Jeremy Seifert's Argument For Dumpster Diving

From understanding empathy, it calls in me to empathize more with all beings in our world. In our country today, we live in such a polarized political climate. This theory can help this country, I really believe that. If we can learn to empathize with one another, we can rebuild the damage we have caused. In the end, we are all human, and we are all going to die.

In the essay “On Dumpster Diving”, the author Lars Eighner informs us about the art of dumpster diving. The writer, who speaks from personal experience of gathering things from dumpsters, prefers to be called a “scavenger” rather than “foraging” for scavenger, in the writer’s opinion, has an honorable meaning for doing something that takes skills and experience. In the beginning, Mr. Eighner demonstrates the stages that any new dumpster diver goes through. Feeling of shame and Self-hatred is the first phase which the author explains as they hate to be seen. However, after they realize how perfectly good stuff people throw in dumpsters, they become obsessed by gathering anything their hands lay on.

Eighner depicts “Dumpster diving” with positive aspects for someone who is homeless. Through the art he narrates life lessons. People trying to be polite use the verb “foraging”, but in Eighner’s eyes he prefers to save it for small forest animals collecting nuts and berries. Eighner prefers “scavenging” because he understands the mind of a scavenger. Fundamentally, “they must restrict themselves to items of relatively immediate utility.”

While you're walking down toward your dumpster to throw your trash think about how much food is going to waste just because it's a day over the expiration date. The essay “On Dumpster Diving” by Lars Eighner comes from his book Travels with Lizbeth. In this essay Eighner speaks about his journey throughout his life living on the street and having to join the dumpster diving family. Although the term dumpster diving for him proved to be inaccurate because he lacked the ability to lower himself into dumpsters. He prefers the word “scavenging” when referring to what he does to obtain food and daily necessities.

1. Eighner’s attention to language in the first five paragraphs causes the reader to view dumpster diving differently than they normally would. By providing the reader with his own personal views of how he sees a dumpster diver, and the terms he prefers to use when referring to them, Eighner inserts a more positive perspective over dumpster diving. For example, Eighner “I live from the refuse of others, I am a scavenger” (Eighner 108). Eighner indirectly dismisses the typical negative ideas about dumpster diving and instead puts it in a more positive light.

Seifert calls upon individuals to seek and inquire about the food they consume. Seifert hadn’t simply “Googled” information offered on the internet and leave it at that, he took steps to seek answers to the question no one want to acknowledge. His journey is one students taking argumentation or critical thinking courses can take important lessons in patience, persistence and perseverance from. If students do not make efforts to be informed about the world they live in, they relinquish their rights as consumers to the major companies that are powerful adversaries, even at the state and federal

Imagine spending one year of your life living in a dumpster. Not just the average, everyday dumpster, but a customized dumpster suited to meet all of the essential needs for one to live in. Professor Jeff Wilson, also referred to as “Professor Dumpster,” is engaged in a one year project in which he will be sleeping in a dumpster every night. His future plans consist of making the dumpster even more appealing by adding a toilet, solar panels, a second floor, and several other amenities. Wilson says in the article, “‘We could end up with a house under $10,000 that could be placed anywhere in the world, fueled by sunlight and surface water, and people could have a pretty good life’”

Nalo Hopkinson’s story “A Habit of Waste” takes place in a society where bodies are interchangeable, the main character is Cynthia, a Caribbean woman who discards her body for the figure of a white woman. When analyzing this fictional tale from a post-colonial lens, it is clear that the author is focusing on giving a voice to the experiences of those born after colonization and the history that was crushed along with it. The author uses an emotional appeal to express the struggles people of colour, specifically Caribbeans, face post-colonization. Cynthia's desire to belong outweighs any logic or ethics, and as a result of white supremacy, this sense of belonging comes in the form of internalized racism. Living in a society filled with racist ideologies often leads to internalized racism, as shown in this short story.

Challenging Perceptions Society has perceptions about people who are different, these perceptions; also referred to as stereotypes, are not always true. Society has to understand that dumpster divers are not all the same, some dumpster dive in order to get something they want, others dumpster dive to get something they need. All dumpster divers are not uneducated, some events just forces them to have to dumpster dive, even with a college degree. Also, homeless dumpster divers do not necessarily have a miserable life, they have enough to live with. Lars Eighner in his essay “On Dumpster Diving,” challenges the way the middle-class people perceive homeless people who dumpster dive.

The amount of time spent with something will change your views and thinking, that is what Barbara Ehrenreich and Lars Eighner share in their papers. Both had low status jobs after having a college education and their work is similar, yet opposites in some ways. The difference is that in Ehrenreich’s, “Serving in Florida”, she believes that restaurant waitressing jobs are degrading to workers because she only had one experience for research and had to stick with it for a short time that she chose, it was unnecessary work to her. While in Eighner’s, “On Dumpster Diving”, he thinks of them as a privilege and enjoyable because he had no other choice than his line of work, he had to put up with being homeless for 3 years to survive without any help.

Eighner’s Dumpster diving is all about scavenging, trashes that seems to be more valuable that it seems. The author appeals to ethos, logos, pathos throughout the essay. Eighner had enough experience as a dumpster that he knew what was valuable and what wasn’t, so he would just take what has value and would leave the things that he thought was unnecessary, so he appeals to ethos in this. Now, talking about logos, eighner also uses this technique because in the essay he says that he can learn a lot about the person based on their trash, he could find bills, contraceptive, etc on dumps.

In Analyzing Parts of “My Daily Dives in the Dumpster” In the essay “My Daily Dives in the Dumpster,” Lars Eighner—an educated yet homeless individual—recounts his experience as a scavenger who seeks for his basic necessities in dumpsters. On his journey of survival in a penniless condition, Eighner has acquired important life skills and most importantly, gained valuable insights about life and materialism. Throughout his essay, Eigher employs deliberate word choice, a didactic tone, and a logical organization to convey that there is no shame in living “from the refuse of others” (Eighner) and to emphasize that materialistic possessions do not guarantee a fulfilled, happy life.

In the text "On Dumpster Diving," Lars Eighner gives us an inside depth of what it's like being homeless and having to dumpster dive for living. Lars Eighner shows how dumpster diving has become a full-time job because it's the only way he can survive. Eighner claims that dumpster diving requires a lot of effort, he made some rules that would help others in the same situation become more efficient and find supplies that are useful for their survival. Dumpster diving has helped Eighner realize that materialistic things aren't necessary and that you should live off necessity. Eighner used to invest on materials that weren't necessary, but dumpster diving has helped him find value in his life and it helped him realize that people need must be grateful for what they have.

Imagine living in a world where the air is polluted and most people are afraid to step outside their front door, in the near future, this may be reality for Americans. Americans throw out over 200 million tons of garbage a year, yet recycle not nearly as much. Most people do not realize it but recycling is a vital part of America’s society and if Americans do not perform this action, it will backfire on them. People in America are debating whether Americans are recycling enough and correctly. After analyzing the data, one will definitely agree that Americans need to be more educated on recycling due to the fact that most people do not know what happens after they recycle an item, nearly all Americans are recycling incorrectly, and Am To begin,

In my life I have made a many bad choices, but my greatest regret is a decision I made to quit something before I should have. III. Social Exchange Theory, if understood and used correctly can influence your life and the lives of those around you in a positive and beneficial way. A. Social Exchange Theory is a mental process we all use. B. Rural tourism in Japan shows us examples of Social Exchange Theory.