Thank you very much for your comments!

I have not had to dumpster dive for survival either, just for treasures, so my hope was to come close to representing the frustration a person can feel being in the situation.

I have heard of the diving movement in some of the US cities like NY, SF, Seattle, but the rest of the country has not seemed to figure it out. Really it is just a recycling program, but with a social stigma attached for no good reason. Part of living in our consumer societies it seems.