Free-gaining the fun way! And it taste good too.
For those of you who do not know what dumpster diving is. Well the name gives it away. You literally get into a dumpster and take all the free food that your heart desires. Sure it sounds gross if you are a germaphobic freak. But I assure you, most food that you can get from Dumpster diving is fresh and clean. Not until this year did I take on this habit, but now that I have, it is an addiction.
Most places in Utah and around the nation throw out fresh food daily. The biggest culprit is bakeries. They these sell fresh baked goods each day, and have you ever wondered where the leftovers go? Well most go into the dumpster. Yup. All this mouth watering fresh bread that was made that day is just lying in some dumpster waiting for you to eat it. Almost 95% of it is double bagged or thrown out in boxes, so no garbage nor rotten food even touches it. So sure, it was in a dumpster, but is it really that gross? I mean I am still alive, thriving, and maybe even growing stronger from all the free dumpster diving food I eat. The place me and my roommates hit most. Einsteins. It is like the mother load of bagels. GUYS I AM TELLING YOU IT IS AMAZING. We will go about an hour after Einsteins closes, so the bagels are not even in the dumpster long. And every single time all of the bagels are double bagged and look untouched. We obviously scan the bagels real well to make sure nothing looks sketchy, but we haven’t been failed once. Our last batch lasted us 3 WEEKS. Do you know how much money that has saved me!? I probably save like $20 just because of it. For the bagels that we don’t eat within the first couple days, we just freeze the rest. And even heating them up after being frozen they are still good as ever. If I haven’t convinced you of becoming a dumpster diver. Shame on you! It really is so sad that so many places in our Nation just throw away good food like this. My thoughts where why in the heck are they not giving it away to charity!? Well because it is cheaper for companies just to throw it away. If they gave it to charity they would have to pay someone to gather it and drive it to certain locations. And us Americans… well that is just way too hard, and way to0 expensive. So join together with us dumpster divers and don’t let food go to waste.
I haven’t been diving long but I was able to gather a little bit of information about the best places to dive and its legality. So in Utah it is legal, as long is there is not a trespassing sign, you shouldn’t be in any trouble. As for other places I think the laws differ from state to state.
Apparently the best places to dumpster dive are in college towns. I couldn’t really find some solid information on why, but it seems more food places throw out fresh food there.
I made a top 5 places to dumpster dive in Utah. Only two of these places I have actually gone, but the other three, I have heard from multiple sources, that they are a reliable.
1. Einsteins. (Didn’t see that one comin did ya?)
2. Starbucks
3. Pizza Pie Cafe
4. Great Harvest
5. Crispy Cream Donuts.
Even though I only listed five stores, that does not mean they are your only options. There are so many places I bet near you that throw out fresh food. As I read for more information I kept coming across 3 types of food places that are the best to hit.
1. Bakeries
2. Pizza Joints
3. Donut Joints
I find this completely true. There are quite a few bakeries in our town that I have heard throw out fresh bread and cookies constantly. There are also a few pizza places that do that too. Usually the pizza is at the top of the dumpster untouched and still in their boxes, same with the donuts. Another question that will probably pop up is what time of day should you do it? It honestly all depends. Obviously in the pictures below you can tell we went in broad daylight. So far we haven’t gotten in trouble so we are just going to keep going with that! I usually suggest trying to dive for the food within 2 hours of them being thrown out. Although, the first time you scope a place out, I suggest going at night. Also another cool thing I found is that there is a dumpster diving website for Utah!
It is legit! It has a map of all the places that you can dumpster dive, and you as well can add to their list! Go check it out it is pretty awesome!
http://trashpicking.org/map.html
I hope I was of some help! If you have any questions honestly do not be afraid to ask!
Reader Interactions