tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12464328596671463652024-02-20T01:49:36.934-08:00Freegan Tips and TricksEasy ways to reduce consumption and save money while maintaining your lifestyle.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02632626151650901571noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246432859667146365.post-5992529771627052282009-05-03T23:21:00.000-07:002009-05-12T04:11:17.822-07:00Freeganism is an anti-consumerist lifestyle centered on reducing waste while maintaining a healthy and enjoyable lifestyle. A huge portion of today’s consumer driven society is focused on purchasing goods and services to fill our needs, but for most of us, these goods are not necessary to live a fulfilling and enjoyable life. Freegans simply attempt to remove, or at least limit their dependence on store bought goods and services. This article will outline a few easy freegan tips and tricks to reduce your consumption, save some money and still enjoy a very healthy standard of living.<br /><br /><br />Economists have a lovely word to describe the happiness that one achieves through the purchase of goods and services, utility. In economic theory utility is a powerful and influential force that shapes the economic universe that we live in. The theory basically says that a consumer’s utility (or happiness) is dependent on the products that they purchase. As a person buys more goods he or she will become happier until a peak utility is reached, at which point the happiness plateaus and the consumer stops making purchases. Corporations have become very good at measuring consumer utility, and in turn have become experts at heightening the levels to which people will pay for the perceived benefits of the goods that they buy. Are I-Phones really worth $800, or has Apple done an excellent job of heightening the perceived utility that consumers expect to receive from the product? the first freegan tips, number one, dont believe everything advertisment tell you, number 2 you probably dont need to buy waht they are selling.<br /><br /><br />Freeganism is a backlash to the over simplified spend to be happy society that gets pushed into our homes everyday through our TVs, computers, Magazines and Radios. Companies spend billions of dollars every year to deconstruct consumer spending habits and in turn design marketing campaigns to make sure that we think we can only be happy by purchasing their goods. But there is a significant amount of waste that gets produced under this model and the freegan movement has pounced on this opportunity. Every one of us has thrown an old but still useful object out this at some point in our lives. We buy a new TV and throw out the old one, we buy new clothes and trash our old ones, we get a new pair of shoes and throw the old pair in the trash. Companies do the same thing, but sometimes they will pre-emptively throw out products before anyone purchases them. There are many reasons why a company may do this, but usually the bottom line is it will cost the company more to store, transport and sell the product rather than to just throw it out. Freegans strive to use the excess that companies and consumers no longer deem useful.<br /><br />If you are looking to have a life less dependent on consumer products, conserve waste, and even save a little money, here are some freegan tips and tricks.<br /><br /><a href="http://freegantipsandtricks.blogspot.com/2009/05/freegan-tips-and-tricks-food.html">NEXT PAGE 2 >>></a>D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02632626151650901571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246432859667146365.post-29248599970058583652009-05-03T22:37:00.000-07:002009-05-12T03:59:02.853-07:00Restaurants, Bakeries and Grocery Stores are notoriously wasteful and are a treasure trove of fresh food, if you know where and when to look. Admittedly, going through trash bins behind a store is not for everyone, but if done properly foraging for food can save an unbelievable amount of good food that would otherwise end up in a landfill.<br /><br /><strong><em><span style="font-size:130%;">Freegan Tips to Save at Grocery Stores</span><br /></em></strong>It really is staggering the amount of fresh fruit and vegetables that are discarded on a nightly basis behind grocery stores. Consumers demand perfection when purchasing fruits and vegetables, so if a piece of fruit does not look perfect on the shelves, then chances are shoppers will look past it for a better looking piece. Perfectly good produce ends up in the trash everyday.<br /><br />Some stores will actually pre-emptively remove the non perfect produce before it makes it to the store front. Fruits and vegetables will move right from the truck into the garbage because there is no point putting produce onto the shop floor when the store knows it will not get purchased. If you can find a store that does this, you will get produce with small scratches or bruises that are otherwise perfect on a very regular basis.<br /><br />If the produce is not individually packaged be sure to check what else is around it to make sure there is nothing that could potentially make you sick and always wash produce thoroughly before eating regardless of packaging. (For pesticides as well).<br /><br />If picking produce up from behind a store doesn’t seem appetizing to you, then just ask your grocer if they have any bruised or older produce for a reduced price. Many stores have discount shelves for produce that will go to the dumpster if the products are not purchased.<br /><br />If you are specifically shopping for produce try shopping late at night or early in the morning. Produce departments will make daily assessments of their stocks at the end of each day and mark down any subpar products. Just by shopping at the right time you can easily save 50% on what you would normally spend on fruits and veggies.