When I previously worked for newspapers as a staff photographer, I was always on the look out for the unexpected. Big and little things in life that seem out of the ordinary for the context in which you find it. While visiting Dordt College a bit ago with a class, we walked over to the small campus and was looking at the spring blossoming trees and sculpted art work that graces the campus grounds. And then, unexpectedly, I see a young woman “dumpster diving” a large trash bin. Dumpster diving has been around a few decades, as those less affluent in some parts of the country look for items that might be valuable to them while not valuable to the person who tossed the item into the trash.
It seemed a little out of place at this small Christian college, but then again, one man’s/woman’s trash is another’s treasure. The young woman explained she was looking for salvageable items she could use for next year’s term and unlike going through the trash in places like New York City or Los Angeles, these items were probably in a little better shape.
Jerry Mennenga
Sioux City, Iowa
- A returning student at the Dordt College does a little dumpster diving to see what she might salvage for her next year in school seen during a WIT Lifelong Learning Photo Safari outing in Sioux Center, Iowa Saturday, May 6, 2017. (Photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)
- A returning student at the Dordt College heads into a dumpster to she what she might salvage for use for next year’s term seen during a WIT Lifelong Learning Photo Safari outing in Sioux Center, Iowa Saturday, May 6, 2017. (Photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)
- A sculpture on the campus of Dordt College during a WIT Lifelong Learning Photo Safari outing in Sioux Center, Iowa Saturday, May 6, 2017. (Photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)
- A clocktower on the campus of Dordt College during a WIT Lifelong Learning Photo Safari outing in Sioux Center, Iowa Saturday, May 6, 2017. (Photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)
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