In i Love Trash, David Brown and Greg Mann try an experiment in waste. After recognizing the huge amount of waste in the United States, David and Greg decide to see just how much people throw away. They move to a new city and get an unfurnished apartment. They bring only the clothes they are wearing and a flashlight and decide to buy nothing for 3 months. All their food, clothes, furniture, electronics, art supplies and entertainment all comes from the trash. It turns out that they are not only able to ‘survive’ but are able to find everything they could need and more. During their project they find many other dumpster divers and discuss all the different reasons for dumpster diving. There are people who dumpster dive for environmental reasons, to stop so much waste from going into landfills. There are people who dumpster dive for the easy lifestyle it provides. There are people who dumpster dive for the fun of finding. There are people who dumpster dive for food. There are people who dumpster dive to make art. There are people who dumpster dive to make money. There are as many different people who dumpster dive as there are reasons. “We wanted to address the problem of over consumption and waste directly in this project. Not by continuing our patterns, while pointing fingers at everything around us, but instead by changing our lifestyles. I hope our project is seen not simply as entertainment, but as an example of an alternative that anyone can take part in to whatever extent they want. Any time you refill a cup instead of getting a new disposable one, that’s an active move towards changing the flow of our waste stream.”

CREDITS:
Director: David Brown and Greg Mann
Producer: David Brown and Greg Mann
2008
Run Time: in minutes 30

FESTIVALS:
Wild and Scenic Film Festival,
Lake County Film Festival,
East Lansing Film Festival,
Lake Michigan Film Competition, (won 3rd place for Documentary films)
Skyfest Film and Script Festival,
Wild and Scenic Touring Film Festival
Forecastle Film Festival
Bend Film Festival
Frozen River Film Festival