freegan

American  

[free-guhn] / ˈfri gən /

noun

1. a person who buys as little as possible and makes use of recycled or discarded goods and materials, in an effort to reduce waste and limit environmental impact.

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freegan British  

/ ˈfriːɡən /

noun

1. a person who, through opposition to capitalism and consumerism, attempts to live without buying consumer goods, recycling discarded goods instead

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Other Word Forms

• freeganism noun

Etymology

Origin of freegan

First recorded in 1995–2000; free + (ve)gan

Example Sentences

The word "freegan" was originally coined as a joke.

From Salon

Six years later, a pamphlet called "Why Freegan?" turned the joke into a manifesto, defining freeganism as "an anti-consumeristic ethic about eating" and the "ultimate boycott."

From Salon

Walker and co-founder Joe Green, a tech entrepreneur in the Facebook orbit and big booster of psychedelic research, say they want to create the togetherness of intentional communities like co-ops, communes, or Burning Man without the anticapitalist politics or freegan cuisine.

From Los Angeles Times

So for Jean, who tends to the fridge in Kingsbridge, in the Bronx, community fridge are rooted in the same big-picture ideas that animate their freegan lifestyle: reducing food waste, fighting climate change, rejecting the concept that nutritious food should cost money – any money.

From The Guardian

He mourns the loss of a time when people appointed apartments with the discarded lamps and night stands they found on the street, even as a freegan movement thrives in New York despite whatever preferences his own neighbors have for the bland efficiency of West Elm.

From New York Times