Feeling the pinch of the ever increasing cost of living?
Never fear, as long as a Supermarket is near…By Bridie Smith, Consumer Affairs Reporter
The Age February 18, 2006PAUL Martin likes to do a big grocery shop — the kind that fills a supermarket trolley to the brim — about once a fortnight.
The shop always takes place after dark. It costs him nothing, except the time he spends rummaging through the supermarket skip with his flatmate.
Part of a growing number of “skip dippers”, Mr Martin, 29, is a consultant from inner-suburban Melbourne who has been getting his food — and more — from commercial skips for the past five years.
“The reason I do it is nothing to do with cost; I’m a well-paid consultant,” he said. “But by doing this, I help to reduce waste and landfill.”
Mr Martin, a chef by training, says he eats well from the skip, stocking up on everything from bread, fruit and vegetables, tinned produce, rice crackers, wine, beer and juices. He has even acquired cooking utensils on his fortnightly shop.
“It makes no sense that this perfectly good food is thrown out, it’s so wasteful,” he said.
Another regular skip dipper who wished not to be identified said the “dipper” community was so strong in Melbourne that sometimes swap-meet picnics were organised for people to exchange goods.
“A lot of the time you get things in large quantities, so by swapping things, you get a bit of everything,” she said.
According to The Australia Institute, a Canberra-based public policy think tank, a growing number of people are skip dipping.
A research paper released today found skip-dippers were well-educated professionals with an anti-consumer or environmental bent.
Author of a new research paper, Skip Dipping in Australia, Emma Rush said the practice was less about getting something for nothing and more about taking a stance against the consumer culture.
More than 17 million tonnes of solid waste is heaped into Australian landfill sites each year.
Dr Rush interviewed more than 20 dippers aged from their late teens to early 60s. All had professional occupations.
Fast Lane- The poster formerly known as g7
Couldn’t resist…..being a number crunching type of guy.
17 million tonnes every year sounds such alot, very headline grabbing, until you have a bit of a think about it.
Area of Oz is 7.7 million square kilometres.
On average then 2.2 tonnes is dumped p.a. in every square kilometre. Not bad for 20 million people.
Or, to bring it back to something we all understand, 2.2 grams is dumped in every year in every square metre.
That’s right, a massive amount of about half of one tiny pin in every square metre. What are these people trying to achieve ???
Geez, in about 600 years, I might start to get worried.
Until then, I’m happy to purchase my, and my family’s food hygenically instead of out of an industrial bin.
P.S. : If anyone has worked any length of time during night shifts, you’ll know exactly what all of those cute little domestic cats get up to in industrial bins at night. The thought of eating out of those after the cats have been in there doing their thing is quite average indeed. [puke]
When I was flatting and living on the student allowance, studying and seriously undercharging for PC support and not getting much work (back in about 2002) I would go to a place called “victory for life church” and get a box of food.
It was quite good and you got a decent amount of food but you needed to eat it within about 2 days because it was all so close to the used-by-date. One or two of the items I decided not to eat but mostly it was a good mix of the good and often things that I wouldn’t normally buy.
Of course they tried to convert you over to their church on each visit.
It’s a good idea for supermarkets to make this stuff available to charities and the like and I believe there is legislation that saves them from facing liability if the food makes someone sick.
Maybe there could even be afterhours “price reduced depos” where low income or people stuck in limbo between payments can stock up but I think the supermarkets are worried about weakening the market for their prime and fresh goods.
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