Lately my grocery bills have been escalating while my income has been dissipating. So I decided that it would behoove me to go on some more freegan trash tours, even if not planned by the freegan.info group. I texted a fellow freegan who lives in my neighborhood, asking whether she would be interested in taking a tour round our "hood". She said yes and that I should also post it on the dumpster-dive-rise-up group.

So last night I hosted a freegan trailblaze with four other swashbucklers in West Harlem. We began by making our way to Pathmark, just two blocks from my apartment. We stopped at a large pile of trash outside of Duane Reade where we salvaged a baby bathtub, a small aluminum garbage can, and an igloo cooler (I brought the baby bathtub home and posted it on the craigslist "free" page). Next was Pathmark, where we found two or three dozen VHS tapes. Another trash tourist took them home, also with the intent to sell or give away on CL.
We had only stopped at two stores and already our hands were full, so we went back to my apartment to leave our findings on the stoop.

Having lightened our load, we made our way toward Broadway, stopping at nearly every large pile of trash along the way. We rescued doughnuts and bagels at Dunkin Donuts, sweet plantains at C-Town, and took pictures of perfectly good discarded furniture to post as CURB ALERTS on craigslist. Finally we made our way to Food Town on St. Nicholas and 148th St.

Here we hit the jackpot.

I opened a bag that felt as though it might have food in it. All I could see inside was another black plastic gargage bag. I opened that bag and discovered yet another bag inside of it - how many of these bags would I have to open before I reached my treasure? And why did this trash need to be triple-bagged?! Finally I reached the bags' contents, dozens of good peaches. I rescued about ten of them. Then another trash tourist discovered a bag, a cornucopia of other fruits and veggies: apples, strawberries, lemons, green peppers, mushrooms, soup greens, lettuce, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, zuchini, and squash! What a find!

We tied up our leavings and walked back toward my apartment. After a solid treasure hunt I think it's safe to say we were all headed home quite happy!

This morning I woke up to a smoothie - featuring rescued peaches, apple, and strawberries! - and a viewing of "The Story of Stuff".
Not a bad way to start my morning!
And I have a free baby bathtub if anyone needs ;)

http://www.buy.com/prod/primo-euro-bathtub-white/q/listingid/68441521/loc/20269/203993752.html