<br /><br />Grocery stores will throw out other non-produce merchandise on a regular basis, and just like the fruits and veggies there is often a surprising amount of excellent quality food tossed into the trash.<br /><br />Breads and buns are cooked fresh daily and are also discarded daily to keep the store’s stock fresh. The general rule is a 1 day to sale time for breads made in the store and the breads are normally made early in the morning (although some stores may have a second run in the afternoon depending on turnover). Get to the store early in the morning for in store discounts. Much like the produce 50% discounts are very common.<br /><br />Packaged products with best before dates or recommended sell dates are often discarded before the recommended date. Just be sure not to use anything where the original packaging has been opened or has ripped.<br /><br />Frozen foods can be a goldmine, since they rarely go bad and will last ages if stored properly. Just be sure to not use anything that has thawed.<br /><br />Be hesitant of meats and dairy products unless they have come straight from the store. Products that have been outside for a couple of hours could go bad regardless of expiration dates. If the meat is still good try to use it that night or freeze it as soon as you get home.<br /><br /><a href="http://freegantipsandtricks.blogspot.com/">PREVIOUS PAGE 1 </a>\/<a href="http://freegantipsandtricks.blogspot.com/2009/04/freegan-tips-and-tricks.html">NEXT PAGE 3 >>></a>D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02632626151650901571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1246432859667146365.post-32742522501694764842009-04-29T22:06:00.000-07:002009-05-12T04:00:17.362-07:00<strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Freegan Tips to Save Money at Bakeries</span><br /></strong>Large industrial bakeries that supply grocery stores will discard unusable stock on a daily basis. These are generally products that have a visible flaw, but are otherwise completely fine. Whether it is cakes, cookies, breads or buns, the products are baked fresh each day and are perfectly good. The factories will also sometimes have a store attached where you can buy their products at discounted prices compared to a grocery store.<br /><br />Smaller family run bakeries generally follow the one day rule for freshness for breads and buns. Anything that doesn’t get sold in the first day first gets drastically reduced and then tossed. Other products such as brownies, cakes, muffins and cookies have different shelve lives but it is normally not more than a couple of days before they too get tossed.<br /><br />Donut and Bagel shops are a treasure trove of cheap treats. To find fresh products try looking out back just after closing time to find donuts, bagels and muffins that were likely baked that same day. If you’re not keen on looking through the trash, many stores will cut huge deals just before closing time to get rid of the unused stock for the day. Try to visit an independently owned and operated donut or bagel shop just before closing time to negotiate for a bag of assorted treats. It’s not unusual to get a large bag of donuts, bagels, muffins and cookies for less than $1. They are just going to throw it out anyway so they’re happy to make anything.<br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Freegan Tips to Reduce Waste at Restaurants<br /></span></strong>Restaurants are generally not the best place to find fresh food in the dumpster. They are far more likely to use older or slightly damaged products in a dish because it can be hidden around other ingredients in the meal. The stuff that gets thrown out is usually nowhere near the same quality that you would see outside of a grocery store, and if it is any good it’s normally mixed in with leftovers from other people meals.<br /><br />Stay away from fast food trash bins at all costs!!!<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Grow a Garden</span><br /></strong>Buy some seeds, put in a few hours of hard work and you will be eating fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices in no time. It takes some time and effort but you get really great food and a rewarding experience.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Other Freegan Tips</span></strong><br /><br />Food is the big expense for most people but if dumpster diving doesn’t sound appetising to you there are other ways to live Freegan.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">FreeCycle </span><br /></strong>Give away old items that you no longer want so that they can be used by someone else. Craiglist and gumtree are great sites to find free items or to post your unwanted items on the internet. There are many other specialized sites to trade or give away everything you can think of.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Check out a Garage Sale</span><br /></strong>You can sometimes find thrifty treasures by picking through other peoples old stuff. How can you go wrong when a perfectly good coffee table costs $2?<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Try a Ride Sharing Program</span><br /></strong>Craigslist and erideshare.com have ride sharing programs available and many business offer ride sharing opportunities for employees. Saving gas on the commute to work by driving in with a co-worker is not only good for the environment but has huge financial benefits as well.<br /><br />Hopefully these tips will help to reduce the number of useful items that ends up in a landfill and also save you a bit of money.<br /><br />For more information on freeganism check www.freegan.info<br /><br /><a href="http://freegantipsandtricks.blogspot.com/2009/05/freegan-tips-and-tricks-food.html">PREVIOUS PAGE 2</a>D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02632626151650901571noreply@blogger.com0