2008-10-09

Gleanage

I've long been frustrated by the words available to talk about the waste stream.

Waste, garbage, trash, refuse, junk ... all these words are
rooted in the premise that there is no value in the discarded.

A dictionary definition of glean:

"To collect (something) bit by bit."

Glean comes from the ancient tradition of gleaning:

"Gleaning is the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers'
fields after they have been commercially harvested or on fields
where it is not economically profitable to harvest."

So,to glean is to recognize and harvest the value in the unwanted.

Gleanage is that which has been gleaned, that which has to do
with gleaning.

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