One person\u2019s trash is another\u2019s treasure.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s 9:30 pm on a Tuesday outside an undisclosed supermarket <\/a>on the border of Sutton Place, where a group of 10-15 \u201cFreegans\u201d has gathered for a biweekly \u201ctrash tour\u201d to dumpster dive for salvageable food and other goods.<\/p>\n Clad in masks and gloves, these urban foragers \u2014 who encompass multiple boroughs, vocations and age ranges from 20s to 60s \u2014 scavenge the cans in hopes of getting their landfill.<\/p>\n A far cry from the Matterhorns of putrid refuse depicted in movies, these trash bins harbor a treasure trove of items seemingly ripped from an NYC boutique supermarket aisle \u2014 because they were not too long ago.<\/p>\n Trash tour co-organizer Janet Kalish poses with a massive haul from just one of the pit stops. stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n One dumpster diver salvages immaculate packages of organic guacamole. <\/p>\n Another garbage gourmand rescues loaves of unblemished sliced bread.<\/p>\n Others scour grocery-grade packets of salmon, a farmer\u2019s market\u2019s worth of produce, and several quarts of heavy cream that can retail for up to $10 a pop. <\/p>\n Expedition leader Janet Kalish, 63, even lamented, \u201cI\u2019m sure I missed a lot and eggs and mushrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI got a bunch of blood oranges here,\u201d added Cindy Rosin, who advised garbage gatherers to sniff the perishables upon opening to ensure they\u2019re safe to eat. <\/p>\n Despite dumpster diving being somewhat of a normalized practice, the savvy scavengers refused to disclose details about their lives, including what they do for a living \u2014 or if they even work at all.<\/p>\n These \u201ccanned good collectors\u201d work fast, given the brief window between when the trash is put out from the fancy supermarkets and when it is picked up. On the plus side, this increases the likelihood that their bin banquet is fresh.<\/p>\n \u201cStores might put it out at 9:00 p.m. for the trucks to come at 11:00,\u201d Kalish, who has memorized the pickup times at her various dumpster diving hotspots, told The Post. \u201cIt\u2019s not like it\u2019s sitting there wafting odors.\u201d<\/p>\n A dumpster diver salvages bagels from a trash bag. stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n She added that even between 9:30 and 10 p.m. on a \u201csweltering\u201d summer night, people can grab the yogurts and feel that they\u2019re \u201cstill cold.\u201d<\/p>\n Kalish has dedicated her life to spreading the message of the NYC Freegans<\/a>, a grassroots organization whose members seek to minimize waste by recovering and redistributing discarded goods. <\/p>\n They spread the gospel via free \u201ctrash tours\u201d that people can sign up for on Meetup and encompass nearly every borough save for the Bronx and Staten Island. <\/p>\n Dive spots are selected through trial and error based on factors such as location, trash accessibility, and the quality and variety of the discarded goods, with larger supermarkets proving especially fruitful.<\/p>\n However, the Freegans never lead tours in the same place twice to avoid encroaching upon \u201cpeople who rely on this food as their sustenance,\u201d according to Kalish, who dives solo as well. <\/p>\n Fortunately, anyone can become a Freegan, she declared. \u201cIt\u2019s not like we have a set of rules and a strict kind of authority to tell people you are and you aren\u2019t,\u201d the dumpster dive instructor explained to The Post. \u201cIf somebody wants to call themselves a freegan, then welcome to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Rooting around in the trash isn\u2019t the sole aspect either, as they also host complimentary craft salons focused on repurposing discarded materials into art, and free communal feasts where dumpster divers enjoy the fruits of their labors. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not just recklessly eating things even though they\u2019re expired,\u201d said Kalish (pictured) while defending Freeganism. stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n A former teacher for 29 years, Kalish attended her first Freegan meetup in 2004 after hearing that people were saving big by finding free food. Initially skeptical, the dumpster dive instructor was hooked after joining a trash tour.<\/p>\n Now, Kalish estimates that she was able to retire early without suffering \u201cfinancial hardship\u201d in part because she supplements over 90% of her diet with salvaged goods.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t spend much money,\u201d Kalish told The Post. \u201cMy food comes free.\u201d<\/p>\n The food has been put out so recently that oftentimes the refrigerated goods are still \u201ccold.\u201d stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n And the leader of the Free-gan world is not the only one who\u2019s jumped on the canned wagon. Once a taboo pastime, trash-to-table dining has never been trendier, thanks in part to the rise of \u201cdumpster diving\u201d bin-fluencers.<\/p>\n Anna Sacks, aka \u201cThe Trashwalker,\u201d has amassed over half a million Instagram followers<\/a> with viral videos that show her intercepting a cornucopia of junked gems.<\/p>\n In one of her most popular clips with over 5 million views<\/a>, the trash-tivist exhumes a Halloween haul\u2019s worth of Twix, Snickers and other candy bars from a CVS bin.<\/p>\n Another shows her scoring a Hurom H-AA Rose<\/a> Gold Slow juicer and accessories that retailed for nearly $500.<\/p>\n The dumpster diving craze couldn\u2019t have come at a better time. <\/p>\n US consumers are struggling with stubbornly high food costs as grocery prices rose 2.9% in April alone<\/a> compared to last year due to an inflation spike fueled by the Iran war.<\/p>\n Kalish exclaimed that many people practice Freeganism as a \u201cviable way to save themselves from debt\u201d and \u201cto survive in New York City.\u201d<\/p>\n Tour co-organizer Cindy Rosin rifles through the trash bags. stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n Along with scoring complimentary essentials, dumpster divers also strive to expose corporations\u2019 so-called decadent excesses in the hopes that more edible goods are redirected to those in need.<\/p>\n