A Taste of Waste

Jade Soh, a dumpster diver of 19 years shares what drives her to keep digging through rubbish as VIENNA TAN dives deeper into her peculiar lifestyle.

At midnight, Miss Jade Soh, 37, goes around lifting the lids of rubbish bins and recycling bins around the neighbourhood in search of treasures amongst the filth.

“It is like going on a treasure hunt, finding things. For me, everything is fun but there is no turning back, especially from dumpster diving. Once you try it, you can’t stop,” Miss Soh says.

She finds miniature toys and figurines, but most of her loot from dumpsters are food products. Fruits and vegetables such as long beans, cherry tomatoes and avocados are just some of the “fresh produce” she will take home to cook from the bins.

Deep in the night, Jade Soh’s usual spot to go dumpster diving is always cluttered with waste that she sees as ‘treasures’. Although the place is filthy, she is not afraid to get her hands dirty. | PHOTO: VIENNA TAN

Nineteen years ago, her first dumpster diving experience occurred when she was working at a supermarket. She stumbled upon a heavy styrofoam box thrown at the back alleyway of the store. Curiosity got the better of her and she lifted the lid to find the box filled with individually packed, premium sushi. She brought the sushi home where everyone finished the whole box. “Everybody tried to run away” when she brought home her the second batch of dumpster food. But the family was down with food poisoning afterwards.

Despite the incident, it did not deter Miss Soh from dumpster diving. Her new found interest fuelled her adventurous nature to rescue food from becoming waste. By taking a three-step precaution, she learns how to judge bad foods from the good. “We see if it (food waste) is of the correct colour or consistency. We smell it to see if it smells okay. Then we'll take a tiny bit and we taste it. If it passed the test, then wow. Whack Yes!” Miss Soh says.

Many would shun away from the idea of picking food from the trash for consumption. “Food is thrown out for a reason. Once it’s in the trash, I don’t really think it’s hygienic to eat it,” says Rachel Loy Yan Ting, 19, a resident of the neighbourhood. On the contrary, Miss Soh claims she has never gotten sick from dumpster-dived or expired food after having her unfortunate first encounter.

“Expiry date is nothing...some people don't eat and waste the product even when it is days away from expiring. They just throw (it) away,” Miss Soh says.

Some of the items Miss Soh picked up from her most recent dumpster dive. Belts, crackers, instant noodles, beauty products and even a bottle of cologne were found amongst the rubbish in the bin below her HDB block. | PHOTO: VIENNA TAN

According to the National Environment Agency, 636,900 tonnes of food waste was being disposed in 2017. However, only 17 per cent of the food waste was being recycled.

This is a result of the low domestic recycling percentage of 21 per cent. Miss Soh finds most Singaporeans not grasping the concept of recycling. She says, “Few Singaporeans really do recycle properly, but the efforts are wasted by others who throw food waste into the blue bins, contaminating the recyclables.”

Rachel says, “Recycling is inconvenient. You have to separate your trash when you can just chuck it into the rubbish chute. Singaporeans tend to like to have things done for them.” She adds that the Singaporean culture is “very fast-paced” for not recycling.

“There's really a lot of waste and there's nobody saving it,” Miss Soh says.

Miss Soh’s neighbour, Jacob Ang Chun Xiang says “I don't know what she is digging for when I see her downstairs at the rubbish bin. I thought she was poor." Most people perceive dumpster divers like Miss Soh as rag-and-bone men, but she doesn't mind what others think. “I realise that by picking up old things, washing them and giving them a new life,” Miss Soh says. “I’m actually doing Mother Earth a favour.”

Miss Soh found her bright and optimistic personality after the death of her mother when she was only 19. “I want to be happy when I meet my mother and tell her a lot of stories from dumpster diving. That’s why I became more cheerful, disgustingly cheerful.”

Miss Soh has been a freegan for two years now and finds the benefits of getting free things not only takes the 3Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle, to a whole new level. Freeganism has showed her that not everything can be bought with money. “Happiness, financial security and most of all, your life,” she says with a smile across her face. After getting most of her daily necessities for free, Miss Soh realises that her wants before were “totally unnecessary”. Even without a job, she finds herself not worried as she has no need to buy anything anymore.

Video: Do you know what is dumpster diving?

Follow Jade Soh around her neighbourhood to lift up rubbish bin lids in search of "treasures".