Diving into the life of a binner

Exploring a scavenger's daily grind in the Downtown Eastside

TOM HAWTHORN
Special to The Globe and Mail
September 12, 2007

VICTORIA -- Armed with a notepad and a tape recorder, Crystal Tremblay headed into the wilds to study exotic peoples.

In her case, the wilds consisted of the untamed streets and alleys of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. The subjects of her research were those citizens engaged in "informal resource recovery." That's academic jargon for binners, who are also known as scavengers, garbage pickers or dumpster divers.

Two summers ago, when she was 25, the graduate student left the comfort of the ivory tower for some real-life experience. Born in Vancouver and raised in the Laurentian resort village of Morin Heights, Que., Ms. Tremblay got a quick education.

"My first days down there were really shocking," she said.

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