Gleaning, modern day style
Mate, the amount of good food chucked into bins around New Zealand every day is unbelievable. These guys, friends of mine in Wellington go dumpster diving every week, pulling out good food that is tossed out by supermarkets because the use by dates have just (about) gone, or there’s some other slight problem, like a small tear in a bag of sugar, a bruised apple or a dented can.
Take a look at this video, taken in Welly last month. There are heaps of reasons people go diving – protest at the amount of good food wasted in a world where many still starve, protest against our culture of aesthetic perfection, to save money on food, and heaps of other motivations. These guys are awesome, because they calculate the money they save by diving each week, and what they save is donated to a development project in Burma.
If anyone’s inspired to dive, a few things to keep in mind:
- Leave the area tidier than you found it – if you get caught, insist on tidying up really well before you leave
- If you get asked to leave, be polite and do so
- If you have to climb a fence to get to the skip, it’s against the law to go in
- If diving gets publicity, supermarket owners tend to start locking skips, so keep it on the low (although making people aware of the wastefulness of our current system is important – guess it’s a question of finding a balance…)
Finally, to do your bit to stop stuff being thrown away, when you’re shopping pick the dented can, the imperfect apple and the bag of pasta with a wee hole in it!
It’d also be cool to hear below of other people’s experiences / reactions to dumpster diving…???
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