The New York Times introduced the world to “freegans” today. The freegans “are scavengers of the developed world, living off consumer waste in an effort to minimize their support of corporations and their impact on the planet, and to distance themselves from what they see as out-of-control consumerism.”

Not “down with capitalism,” as one freegan put it in the article, they scavenge through the dumpsters of college dorms and restaurants for the refuse the establishment left behind. The article soberly interviews various freegans who quit their predictably empty corporate jobs in order to devote their lives to nebulous forms of activism; the article quotes one freegan who contrasts her freegan experience of “working” with her corporate experience of “working for money.”

In its profile of freegans, the Times continues its ongoing interest and coverage of trendy responses to and lazy rejections of capitalism. This began with their profile of the Breaven family, which is engaging in a year-long experiment in what they call “No Impact” living. The experiment, of course, goes hand-in-hand with the family patriarch’s book deal to chronicle the experiment. “No Impact” living sounds oddly biological, carefully invoking commensalism instead of parasitism. But for as peculiar as aiming to live ‘without impact’ is — the Breavens don’t use toilet paper — it’s certainly less peculiar than the Times’ breathless praise for this brand of lifestyle.