“…You aren’t recycling, you’re stealing!”
“Stealing?” I ask him incredulously, “this food is in the bin. How can I steal rubbish?”
He pulls out his phone. “I’ll give you one minute to get out of here and then I’m calling the police…”
I get all kinds of reactions when I dumpster dive. Most of the time nobody sees me, but occasionally I have interactions with store people, and they vary a lot.
Most of the time, if the workers in the loading docks see me, they just ignore me. Sometimes they give me a wink and nod. One guy I saw regularly at a supermarket in Sydney would cheerfully tell me what I could find each day, and even give me advice on the best times to come back.
(Top pic: Craig and KC-the-Wonder-Dog, helping me ‘steal’ garbage on the Gold Coast, Australia.)
When Craig and I were camping on the Gold Coast in 2015, we were diving the local supermarkets every other day. We did get seen by employees once in a while, but surprisingly, they were overwhelmingly sympathetic.
One guy with a Chinese accent said “it’s good that you can use some of this food. Waste is very bad. When I first come to Australia, I eat this way all the time.”
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I’m knee deep in the dumpster behind Aldi. I’ve already filled two bags with fresh fruit, potatoes, lamb chops and sausages, and I’ve just discovered a rich seam of biscuits and cakes.
I hear a voice behind me: “Hey! Get out of that bin.”
He’s a thick waisted guy in his fifties, wearing a tightly buttoned “Aldi” shirt and a frown.
“I’m just getting some food mate. I’m hungry” I tell him.
“What you’re doing is trespassing” he barks at me.
“I’m recycling food, buddy.” I point at the sticker on the side of the dumpster that says ‘reduce, re-use, recycle’. “I’m just helping you out, mate. There’s a lot of very good food in here that Aldi is sending to landfill.”
He points at me sternly. “You aren’t recycling, you’re stealing!”
“Stealing?” I ask him incredulously, “this food is in the bin. How can I steal rubbish?”
He pulls out his phone. “I’ll give you one minute to get out of here and then I’m calling the police.”
“Go for it. I’m not the criminal here. Do you know what Aldi is doing? They pay farmers shit money for their produce, burn millions of litres of fossil fuels shipping the stuff all over the place, rip off their customers with inflated prices, then chuck thousands of kilo’s of perfectly good food into landfill every day. Meanwhile, there are kids in remote communities in this country living on white bread and sugar. Aldi is like the Mafia, buddy, and you work for ’em.”
His face turns red. He starts stabbing his finger at his phone. I load my food onto my bike, and ride away.
One night we found a bin full of pastry and mangoes. We were pretty excited and started clambering into the dumpster. A security guard popped out of the loading dock door. We prepared ourselves for a telling-off.
“Hey guys” she greeted us. “Don’t look now, OK, but there’s a camera behind you, and my boss is watching us right now. He told me to come down here and read the riot act at you, and if you stick around, I’m going to get in a lot of trouble. Do me a favour, would you? Go away, and come back in about two hours. My boss will be off work by then. Can you do that for me?”
We smiled, and thanked her, and went down to the corner for a coffee.
Two hours later, we went back and loaded up on chocolate croissants.
Win!
(Below: nothing puts a smile on my face like dumpster bananas! Thx for the pic Rob!)
>> Want to find out more about getting free food as you travel?
>> Check out the Raw Safari Top 9 Low-Budget Adventure Tips!
