Meet the woman who has not done a supermarket shop in four years — and gets all of her meals from the dumpster.
Sofie Juel-Anderson, 30, started dumpster diving in October 2020 while living in Sydney, Australia.
She started out by taking just fresh produce from designated bins — but soon realized she could get an entire weekly shop.
Sofie now only buys household items such as toilet roll, dishwashing soap and toothpaste from supermarkets and spent just $99 in 2024.
By sourcing her food from the dumpster, Sofie saves thousands of pounds annually and has used that cash to travel the world.
Sofie, a restaurant manager, from Aarhus, Denmark, said: “I haven’t done a food shop in four years.
“I don’t really have the need to go as I find all of my food in the dumpster.
“In 2024 I spent just $99 in the supermarket, mainly on non-food items like toilet paper and dishwashing soap.
“The money I have saved allows me the freedom to travel. I spent a lot of my money on traveling and visiting friends around the world.”
Sofie never struggled with being able to afford a food shop, but realized that dumpster-diving would be a more cost-effective way of grocery shopping.
She went with a friend to scout some supermarket skips around Sydney and was instantly converted.
Sofie said: “I always knew about the concept of dumpster diving and I was so curious about it.
“I had never done it before so I thought I would check out a dumpster in Sydney and what I found was insane.
“It was filled with food, some of it had expired, but a lot hadn’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 dumpsters, and I didn’t need to go shopping anymore.”
Sofie carried on dumpster diving when she moved back 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 only spent $99 in supermarkets in the whole 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 has made by not grocery shopping has given her freedom — she is able to work less — and travel the world visiting her friends.
Over the last for years Sofie has been to Kenya, Argentina, Italy, Spain and Dubai.
Sofie said: “It allows 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. Dumpster diving allows me the freedom to spend more on the things I love.”
Sofie loves dumpster diving so much that she has even got her family – including her parents, siblings, cousins, and grandparents- involved in the action.
She will cook meals for them using the food she has dived, and they now go hunting together when they are on holiday.
Sofie said: “All of my friends and family know I dumpster dive. When they come over they know that I get all my food from the dumpster.
“They know the food is good as I would never serve my guests anything that I would not eat myself.
“I assess all the food before I pick it. When we go on our family holidays, we dumpster dive as a family.
“The food we eat on the holiday is all dumpster dive.
Sofie said her dumpster diving mission has evolved from a treasure hunt to “everyday activism.”
She said: “I want to create awareness about food waste but also about how we view food and how it can still be good even though the date as expired or it has a bump on it.”
