Freeganism

By Karolyn Castaldo on April 19, 2012

Every college student should be a freegan. No, I don’t mean a vegan, or any other dietary preference of the like, I mean freegan. I also don’t mean the kind of person who goes dumpster diving for wasted food: that’s a little too unsanitary for my liking. What I do mean is a lifestyle where you do everything and anything that you can for free.

Photo from Flickr.com by Ryan Leighty

In college, we are given a lot of opportunities. While your parents would like you to acknowledge that the opportunity is the chance to get an incredible education, what I’m talking about is the access to cheap stuff: student discounts, and free food and clothing at university-sponsored events. However, how often do we take advantage of this opportunity?

Many schools have a place where you can go to get tickets to off-campus events in your area. At the University of Denver, it’s called the Explore Denver Desk, where students can receive discounted tickets to plays downtown or free tickets to the zoo and many other places. Also, most cities offer student rates on bus or train passes so traveling is made easy, but sometimes, that will be offered by your school for free. Ski resorts and movie theaters offer student discounts on passes and tickets if you make sure to ask. Carrying your student ID is the key. You don’t want to miss out on an opportunity to save just because you forgot your ID in your room.

For completely free things, attend events on campus that you usually wouldn’t. Most of the time, at the very least, they will give out free coffee, but sometimes, you will get lucky and receive a full-blown meal that’s much better than what you’ll find in the dining hall. On that note, take advantage of the dining hall as well. If you aren’t very hungry when you go down to eat, ask for a to-go box after finishing your meal, especially if your meal swipes are all-you-can-eat. You pay a lot for your meal plan and you deserve to be able to take as much food as you want. Don’t forget to check out the free fitness classes at the gym as well. Once you’re out of college, those are so expensive that you won’t deem them worth it to spend your hard-earned cash on.

Be a freegan with clothing as well. To promote campus events, many student organizations will make t-shirts and hand them out. They may not be the best quality, but they will serve the purpose when you need something to wear to the gym. The same goes for free cups, candy, and general campus swag. The number of free cups and bags that I’ve received from clubs and organization in our student center at DU is absolutely ridiculous, but I’ve never had to buy a cup to use in my room, so it’s a pretty good deal.

You work hard at school and so you deserve access to some cool stuff. Your university knows that and will do everything they can to keep you happy. Take advantage of it. This is the only time in your life that you will be offered so many things at a discount or for free, so while in college, be as much of a freegan as you can, without diving in dumpsters.

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