Diary of a dumpster diver

Lucien Alperstein was standing on a treasure, his hands were chequered with dirt and slime and his Friday Night was barely lit by a begrudging grocery store sign.
“There are no bins in heaven,” he said as he eagerly dipped his long body towards the green-leafed layers of waste hiding his next breakfast.
Lucien is one of Sydney’s many dumpster divers who live almost exclusively from thrown out food.
Many Sydney supermarkets throw out food one to three days before its use-by date.
Some supermarkets donate food to charities such as Ozharvest and Foodbank but most unsold produce ends up in their dumpsters.
There is a movement in Sydney to protest against this waste by eating it.
Last Friday I followed Lucien into those dumpsters to see exactly what’s on offer.
NJ: Why do you dumpster dive?
I’m a student and don’t have a huge expendable income so my main motivation is to save money.
NJ: How do you feel about edible food being thrown away?
L: I think it’s pretty sad that there’s such a mark-up on food that this much can be thrown away without thought. There aren’t many shops that have whole “reduced to clear” sections and I think this would help reduce the waste.
NJ: Do you ever feel like you’re mooching off society?
L: I don’t feel bad for taking the food at all but am conscious to try not to take too much. It’s easy to take a lot simply because you can but I’ll try and take what my house will use in a few days. If other people go for a dive I want them to be able to get food too. On the flipside we have a compost bin so anything we take that doesn’t get eaten we’re at least saving from landfill and recycling in our own compost.
NJ: Are you cagey about revealing where you dive?
L: If any friend or even someone I don’t know asks or it comes up I’ll tell them without hesitation – there’s a lot of food to go around. I’m scared of word getting out to the shops themselves who might then lock their bins
NJ: What’s the first thing you do when you get home from a dive?
L: First thing when I get home I’ll sort through the food again and wash everything that needs a wash, then have a shower and go to bed.
Last Friday night Lucien salvaged: 1 leak, 100gs of Dill, 1 Celery Stick, 400gs of Mushrooms, 500gs of cherry tomatoes, 5 apples, 4 punnets of strawberries, 1 pack of cherries, A stationary holder in the shape of a toy truck, 6kgs of oranges, 1 squash, 24kgs potatoes, a pumpkin, 1kg carrots, 6kg of broccoli, a plastic bin, 2 bouncy balls, 2 bread knives and a wrist watch.