I am a bin diver and do my weekly shopping in bins – I only spend £70 a YEAR on groceries
Meet the woman who says she only spends £70 a year on food – by getting all her meals out of supermarket bins.
Sofie Juel-Andersen, 29, from Denmark, started ‘dumpster diving’ three years ago – and hasn’t looked back since.
She started out by picking only fresh produce from the designated bins, but soon realized she could have an entire weekly shop.
And Sofia estimates she now saves thousands of pounds every year.
The restaurant manager, originally from Aarhus, Denmark, said: ‘Dumpster diving became like a rescue mission for me.
Sofie Juel-Andersen (pictured), 29, from Denmark, says she spends just £70 a year on food – taking all her meals out of supermarket bins
The frugal restaurant manager started “dumpster diving” three years ago and hasn’t looked back since
“So much good food is wasted — and supermarkets know there are people who can’t afford to eat.
‘When I lived in Aarhus, I knew about dumpsters, but I had never seen putting food on the table as an option.
‘But in 2019 I moved to Sydney, and my sister sent me a picture of some hidden treasures she found while diving in dumpsters.
“I thought it was pretty wild – and I wondered if I could do this in Australia.”
Even though Sofie has always been able to afford to eat out, she realized that this could be a more cost-effective way of grocery shopping.
She set out with a friend to explore some of Sydney’s supermarkets in daylight – and kept track of which ones she would visit after dark.
“It was always supermarket dumpsters,” she said. “Never go after restaurants or private homes — depending on where you live, it may even be illegal to do so.”
“I called my girlfriend back and she came out with me in the evening.
‘We went to look in the waste container of a supermarket and found a lot of vegetables.
“Since it was our first time, we didn’t take much — but we took the vegetables that we thought looked good to eat.”
Sofie wondered where the rest of the discarded food went.
Sofie says she’s always been able to afford food, but soon realized the bizarre method could be a more cost-effective way of grocery shopping
Her handy tips for “first time” dumpster pickers include bringing wet wipes and liquid sanitizer to keep yourself clean
Sandwiches and mozzarella cheese (both items pictured) are just a few of the treats Sofie finds while diving with dumpsters
The next time she went diving, she found a general waste bin – used to dispose of all kinds of packaged food.
She added: ‘I was really blown away by the amount of rubbish in these dumpsters.
“There would literally be two dumpsters at the back of a grocery store filled with packaged food: whole chickens, candy, drinks — once we found 300 cans of Diet Coke still in their boxes.
“They were thrown out for a variety of reasons — we saw a whole box of kombucha bottles that had been thrown out because one of the cans was damaged.
‘Bad vegetables, goods that are a day past their expiration date and damaged packaging are all reasons to throw things in the container.
“But usually it’s food that expired a day or two ago.”
Despite sending lots of pictures to her friends and posting to her Instagram, Sofie’s friends still thought diving into dumpsters was “gross.”
She said: ‘My friends and colleagues in Sydney had no knowledge of dumpster diving – they thought it was super gross and just didn’t understand it.
However, Sofie’s friends find diving into dumpsters “gross” and say they don’t understand
“But when I showed them the photos and videos, they were amazed.
“They said it was like food they would buy at the supermarket!”
When she first started dumpster diving, Sofie was still spending around £50 a week to supplement her meals.
Now she rarely spends money on food – and lives entirely on food she finds in the supermarket.
She said: ‘It’s evolved from a curious treasure hunt to a lifestyle choice – and it’s reducing food pollution, so it’s like everyday activism.
“I don’t spend any money on food at all — and I feel like I don’t crave things nearly as much as I used to.
‘The other day I actually went to buy some salt – and I got completely lost in the supermarket because it had been so long since I’d been there!
“I also make sure to use up every last morsel of food I get out of dumpsters — why save wasted food to waste it?”
‘So I like to cook fun things – experimental recipes that you won’t find in any book.
“I once found 10, fully packaged Margarita pizzas, an avocado, a red bell pepper, and some parsley, combined the ingredients, and served them to my friends at a dinner party.”
With the money she saves on groceries, Sofie can afford to work four days a week.
She said, “Dumpster diving allows me to work less. I only have a four-day work week, with one of the days only lasting four hours.
“It gives me so much financial and personal freedom.”