Skip to content
Sustainaplot
Menu
  • About
  • The Beauty of the Beasts
    • Beasts
    • Works and Quirks of Nature
  • Monthly Challenges
  • DIY & Crafts
  • Food
    • Recipes
  • Lifestyle
    • Experiences
    • Body Care
    • Books, Films and Media
  • House & Garden
  • Seasons
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Autumn
    • Winter
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
Menu

Everything I Know About Containering

Posted on February 8, 2019April 7, 2020 by Malu

Containering, also referred to as dumpster diving or skip diving, is an activity in which people go, well, dumpster diving in the dumpsters of supermarkets, cafés and delis to find food that is still perfectly edible and was simply thrown away because it was not pretty enough, or had passed its sell-by-date.

That time when we were planning a big dinner party and didn’t spend any money. There was a lot of banana bread being made the next day.

In the extremely shocking but interesting and inspiring Peg Legs movie Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story by Grant Baldwin, we can see how easy and surprisingly clean it is to live off of the food our (wealthy) societies throw away. Many people believe, this is only a way people living in extreme poverty get by. While that is partially true, in Europe, it has actually become somewhat of a fashionable thing among students to boost their low budget by saving money on food and go containering. Many environmentally conscious people do it, not necessarily for financial reasons, but also to prove a point: That we can feed the world, if only we weren’t so wasteful and greedy. Studies have shown that in the western world, an average household throws away about 1/4 of the food they buy. That does not include the food that never leaves the shop or does not even make it to the shop for silly reasons like the label being glued on crooked.

If you feel shy about digging through a dumpster, you can always ask. I once saw a lady order an entire Pizza, eat one slice and then leave. I asked if I could doggy-bag her pizza. The waiter actually seemed happy not to have to toss it.

Also, weekly markets have many cuttings leftover at the end of the day. Ask the green grocer for something for your herbivorous pet (no kale-family items for guinea pigs or bunnies, hey). Ask the butcher or fishmonger for a treat for your carnivorous pet.

A Word of Caution

Depending on the country or municipality you are living in, containering may be illegal. Also, breaking and entering is to my knowledge illegal everywhere. I am not prepared to get myself into legal trouble by advising you to do illegal stuff so with this: I am not advising you to go dumpster diving in areas where it is illegal and I am not advising you to break and enter anywhere! I advise you to check the legality of containering in your area (this link may be helpful to you and this link is useful to US-Americans) and look for unlocked dumpsters or check the garbage pickup timetables and wait for the time when the dumpsters are brought outside for pickup. Also beware: Some places prevent skip divers from taking their discarded food, by pouring certain liquids or powders on top of everything. That’s nasty and potentially poisonous so do not get into there!

Yes, I know, Ew!! Especially that block of fat in the bottom left corner. And the smell!!! Nothing was taken from this display, but this is exactly the reason why I believe containering is legitimate. All this wasted resource, energy and life and dignity.


Oh, and usually, shops will throw away their food in the evening, before closing. Then you will retrieve it just a few hours later. Sometimes though, the stuff has been sitting in the bin all day and in summer, temperatures can get high inside the bins. Do not take things you feel doubtful about. And always check packaging for holes. Fruit and vegetables, if undamaged, can simply be peeled when you are ready to eat them.

Always wash your bounty with soap before putting it in your storage.

Never take more than you / your household are able to consume. You are not the only one out there, and some of the people depend on this food source.

My Personal Experience

That time my friend asked me if I knew how to prepare quail and I said no but lets try and we were both a bit disappointed (cloves in the breast tastes really good though!). Still quail that would have died for nothing though.


My most fruitful period containering was last year, when I was studying in England. I spent a lot of time with a friend on my course, Sagar, who was from India, and constantly outraged about how much food people throw away in the cafeteria. Not too outraged though, because he would go past the racks were people return their trays, and take uneaten food. He would come in, buy a portion of chips (french fries) for £1, and then add to the meal from all the leftovers on the rack. After a while, I did it too, but only when I had previously seen the student return the tray, and somehow convinced myself that this individual did not seem to have the plague. I never got the plague. But I cannot recommend cold chips…

During my work on my dissertation, I often stayed at the library late. On my way home I would come by the backstreet where all the campus Cafés had their bins and I would sometimes get the baked goods that did not sell that day. They had been prepackaged in plastic bags an labelled. Once I got particularly lucky. I found super expensive deluxe sandwiches from the Deli. I gave about half to Sagar and my housemates and still had enough to eat for the next two days. Which was especially great as I had been stressed out of my mind, writing a dissertation and had been just feeding myself off of wine gums and coffee.

That time there was a shark in the bin.


Towards the end of the year, the campus supermarket closed for the summer and I sat in the library all day, glancing down at the street watching them get rid of all the ready meals and vegetables, anything that would not keep for the next six weeks. I came home that night with sandwiches (the British sure love their sandwiches), fresh strawberries, cabbage and humus for days! I was so excited, and my bike so overloaded on the way home, I texted it to Sagar, my scavenger friend. He said he was proud of me.


  • No More Foodwaste!
  • 3 thoughts on “Everything I Know About Containering”

    1. Kate says:
      March 5, 2019 at 5:18 PM

      Well I agree in less waste. The students shouldn’t put more on their trays then they can eat in the first place. However eating something because it is there and shouldn’t be wasted, when you are not hungry and don’t need it is not such a good idea. Good if you can give it to hungry people.

      Reply
    2. ปั้มไลค์ says:
      June 18, 2020 at 10:43 PM

      5 stars
      Like!! Great article post.Really thank you! Really Cool.

      Reply
      1. Malu says:
        June 21, 2020 at 2:19 PM

        Wonderful! Thank you for your comment 🙂

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    About me

    My name is Malu. I am a conservation-ecologist currently living in Germany. I’ve always been wild about the outdoors and can spend hours looking at an insect labouring away at its daily challenges, or a bird building its nest, or … there’s just so much amazing stuff happening out there! I’m really glad you’ve made it onto this page so I can share my joy with you.

    Monthly Challenges

    We only have about 6 to 8 years left to turn this environmental mess of a ship around. So much has to happen politically, but the people also need to change habits and start to appreciate our environment more. So every 1st of the month I post a nature care challenge with environmentally friendly lifestyle choices of habits for you to try for 30 days and, if you like, let it stick with you for longer, maybe even for life.

    Lots of little droplets make up the largest ocean.

    Are you absolutely unable to do the current challenge? Or maybe you are underwhelmed with the challenge and want an extra one? Check out the previous challenges to see if there is something you would like to try.

    The challenges  make up the major part in the flow of posts here, so they are easy to find. But if you want to get a good overview of the challenges set so far, simply follow the link below.

    Do you want to set next month’s sustainability challenge?

    Contact me and pitch your challenge to me. It might be up next month. You can either write the whole challenge, and why we should do it, or just give me an idea for something to look into.

    All Monthly Challenges
    • Privacy Policy & Impressum
    • Contact
    • About
    © 2023 Sustainaplot | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme