Garbage

MINNEAPOLIS -- "I got some strawberries!" Seth Graham's voice bounds off the walls of a dumpster as he settles unopened containers of fruit into a cardboard box that Ruthie Cole is holding. "Ooh, pomegranate seeds," Cole says.

Graham redirects his headlamp and snags another garbage bag. He sticks a gloved finger through its side, spilling a mixture of empty containers, rotten produce and brown slush onto his boots. Nothing worth keeping. Graham continues the search. Cole stands to the side, observing and advising.

"Seth, get the flowers," Cole says. "I'll put them in a bouquet."

Cole and Graham are dumpster divers. The two friends take food that appears edible, bring it home, wash it up and eat it. They are among a growing group of people who find sustenance in discarded food. Some, calling themselves "freegans," have a philosophy that shuns spending money and capitalism, and do it to protest waste.

MONTE CRISTO -- For the past 18 years, members of The Wild Bunch have put their dance shoes aside to lace up their hiking boots and head for the mountains. The members of the square dancing club drive to Mile Marker 33 on the road to Monte Cristo to pick up trash.

"We've found some very interesting things over the past several years," said club member Doug Swayngim. "Parts of car hoods, trailer parts, steering wheels, snowmobile parts."

RIVERDALE — On the first of two opt-out rounds, 14 percent of garbage customers rejected recycling services set to begin this fall.

New plastics designed to break down naturally have been hailed as environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional plastics. Instead of taking decades or even centuries to decompose, they vanish in a few years.

But new research at North Carolina State University suggests they may not be so green after all.