We all know someone who is genuinely frugal or borderline cheep. These are the people who clip double coupons, re-use just about everything and buy the most generic brands in existence. It physically pains these people to spend money and if something can be done for cheaper, they’ll find a way to do it! A group of people across the nation have come together and found a way to move frugality to the next level. These people make use of anything free they possibly can. They’ll take all sorts of other people’s discarded items and re-use them, sometimes even by digging through a dumpster!

This movement is referred to some as “freeganism.” A freegan is someone who lives off of the castoff’s of society. They get as many of their possessions as they possibly can for literally nothing. They turn other people’s actual trash and make better use out of it. This makes some pretty good sense as a lot of people upgrade their televisions, their computers, furniture, vehicles and other goods while they still have plenty of practical use left.

Freegans acquire other people’s used stuff through a number of different ways. Many of them go around town whenever a community cleanup day occurs and the city picks up people’s large trash items. People will throw away furniture and electronics during these events. People who are more extreme freegans make no bones about dumpster diving or visiting a landfill to get something free that they need.

The New York Times reported about a group of freegans who showed up at NYU when it was time for college students to move out of the dorms at the end of the school year last spring. Some of the freegans came back with all sorts of great items, such as artwork, desk lamps and even a couple of working iPods.

Some freegans participate in this extreme form of recycling as part of a political movement to support environmental issues, others do it just because they like free stuff! If you’re interested in dabbling in the world of freeganism, you can head on over to a website called FreeCycle.org. It’s essentially a clearing house for people to get rid of stuff they don’t want anymore and for other people to find treasures that other people don’t have any use for it. FreeCycle is a great way to pick up used electronics, furniture, and other goodies for literally nothing. It’s completely free to be a member, so give it a shot and see what sorts of free stuff you can find!