Freeganism, a combination of the words “free” and “vegan,” is a movement in which extremely environmentally-conscious citizens strive to meet their everyday needs with minimal impact to the environment. Although not all freegans are vegans, freeganism shares the ideology of veganism.

Freegans reject consumerism and waste by finding alternative ways of meeting their everyday needs for shelter, clothing and food. For sustenance, freegans garden, forage wild plants, barter, and/or consume food that has already been or is about to be thrown away by others through dumpster diving and plate scraping.  They limit their participation in the conventional economy and instead embrace community, social concern, cooperation, and sharing.