime of diving. Dumpster diving was a part of his life from childhood and his family used other people’s waste to live well under poor economic circumstances. His approach is straight up American libertarian, with a focus on individual gain and arguing directly against the community and sharing that is central to the diving I’m most familiar with.

His advice and knowledge of trash is impressive, but I had a hard time getting past his politics. With his focus on limited resources and reducing competition, he offers extensive advice on how to scare off competition and ensuring no finds are ever shared without getting something in exchange. At times racist, at times sexist and bizarrely focused on the right to bear arms, much of my reading time was spent shaking my head.

The basic underlying principles I have come to directly associate with dumpster diving are nowhere in this text, but a lot of good advice is. It also raises a question for me as I move on with my research – is this approach common? How many people are out there diving exclusively for profit? While this book in particular was published 15 years ago, there are more recent examples of manuals advising diving as a way to make ends meet. It also says a lot about the kind of competitiveness that is bred into people raised under competitive, capitalist systems. When recounting a story from his college days, Hoffman refuses to share a large (too large for him to eat) fast food burger find with any of those in need in his town. His reason? No one is knocking on his door to share what they have, so why should he?

I was glad for the advice and his memories of childhood, but am still a bit shaken by the competitiveness (selfishness) central to the text.

The US Food Safety and Inspection Service has created podcasts to share information about food safety with anyone who wants to listen. And I, of course, want to listen! One of them has two employees role playing a call regarding how to determine when food has gone off. One piece of advice given is “When in doubt, throw it out.” Interestingly, this kind of advice is pretty similar to the way I think of recovered food…but I’m pretty sure my comfortable doubt level is not what the FSIS is talking about.

The podcasts are certainly worth checking out…makes me wonder what kind of recommendations previous generations were getting. There may be a future post on that one.