A dumpster-diving millennial cut her grocery bill to about $45 a month on average for the last 4 months
- Millennial Julia Pak, who lives in Canada, has been dumpster diving on and off since she was a teen.
- "Why would I pay if I knew people were giving it out for free, essentially?" Pak said.
On some weeknights, Julia Pak goes around Toronto with her dog to see what kinds of things businesses have thrown in bins and the dumpster.
Pak is a self-described dumpster diver who frequently looks behind supermarkets, grocery stores, or strip malls. She's been doing it on and off since she was a teenager, and it has helped her save money on groceries. She spent an average of about 60 Canadian dollars or about $45 on food and drinks in the last four months. That bill was roughly 14 Canadian dollars in June, or about $10.
"Even though I economically don't really need to, the reason why I continue to do this is because why would I pay if I knew people were giving it out for free, essentially?" Pak told Insider.
Pak said she uses KOHO, a "free spending and savings account designed for all Canadians" per KOHO's site, for most of her spending. Insider verified her spending on food, drinks, and groceries with statements and screenshots that Pak had from KOHO. The figures in this story were all based on how monthly purchases from different kinds of businesses were classified in the KOHO app, and the listed totals come from purchases that were in the groceries and eating or drinking categories. For June, Insider summed up several entries from a convenience store and a fast-food chain to arrive at our total estimate.
Insider previously reported on a couple that has made thousands of dollars a month from dumpster diving. They keep some unopened food and give some to neighbors and friends. One member of the couple said "for me personally, it's more about I'd much rather see the items used and taken by people who want them."
And a mom who has done dumpster diving with her daughter said in an as-told-to essay for Insider that "the hardest part of dumpster diving is seeing the waste."
"Pet stores rip open bags of dog food before tossing it into the dumpster," the mom said. "When I look at those piles of ruined food, I think of the stray animals who would love to eat it. I know grocery stores throw away a lot of food too, and I'm left wondering if there's a better solution."
According to one report from Value Chain Management International and Second Harvest that looked at food loss and waste during the different steps of the food value chain, almost a third of food loss and waste in Canada is avoidable. While a lot of it comes from manufacturing, households, or processing, a lot of it could also be avoidable from hotels, restaurants, institutions, and retail, according to the report.
"Things that have lost their commercial value may still be personally valuable," Pak said. "Food that has lost its commercial value is still valuable to a hungry person's stomach."
Pak saves on groceries and donates to a local food initiative
Pak mainly looks for food when she searches through bins. Some of the typical food she's able to get are fruits, vegetables, chocolate, and ice cream. For instance, she recently found a bag filled with Kit Kat bars. One recent major find was a lot of cat food. She typically buys milk at a discounted price instead of getting milk from searching through bins. That's because she rather buy it to avoid spoiled milk since it's a perishable item.
It can be hard for her to get yogurt and meats for similar reasons, but she said that in the "winter you can typically get meats and yogurts as the items are still frozen" or cold. She likes to buy milk for herself and a local community fridge she donates to, a place where people can donate and take items they need. Pak doesn't sell the items she finds because she said it feels unethical to do so.
"I do help many people out with food and other items," she said.
Take one of her big finds: a clean and working fridge she found behind a mall, which she donated to a family. She also donates some of her findings to a local community fridge.
One of her favorite food items to find is cake because her mom loves it. Plus, Pak said, "the people at the community fridge appreciate getting some cakes as this is a treat and food banks often don't give things like this." Outside of food, she has also found backpacks and bags with tags still on them and an electric toothbrush.
She advises other people who want to try out dumpster diving to go at night like she does. That's because people can be more discreet and help avoid any confrontation with businesses, she said, since she could see some places finding dumpster diving annoying. She said she's only had some confrontation during the day. She also said to avoid weekends since there's not a lot of trash out and to tidy the area after dumpster diving before you leave.
While dumpster diving isn't illegal in the US or Canada, Pak said it could be "frowned up" or "a gray zone."
"So, I think that if you're going to do this, you want to be discreet, you want to clean up after yourself, and you always want to be respectful," she said.
What are you doing to save or make extra money? Reach out to this reporter at mhoff@insider.com to share your story.