Going Green: True Tales from Gleaners, Scavengers, and Dumpster Divers

For Going Green, Pritchett has gathered the work of more than twenty writers to tell their personal stories of Dumpster diving, eating road kill, salvaging plastic from the beach, and forgoing another trip to the mall for the thrill of bargain hunting at yard sales and flea markets. These stories look not just at the many ways people glean but also at the larger, thornier issues dealing with what re-using—or not—says about our culture and priorities.

The essayists speak to the joys of going beyond the norm to save old houses, old dishwater, old cultures, old Popsicle sticks, and old friendships—and turning them into something new. Some write about gleaning as a means of survival, while others see the practice as a rejection of consumerism or as a way of treading lightly on the earth.

Brimming with practical and creative new ways to think about recycling, this collection invites you to dive in and find your own way of going green.

Laura Pritchett is the author of the award-winning novels Sky Bridge and Hell's Bottom, Colorado and is the co-editor of Home Land and Pulse of the River. Pritchett earned her Ph.D. in Contemporary American Literature at Purdue, but now happily lives in her home state of Colorado, where she enjoys gleaning, raising chickens, hiking, and writing.