- Canadian millennial Julia Pak has been dumpster diving off and on since she was a teenager.
- “Basically, if people know they are giving it away for free, why should they pay for it?” Park said.
- Park didn’t spend much on food in June. She donates some of her findings to local food initiatives.
Julia Pak takes her dog for a walk around Toronto on a weeknight to see what businesses are throwing into trash cans and bins.
Park is a self-proclaimed trash diver A person who frequents the back of supermarkets, grocery stores, and shopping malls. She’s been doing it off and on since her teenage years, and it’s helped her save money on groceries. Over the past four months, she’s spent an average of about $60 Canadian dollars, or about $45, on her food and drink. Her bill was about $14 CAD as of June, or about $10.
“The reason I keep doing this even though I don’t really need it financially is because when people know they’re essentially giving it away for free, why should they pay? ‘ Park told Insider.
Mr. Park said that he uses Kohoaccording to KOHO, “A free spending and savings account designed for all Canadians.” site, accounts for most of her spending. The insider used statements and screenshots obtained by Park from KOHO to verify her spending on food, drink and groceries. All figures in this article are based on how her monthly purchases from different types of businesses are categorized on her KOHO app, with totals listed for purchases included in the Grocery and Food & Beverage categories. It’s from For June, Insider combined several entries from convenience stores and fast food chains to come up with a total estimate.
An insider previously reported on a couple who earned thousands of dollars a month trash diving. They store unopened food and share it with neighbors and friends. “Personally, I’d rather see someone use or pick up the item if they want it,” said one member of the couple.
and, A mother who went trash diving with her daughter In an essay to Insider, he said, “The hardest thing about trash diving is seeing the trash.”
“Pet stores rip dog food bags before throwing them in the trash,” said the mother. “When I see piles of abandoned food, I think of stray animals that want to eat it. I wonder if it doesn’t.”
according to 1 report Nearly one-third of food loss and waste in Canada is avoidable, according to Value Chain Management International and Second Harvest, which surveyed food loss and waste at various stages of the food value chain. Most of it comes from manufacturing, homes and processing industries, but much could also be avoided from hotels, restaurants, establishments and retail stores, the report said.
“Things that have lost their commercial value may still be of value to you personally,” Park said. “Even food that has lost its commercial value is still valuable to a hungry stomach.”
Park saves food and donates to local charitiesodd initiative
Park finds food mainly when scavenging through trash cans. Typical foods available to her include fruits, vegetables, chocolate and ice cream. For example, she recently found a bag full of KitKat bars. One of my recent big discoveries was a lot of cat food. She usually buys milk at a discounted price instead of rummaging through trash cans to get it. Milk is perishable, so they buy it so it doesn’t spoil.
The KitKat bar that Park found.
Courtesy of Julia Pak
Yogurt and meat can be hard to come by for the same reason, she said, but “usually you can get them in winter because they’re still frozen or cold.” She likes to buy milk for herself and the local community refrigerator, a place where people can donate and receive needed items. Park said she didn’t sell the items she found because she felt it was unethical to sell them.
“I help a lot of people with food and other items,” she said.
Consider one of her big discoveries. It was a clean, working refrigerator she found in the back of her mall shopping, which she donated to her family. She also donates some of her finds to local community refrigerators.
Her mom’s favorite cake is one of her favorite foods. “People at the local refrigerator are grateful to have cake because it’s a reward,” Park said. . Besides food, I also found backpacks, bags and electric toothbrushes with tags still attached.
Part of Park’s discovery.
Courtesy of Julia Pak
Mr. Park said he spends less money on groceries because of trash diving. According to the statement and screenshots Park shared from KOHO, she spent about $140 CAD or just under $110 on groceries and food and drinks in March, about $35 or just over $25 and $50 CAD in April. Spent a little less than $35 or about $35. May she travels to the convenience store with food. She said she spent about $14 Canadian on it in June, and she told an insider that it was “great not to worry about groceries.”
She advises anyone wanting to try their hand at trash diving to go at night like she did. That’s because people can be more cautious and avoid confrontations with companies, she said, and because some places find trash-bidding annoying. She said she only had a crash during the day. She also told me to avoid weekends as there is not much trash and after trash dives clean up the area before leaving.
Diving into trash cans is not illegal in the United States or Canada, but Park said it could be “frowned upon” or a “gray area.”
“So if I do this, I want to be careful, I want to take care of myself, I want to be respectful at all times,” she said.
What are you doing to save money or make extra money? To contact this reporter, please contact: mhoff@insider.com to share your story.