By Kelli Hughes, Canberra

My family have been composters all our lives. We grew a lot of our own food in suburban Brisbane and, as a child in the 50s, I was accustomed to chopping bad bits out of fruit and vegetables and eating the rest. There was no such things as “use by” or “best before” dates on food bought from shops so we relied on “the sniff test”.   

Now in my late 70s, I still grow fruit and veges in my Canberra garden where I have two compost bins and a worm farm. I try to wear as much natural fibre clothing as possible (preferably second hand) which also goes into my compost bins at the end of their lives. Zips, buttons, elastic and polyester thread are all that remain when I eventually empty the compost onto the gardens.  

About 15 years ago I started dumpster diving to liven up my diet during a sponsored “eat like a refugee on $2 a day” for a week. The first time I did it was almost my last when I stood on a milk crate to get into a dumpster behind a shopping centre after closing time and wasn’t sure I’d be able to get out again before the garbos emptied everything into their truck next morning. 

These days I’ve made friends with Harry, the manager at the local IGA who knows to put fruit, vegetables, etc aside for me when they reach their “use by” date. Some of my neighbours and friends are happy to eat stuff that’s still good. They are always keen to have more stuff to go into their compost bins and things like meat, bread and the like go into our FoGo bins. 

The spoils of a single afternoon’s dumpster-diving expedition; Sometimes only taking what can fit on the back of a bicycle!

This is all very well but I’m constantly distressed at the amount of edible food that could be improving the diets of people in need in my suburb or easing their cost of living burden.  I’ve talked to Harry about giving away free food during the last hour of trading each day to people with student or concession cards but he’s not interested. It’ll be in the dumpster the next morning so seems like a no-brainer to me. I don’t think there’s sufficient quantity to interest OzHarvest or other food rescue charities. So I’ll keep an open mind to other possibilities while composting, worm farming, and keeping as much out of landfill as I can.

Friend and fellow dumpster diver, Robin, adding past-it spinach to her compost bin