Alex Miller ENG 102-118 Mr.

Neuburger 29 January 2013 Response Essay On Dumpster Diving The story On Dumpster Diving, by Lars Eighner describes his life as a homeless man who dumpster dives to get his everyday needs. After reading this essay, it is clear that Americans are wasteful. Even if things are still perfectly good, many resort to throwing them in the trash because they are too lazy and wasteful to take them to a place where people that need them can get them easily. Eighner explains, Except for jeans, all my clothes came from dumpsters. Boom boxes, candles, bedding, toilet paper, a virgin male love doll, medicine, books, a typewriter, dishes, furnishings, and change sometimes amounting to dollars (254). Furthermore, even if people are poor and can barely afford what they have, they still throw out many items that are perfectly good. Eighner explains, students discard perfectly good kiwifruit; poorer people discard perfectly good apples. (260) Eighner gathers so many things from the trash that Americans throw out that he has to be careful not to take too much, proving that American people truly are wasteful. Words: 174

Eighner, Lars. "On Dumpster Diving." Power of Language; Language of Power: A Collection of Readings. 2nd ed. Boston: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2011. 253-66. Print. Custom Edition for Ozarks Technical Community College.