Vancouver

Alphonse doing some garbage bin diving in Vancouver, searching out any items which may bring him some spare change.

Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada, has one of the mildest year round climates in Canada, and a ton of good places to dumpster dive. The downside is that there is a lot of competition in dumpstering in this city.

Dumpster diving

Good neighbourhoods to look in Vancouver are:

• Commercial Drive - Donald's Market does not lock its organic bin, although the business is less cooperative to divers, and should be visited after closing. Choices Market does not lock its small compost bin, and its staff is cooperative, sometimes handing unsold food directly to divers. It is quite a competitive spot, so go during the day, before others get to it first. Hitchwiki user Ainim2bf in Jan 2016 encountered a homeless man digging through Choice's large garbage bin, who found lots of packaged yogourt, which was past its expiry date but still tasted fine (Updated: Mar 2016)

• Hastings/Sunrise - There are also quite a few smaller markets along Hastings/Sunrise where good finds can be found. There is also a Donald's Market on Hastings at Nanaimo, but the take is often less and lower quality than the Commercial Dr location (Last checked: December 2008)

• Granville Island, an ex-industrial zone gone tourist mecca in Vancouver , is an excellent place for dumpster diving. The market maintains a premium standard so fairly 'still good' stuff gets put into the dumpsters. The dumpster beside the bakery L'Bagette et Echalote is a really good one. Personal diver experiences: "I used to work on Granville Island at the flower shop near that bakery and I would see people drag amazingly fine stuff out that was untainted by other stuff because it was in plastic bags. That dumpster was also used by Duso's , which is a fantastic deli in the market, so when I would be dumping our shop's garbage I would see some good finds. Oh and even our trash from the flower shop occasionally had 're - usable' things ! I used to see dumpster divers making up nice bouquets from our toss out's ....one guy even said he would collect flowers from there and head downtown to sell them!" (Last checked: December 2008)

• Sunrise Market at the corner of Gore and Powell has an on going dumpster fill. Through the day the staff pick through and remove to discard those fruit and veg undesirable for sale. The organics (compostible) only dumpster is forever changing in it's composition. The staff are even friendly towards divers and will place boxes of food to the side of the dumpster to make gathering easier. (Last checked: March 2011)

• Walmart surprisingly, many Walmarts in the Greater Vancouver area dispose of their organics in unlocked easy access green bins, and are normally full of fruits and veggies, edible and with few imperfections. Hitchwiki user Ainim2bf has visited Walmart locations on Grandview, on Annacis Island and in Surrey, all met with success. It is encouraged to visit other locations, and always visit after dark and ensure noone is watching

vegan:Vancouver