Green Options

California officially leads the nation in recycling, according to a report published by the California Integrated Waste Management Board announcing the state has reached a 58% waste diversion rate. Of the 93 million tons of solid waste produced by Californians, nearly 54 million tons have found renewed use in places other than landfills.

Fellow sustainablogger Robin Shreeves recently wrote a great and helpful post — Your Trash Just Doesn’t Disappear, Stupid! (Or How To Make Sure Useful Things Stay Out of Landfills) — that touches on a bit of a phenomenon that piques my interest: mongoing, freeganism, dumpster diving.

The term “dumpster diving” probably conjures certain derogatory images: “bums,” lowlife dregs of society sifting through mostly rotten morsels of discarded food for sustenance.

Pushing aside such an unfortunate view of human beings living, hopefully only temporarily, in such unfortunate circumstances, let’s look at what dumpster diving has become: environmentally friendly, if not downright urban chic.

Doors for Reuse at Build It Green! NYC: Image source: Build It Green! NYCAnna Hackman is the author and publisher of the blog, Green Talk, which is based on her own experience of building and maintaining a house using many green materials, and wishing to connect with others to help turn the Planet green, one conversation at a time. This post was originally

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