I get all my food from dumpster diving – I haven’t gone grocery shopping in four years

Meet the woman who hasn’t done a supermarket shop in four years – and gets all her meals from the bin.

Sofie Juel-Anderson, 30, started dumpster diving in October 2020 while living in Sydney, Australia.

She started by only taking fresh produce from certain bins – but soon realized she could take in a whole weekly shop.

Sofie now only buys household items like toilet roll, dishwashing soap and toothpaste from supermarkets and spent just $99 in 2024.

By getting her food from the bin, Sofie saves thousands of pounds a year and has used that money to travel the world.

Sofie, a restaurant manager, from Aarhus, Denmark, said: “I haven’t done a grocery store in four years.

“I don’t really need to go as I find all my food in the bin.

“In 2024 I spent just $99 at the supermarket, mostly on non-food items like toilet paper and dish soap.

“The money I have saved gives me the freedom to travel. I spent a lot of my money traveling and visiting friends around the world.”

Sofie had never had a hard time affording a grocery store, but realized that dumpster diving would be a more economical way to buy groceries.

She went with a friend to scout some supermarkets around Sydney and was instantly converted.

Sofie said: “I’ve always known about the concept of dumpster diving and was very curious about it.

“I’d never done it before so I thought I’d look at a bin in Sydney and what I found was crazy.

“It was full of food, some of it expired, but a lot of it wasn’t – it started from there.

“It was like a treasure hunt for me. I quickly realized that there was so much good food in the bins and I didn’t need to shop anymore.”

Sofie continued to bin dive when she returned to Denmark in 2022 and now only buys non-food items from the supermarket.

She added: “I don’t have to go to the supermarket anymore. I just did my financial accounting for 2024 and I’ve only spent $99 in supermarkets all year.

“I don’t have a schedule for dumpster diving — I either go a few times a week or every two weeks. I find so much, my fridge is always full.”

Sofie said the savings she’s made by not buying food has given her freedom – she’s able to work less – and travel the world visiting her friends.

Over the past four years Sofie has been to Kenya, Argentina, Italy, Spain and Dubai.

Sophie said: “Give me freedom. I travel a lot and spend my money traveling and visiting my friends around the world.

“It really allows me to have so much freedom and the freedom to work less. I only work three days a week. Dumping allows me the freedom to spend more on the things I want.”

Sofia loves dumpster diving so much that she’s gotten her family – including her parents, siblings, cousins ​​and grandparents – in on the action.

She will cook meals for them using the food she has scavenged, and they now go hunting together when they are on vacation.

Sofie said: “All my friends and family know I bin dive. When they come over they know I take all my food from the bin.

“They know the food is good as I would never serve my guests anything I wouldn’t eat myself.

“I evaluate all the food before I choose it. When we go on our family vacations, we immerse ourselves as a family.

“The food we eat during the holiday is all dumpster diving.

Sofie said her dumpster diving mission has evolved from a treasure hunt to “everyday activism.”

She said: “I want to raise awareness about food waste, but also about the way we look at food and how it can still be good even though it’s expired or has a crash on it.”