Dumpster diving isn’t on everyone’s to do list, but for some it’s a way to beat the rising cost of living.
The term ‘dumpster diving’ refers to the practice of searching commercial bins for items of use, this can include furniture, clothes or food and grocery items, and it’s becoming more popular in Logan suburbs as the costs of grocery items rise.
Logan resident Cecilia Ann is a big advocate for dumpster diving, she’s been doing it for years.
“During Covid I lost my job and my husband’s business had to close so we struggled to afford the basic necessities,” she said.
“One day over coffee, a friend had brought up the idea of dumpster diving and showed me some YouTube videos of people who do it, it’s big over in the US. She said why don’t we try this?”
“At first it was a bit of a joke. We both thought, we can’t do that it’s dirty and what if we get sick from the food.”
Ms Ann said she decided to just have a look at the bins, after shopping one day.
“One day after a shop, I was looking at my receipt and stressing about the money I had just spent,” she said.
“I thought I’ll just go out the back to the bins and have a look and I couldn’t believe what I saw.”
“My friend and I went back later that night, and we got a boot full of goodies; soft drinks, juices, packets of pasta, fruit and veg, cleaning products, biscuits, noodles, canned stuff and everything was still in date, and it was all packaged.”
Ms Ann said she has now started diving for others.
“It helped us a lot back then and we are back on our feet now, so we tend to give away a lot of the stuff we find to people we know need a bit of extra help and we give to community organisations too,” she said.
“With the rising costs of living right now, people need help more than ever and I find it disgusting that supermarkets are throw tonnes of good food and products away.”
“Why not just donate it, give it to charity, give it to homeless shelters or organisations that can put it to good use.”
Food and grocery items aren’t the only things Logan residents have found in commercial dumpsters either.
Jake Farr-Wharton found his much-loved pet cat called Iggy in a dumpster outside the Logan Hospital.
“I heard a kitten meowing in a dumpster on the way to the car park,” he said.
“I searched and found her; I put her in a box and took her to the vet.”
Mr Farr-Wharton said Iggy was a stray cat.
“The vet loved her so much they almost kept her for themselves, but I insisted and got her vaccinated and desexed,” he said.
“She joined the family and became our much-loved pet.”
Celicia Ann’s rules for dumpster diving:
- Diving through publicly accessible bins is not illegal, but make sure you do not cut locks or go beyond private gates – that’s illegal.
- Don’t dive for dairy or meat products or eggs to prevent from getting sick.
- If something looks like it has been tampered with, leave it.
- Don’t make a mess!
- Don’t take everything in sight, leave some for the next diver.
