Earth First! is a radical environmentalist organization that emerged in the great southwestern desert during the spring of 1980. Inspired by Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Aldo Leopold's land ethic, and Edward Abbey's The Monkey Wrench Gang, a group of activists fed up with mainstream environmental organizations pledged "No Compromise in Defense of Mother Earth!". Environmental activist Dave Foreman, ex-Yippie (Youth International Party) Mike Roselle, Wyoming Wilderness Society representatives Bart Koehler and Howie Wolke and former Park Ranger Ron Kezar were traveling in Foreman's VW bus from the Pincate Desert in northern Mexico to Albuquerque. Provoked by what they considered a sell-out by mainstream enviros during the RARE II (the Forest Service's Roadless Area and Review Evaluation) meetings, the activists envisaged a revolutionary movement to set aside multi-million acre ecological preserves all across the United States.

Whether you are talking about the food or the band, it's all great and a great pin to display!

View All 9 Comments

Dumpster Diving is the practice of sifting through trash to find usable items that have been discarded for being unusable by their owners, such as food, furniture, clothes, and metals. In practice, dumpster “diving” is more like fishing since most dumpsters can be accessed from outside without crawling in.

Some resort to dumpster-diving out of economic necessity, while others practice it for reasons like the thrill of the hunt, creative intent (looking for things to use in ways other than originally intended), and artists looking for materials.

There are several ethical arguments justify dumpster-diving. By focusing on reusing resources it decreases the deplorable waste due to practices of many supermarkets, bakeries, and shops -- wastage that is caused by efficiencies and inefficiencies created by Just In Time manufacturing, legal concerns, or other reasons.

For these and other reasons, massive levels of waste increase the ecological global footprint of society, while many people in that same society cannot afford necessities.

Offices, factories, department stores, and other commercial establishments also sometimes throw out nonperishable items that are irregular, were returned, have minor damages, or are replaced by newer items.

Whoa, a totally redesigned super-rad button! With gas prices rising, it's good to know that this vehicle still costs $0 per gallon.