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A BIN-DIVER revealed that she hasn’t had to go a grocery shop in four years.
Sofie Juel-Anderson, 30, started rummaging through bins in October 2020 while living in Sydney, Australia.
Sofie Juel-Anderson revealed some of the items she has fished from bins over the years[/caption]
She began by taking just fresh produce from designated bins – but soon realised she could get an entire weekly shop.
Sofie now only buys household items such as toilet roll, dishwashing soap, and toothpaste from supermarkets and spent just £80 in 2024.
By sourcing her food from bins, Sofie saves thousands of pounds annually and has used that cash to travel the world.
“I haven’t done a food shop in four years,” said Sofie, who works as a restaurant manager.
“I don’t really have the need to go as I find all of my food in the dumpster.
“In 2024, I spent just £80 in the supermarket, mainly on non-food items like toilet paper and dishwashing soap.
“The money I have saved allows me the freedom to travel. I spent a lot of my money on travelling and visiting friends around the world.”
Sofie, who hails from Denmark, never struggled with being able to afford a food shop, but realised that bin-diving would be a more cost-effective way of grocery shopping.
She went with a friend to scout some supermarket skips around Sydney and was instantly converted.
“I always knew about the concept of dumpster diving and I was so curious about it,” Sofie said.
“I had never done it before so I thought I would check out a dumpster in Sydney and what I found was insane.
“It was filled with food, some of it had expired, but a lot hadn’t – it started from there.
“It was like a treasure hunt for me. I quickly realised that there was so much good food in the dumpsters, and I didn’t need to go shopping anymore.”
Sofie carried on scavenging when she moved back to Denmark in 2022 and now only buys non-food items from the supermarket.
“I don’t have to go to the supermarket anymore. I just did my financial accounting for 2024, and I only spent £80 in supermarkets in the whole year,” she said.
Is dumpster diving legal in the UK?
Thinking of trying your luck rummaging through bins? Here’s what you need to know
Dumpster diving is not illegal in the UK as any rubbish isn’t considered private property.
You are able to dumpster dive if the bins are out in the open and on public land while not being locked.
However, you may be asked to move along.
“I don’t have a schedule for dumpster diving – I either go a few times-a-week or every two weeks. I find so much, my fridge is always full.”
Sofie said the savings she has made by not grocery shopping has given her freedom – she is able to work less – and travel the world visiting her friends.
Over the last four years, Sofie has been to Kenya, Argentina, Italy, Spain, and Dubai.
“It allows me freedom. I travel a lot and spend my money travelling and visiting my friends around the world,” she explained.
“It really allows me to have so much freedom and the freedom to work less. I only work three days-a-week. Dumpster diving allows me the freedom to spend more on the things I love.”
Sofie loves bin-diving so much that she has even got her family – including her parents, siblings, cousins, and grandparents- involved in the action.
She will cook meals for them using the food she has dived, and they now go hunting together when they are on holiday.
“All of my friends and family know I dumpster dive. When they come over they know that I get all my food from the dumpster,” Sofie said.
“They know the food is good as I would never serve my guests anything that I would not eat myself.
“I assess all the food before I pick it. When we go on our family holidays, we dumpster dive as a family.
The food we eat on holiday is all from dumpster dives.
Sofie Juel-Anderson
“The food we eat on the holiday is all dumpster dive.”
Some of her finds have included freshly baked goods such as loaves of rye bread, rolls, scones, and buns.
She has also picked up fresh produce including oranges, tomatoes, pears, spring onions, kale, cabbage, lettuce, peppers, spinach, bananas, broccoli, carrots, grapes, melons, and potatoes.
As well as fruit and vegetables, her hauls also include meat in various forms such as mince burgers, bacon, chicken sausages, chili con carne, and there have even been bins full of vegan patties.
And it’s not just the basic staples that she’s come across, she has also managed to scavenge jars of jam, biscuits, cakes, mozzarella cheese, oat milk, Oreos, wafers, and Lavazza Espresso Chocolate.
She even came across a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Half Baked, which she said was still “mostly frozen.”
And as well as all her food items, she also came across a dumpster full of bouquets of flowers.
Sofie said her diving mission has evolved from a treasure hunt to “everyday activism.”
“I want to create awareness about food waste but also about how we view food and how it can still be good even though the date as expired or it has a bump on it,” she said.
Sofie revealed that she only spent £80 in grocery stores throughout all of 2024[/caption]
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