debbie dumpster dive!
A memory I have that will always bring me a smile was the moment we met our Tønsberg WWOOF host.
We were still reminiscing our time at the Gjøvik farm, when we stepped off the train from Oslo to Tønsberg into an epic downpour. In our entire time in Norway, we would never seen it rain as hard as it did this day. Without phones to call (both our phones were broken by now) or WiFi to use my laptop [1], we were left at the train station waiting, trusting that our host would pick us up. Obviously, we didn’t know what the host would look like, but we were hoping our Asian-ness will be enough of an eyesore to catch his attention.
Several minutes later, we see a tall (even for Norwegian standards!) man roll up on a bike in front of us …
“SURPRISE!!! We just sold our car, so we have to WALK home–Woohoooo!!”
I loved our hosts already.
Our host explains how liberating it has been for his family (together with a wife and four of the most lovely children!) ever since they sold their family car, but as a result, they now need to escort their WWOOFers from the train by bike [2]. Throughout the rest of the walk back, we basically learned from our host that Norway is a farce. He threw shade at Norway for getting rich off oil. He acknowledged that his parents made a living off oil, that he is a benefactor of dirty money. He threw shade at Norway for having the highest suicide rates because they have everything financially but no meaning in life [3]. Our host himself, prompted by a spiritual revelation, quit his 9-5 desk job several years ago to do carpentry…… Oh, and I’d be painting the wrong picture of him if I don’t tell you that you’ve got to imagine him saying all this with utter cheeriness and the biggest smile on his face. Between the heavier topics, were snarky interjections; for example, talking smack about the newly redesigned “smart” garbage cans we were passing by. To our host, the world is not only broken, it’s comically broken.
This guy is such a nutcase… instantly, my tallest role model.
At the edge of the city, before entering a forested area, the rain was really pounding and we took respite under a sheltered area and marveled at the rain:
“HA-HAAAAAAA [4] IT NEVER RAINS THIS HARD IN TØNSBERG!”, our host exclaimed.
There was a gap of silence as we took in how hard it poured. And then our host points towards a building.
“See right there……………. we go dumpster diving there.”
As if he was our Mushroom Mentor, telling us his “Secret Spot”.
Only better.
When the rain subsided a bit, we walked over to the dumpster diving spot, it was at the back of a grocery store. Our host explained how we was going to go dumpster diving after he took us home. Eagerly, I asked whether we could tag along for the adventure. Our host was unexpectedly reluctant … he murmured something about the arrangement of the garbage cans, that would be a bit difficult to bring us a long–apparently there was a process to this. I shrugged it off, no worries!
After settling down in their home we had dinner with the host (the rest of his family were on a cow-milking retreat in the mountains). We shared more conversation and learned more about him and his family. And then he said it,
“I change my mind–you can come dumpster diving with me if you still want to!”
HELL YES.
The lovely view after the downpour on our way to our first dumpster diving adventure!
[1] There’s only free WiFi on the train only if you have some sort of registered account … which required a Norwegian ID … this was a very common problem we ran into.
[2] They simply borrow a car from their neighbours/rent a car when they need it.
[3] ironically, our Swiss friends say the same thing about Switzerland. I’m not sure where the Norwegians and the Swiss are getting their stats … but it’s definitely not Wikipedia.
[4] His Woo-hoo’s and Ha-haaa‘s are so comical, and I can almost hear the Da-Ding! of the 2D coins he’s picking up as we traversed the Tønsberg level of Super Mario.
Here’s the 4-1-1 about dumpster diving:
- Learn when the dump gets emptied–go before that day.
- Go after store hours–the store people (and general public) won’t throw you as much shade.
- Every dump is different. Some are locked, some aren’t. Some are surveilled, some aren’t. Some store managers are less judgey than others.
- Be prepared–bring the tools you’ll need to extract your finds… more on this later!
- Don’t let anyone else tell you what the “Best Before” means, your nose and taste buds know best! [1]
- Have an open mind … but I don’t have to tell you that if you’ve already read this far ;).
- Leave the dump better/neater than you found it–it gives more reason for others to have an open mind towards it!
As for how to dumpster dive, our hosts have perfected this to a science.
- Wear clothes you don’t care about.
Our host, snarky as he is, wears his uniform from his good ol’ days doing meaningless desk work. - Hook a wagon up to your bike
(Since you don’t have a car anymore) - Wear gloves to handle the garbage cans.
- Bring a cloth to wipe down the juices.
- Bring the right bags
He was telling us how they don’t like using reusable cloth bags because they get too dirty … but plastic bags don’t hold quite enough weight. The solution: Red-White-Blue bags.
