"Scavenging has a long and storied history on the margins of the mainstream, from the rag-and-bone man in Dickens' "Bleak House" to the destitute residents of "Hoovervilles" during the Great Depression and idealistic hippies like the Diggers in the '60s. Rufus and Lawson hope that today, the combination of the recession, vintage chic and our growing environmental awareness will help remove some of the stigma from scavenging and encourage more of us to embrace it.In today's dire economic climate, Lawson and Rufus invite us to think of ourselves not as cash-poor consumers with so much less to spend but as resourceful thrift shoppers, yard salers, discount shoppers, free-box foragers, clothing swappers, freecyclers and maybe even Dumpster divers. By their definition, many of us may already be scavengers and not even realize it. They even have a name for my Saturday morning grocery store visit, timed for the free samples to snack on. Yes, I had no idea, but I'm a "free-sample forager.""
A subtly powerful article about scavenging that makes you think when seeing where some of this stuff comes from. A good read for sure and something useful to know as we move deeper into depression. Thanks Salon for posting this.
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