Australia
- For more detailed info on freegan opportunities in every Australian city and town see template at the bottom of the page.
It's relatively easy to dumpster dive (or as they some times call it here skip dipping) in Australia. Many medium to small supermarkets have accessible bins, and often waste a lot, so treasures are plentiful! Larger supermarket chains, such as Coles or Woolworths, lock their dumpsters, or keep them inside a warehouse.
Organic grocers such as Mrs Flannery's (now rebranded as Flannerys Natural Grocers) are often a good choice for dumpster diving. Most cities and towns have a local food market on Saturday or Sunday, and leftovers can be found at the end of the day. Asking the sellers nicely often goes a long way too!
Bakeries, pizza houses and other small businesses are a good place to look at the end of the day when food is no longer fresh.
Most dumpsters are kept around the back of the buildings, as they are often stand-alone structures, with plenty of room in the carpark/back area.
In Australia (and presumably in other countries), local councils organize periodic collection of "hard rubbish" from households - items such as washing machines, furniture, mattresses, refrigerators, as well as scrap timber and metal. These collections can happen as often as every two months, or as little as every two years, depending on the council. In any event, this can be a great way to pick up items such as electronics, furniture and other useful stuff that residents no longer want.
Risks
It is important to note that in many parts of Australia, the high temperatures (even in the so-called "colder months") means that certain foods found in bins are often not good to eat. The dumpster diving advice of people from the Northern Hemisphere must be taken with a grain of salt, especially with regard to meat and dairy products you have "rescued". So always use your senses and your commonsense when collecting food from bins in Australia.
Another risk to be aware of is wasps, especially European wasps, an introduced pest. They are attracted to many of the same things that attract you to the bin and can be extremely aggressive and territorial. Some dumpster divers suggest just moving on if you see a lot of wasps in and around the bin. Whatever you decide, use caution.
It is possible that some of the foods thrown out may have been recalled for various reasons (and binned rather than sent back to the supplier). These reasons may include; ingredients have been left off labels, there are foreign objects or even bacterial or viral contaminations. If you are worried about this then check out the products here regularly.
Reports
- Skip Dipping in Australia by The Australia Institute.
- Skip dipping: Turning waste into wealth by journalist Cathy Coote.
Supermarket chains
Store Locators
Find shop near you:
- Coles store locator
- IGA store locator (in South Australia some of shops from this network are called "Foodland")
- Woolworhts store locator
- Aldi store locatore
- Franklins supermarkets (only in New South Wales)
- Foodworks supermarkets
- National store search at LocalStore.com.au
- AFMA national directory of Farmers Markets
Free Internet
- OfficeWorks is an Australia-wide chain of shops for office and stationery products. In some shops (e.g. in Hobart, Perth, Adelaide) you can find 1-2 PC computers with free Internet Access (no password nor subscription is required). OfficeWorks also offers free tea and coffee, which you can self-serve inside the shop.
- McDonald's very often has free wifi access inside the restaurants. They do not advertise it with signs on the doors.
- Starbucks are known to have free wifi, such as the store in Brisbane CBD, off Queen Street Mall.
Free public transport
Some free (and legal!) public transport options are available in major Australian cities, as detailed in a lifehacker article.
| States and territories of Australia | |
|---|---|
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Australian Capital Territory | New South Wales | Northern Territory | Queensland | South Australia | Tasmania | Victoria | Western Australia | |