“THAT’S OUR BAG!!!!” Tim and I beamed, for the Red-White-Blue bag is the EPITOME of our Hong Kong ancestry. We’ve had our share of great memories of the awesomeness of this bag, and we were so proud that these Scandinavians could recognize quality when they see it.
After coming home, we inspect and further clean each item. This is just a fraction of the final haul on our first day:
Life after dumpster diving? Well, simply, it has opened my eyes. It gave me a new lens to see the world through. We noticed how much free stuff there is to be had, we noticed that our host’s family of 6 (plus 17 chickens) had such an excess of food that they needed an extra freezer in the basement for their steaks, heavy cream, and cheeses. (They also had get more picky about what to take because there is so much excess!) The world suddenly has so much more potential.
[1] Expiry dates are like, planned obsolescence. Our hosts and their kids have been eating this food for years without repercussions. Plus, I bet their immune systems are bomb.
The highlight of our time in Tønsberg that is dumpster diving is contrasted by the harsh shadows it exposes.
It’s appalling how, somehow, systemic waste is actually profitable. It’s actually profitable so many animals die only to be thrown away. It’s actually profitable to clear-cut our forests to grow food, process it excessively, package it excessively, only to throw it away just as excessively. Somehow, we’ve figured out that by producing something only to have it thrown away, we can actually “add value” to the economy…. ’cause if you haven’t heard, we’re at the apex of human civilization and the choice to purchase item X is valuable even if we ultimately derive that value by choosing not to buy item X. We’ve found another glitch in capitalism to take advantage of, woo-freaking-hoo!
In a world like this, dumpster diving is an act of resistance. It is relinquishing the value associated with the choice to have (or not have) anything we want at anytime… or at least resisting complicity in such a definition of “value”. In this regard, dumpster diving falls into the category of quiet activism, or perhaps, quiet vigilantism.
Dumpster diving is urban foraging. It is relinquishing the control to have (or not have) anything we want at anytime. Foraging requires that you relinquish control and live off the fruits of natural/seasonal cycles. Dumpster diving requires you to relinquish control by living off the garbage collection cycles and choosing only what other people did not want.
Dumpster diving is making the most out of a (literally) crappy situation. In a perfect world, waste wouldn’t exist and it follows that dumpster diving wouldn’t exist … but in the time being, we might as well make an adventure out of waste diversion!
The aforementioned ideological underpinnings glorifies dumpster diving against the dark backdrop that is “The World”. But I would be remiss of me not to cast shade on dumpster diving itself.
…. Should I be posting this on the Internet if he is looking for a job?
Is dumpster diving socially acceptable in Norway?–Simply put, no. As big of a thing as it was for us as WWOOFers during our stay, our host’s friends/community do not know about this past-time of theirs (only their closest friends know!), and they indicated that they would be judged if people knew about it. While they have gone as a family and their older children do it on their own from time to time, they haven’t really explained what the do to their youngest child yet as he may not understand/broadcast it to his peers. Actually, prior to dumpster diving, our Tønsberg hosts had dine things the more legitimate way, and formed an agreement with the grocery store to divert their waste “to feeding chickens” (… just like our Gjøvik hosts!). However, a change in attitude towards this agreement followed a change in management. Seeing as the food was going to the dumps anyway, our hosts simply took matters to their own hands. (While it might not be socially acceptable, but Norway’s dumpsters were definitely more accessible than those in Toronto are though. Sigh.)
Under what circumstances is it “cool” to be a dumpster diver? Personally, I think it’s (a) class and (b) race based. (a) Class: If you are young and educated and can afford to not dumpster dive but do it anyway out of ideology / disregard for what people think and authority in general, then you might be considered a bad-ass. Yet, if you do it because you need to, you might be considered the scum of the earth. (b) Race: Our host had once said that it’s more scary for them to go dumpster diving than for us to go because they are active in their community and may be recognized … whereas all Chinese people look the same to Norwegians. I mean, this is true seeing as we are only visitors … but I also feel like what I do affects the reputation of everyone who looks like me (cue imagery of “immigrant”, “cheap”, etc.) whereas what a White person does only affects their individual reputation. Yet even if a racialized person can afford not to dumpster dive or does it out of general disregard for what people think …
… it might be perceived “not cool” at best, and an outright embarrassment at worst.
I think back to how our hosts could find joy–let alone raise a family–in such a laughably flawed world. I have a guess…. When you realize the world is down in the dumps anyway, to live is to dumpster dive. And, by golly, it must be fun to live that way!
Forget debbie doodle doo, let debbie dumpster dive!