Freeganism

I've been looking into this a lot lately. Freeganism. The word seems to bring about this negative connotation tied to it. Mostly because a lot of Freegans do what is commonly known as "Dumpster Diving." At first, I felt a little reluctant to imagine myself doing something similar, but after extensive research and keeping an open mind, I realized it's not the nightmare its painted to be. When I see documentaries or talk to other folks about the Freegan movement, they tell me stories that have me skeptical. But the stories are true. For example: Freegans rarely need to go grocery shopping because we waste so much already. Especially the food stores. It's not advertised as to when these stores throw out their "still perfectly good food.", obviously because it's against capitalism. (Boo-hoo) But, when you put things into perspective, and see that a country like France has now made it illegal to throw out perfectly good food---then it makes you wonder why we can't adapt the same idea. So through my search of understanding Freeganism, I also got to see and hear about the foods one could collect on a successful dumpster dive. Things such as bagels, salads, chickens, baguettes, cheese! (Cheese in Quebec is extremely expensive!) So you can imagine to my surprise that these friends were getting quality items for practically free. Again, the more I look into "living off the grid" or "Minimalism" the more and more I'm becoming seduced that this is the type of Human Being I want to be. For the longest time, I lived for the satisfaction and expectations of others. Trying to be the perfect model fit into what society expects us to be. You know the one. Where you're expected to graduate from High school with great grades, then off to a Post-Secondary education that many can't afford, and lastly---live your life as a successful person, have a family, buy a house, then maybe a car----------- It was too much. And my head was frequently filled with a fog or miasma of "what if this isn't enough?" and it wasn't. Lucky for me, I haven't found the one yet. That means no responsibilities other than paying my rent, bills, and taxes. And as an entrepreneur living in Quebec, those taxes are ridiculously high. I have done everything that society has asked me to do other than produce offspring, buy a home and a car. Why? Because I don't want to do what most people do. I've seen them taper off into depression, no longer happy that they got married at 22 and had 3 kids. They tell me about how jealous they are of my freedom, and I'm slowly understanding just how precious that freedom is, feeling terrified of losing it every single day I wake up from my bed.

Einstein once said, "The simplest way is usually the answer." One of the greatest thinkers of our time, capable of calculating long and complex mathematical equations, could not have said a wiser and simpler thing all at once for every Human Being to understand.

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