Enjoying free sandwiches. Photo: Laura Passi
“You can help yourself, otherwise they’ll just get wasted,” says a member of staff at Spitalfields Pret A Manger.
In my attempt to find dinner for the evening in bins, I struck lucky when I saw staff in a “closed” Pret were throwing unsold sandwiches away. After asking for some, I left with eight packets of premium salmon and salad sandwiches. I wasn’t breaking the law in that situation but had I been caught rummaging in Pret bins by a security guard, would I have a legal leg to stand on?
A group of people called freegans regularly find food and other necessities from bins and skips in a practice known as “urban scavenging” or “bin diving”. Freegans live simply, without money, and believe in giving something back to society. But it seems that even they can’t be sure if they are breaking the law. UK Freegans, a website dedicated to the freegan lifestyle, describes the legal ramifications of bin diving as “a grey area”.
Dr Sean Thomas, Senior law lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University, identifies a need to clarify the law. He says: “Although it depends on the circumstances, it is my opinion that freeganism is not criminal and it should not become criminal.” In fact he believes arguments in favour of criminalising freegan activity tend to fall back onto personal feelings of disgust.
In his published paper, Do freegans commit theft?, Dr Thomas explains that a freegan cannot be prosecuted for stealing goods that have been abandoned because abandoned goods cannot be stolen. The problem lies in proving that goods have been abandoned and so a freegan, taken to court, would stand a better chance of avoiding conviction by claiming their actions were not dishonest. They could argue there is a moral right to take rubbish because it benefits the environment; that they believe the owner wouldn’t mind; or they don’t consider themselves or their activities dishonest. As it is even harder to define dishonesty it would be left to jury members to decide guilt or innocence.
Although this is where the law stands, it doesn’t immediately make life any less complicated for freegans.
JD, a freegan, says almost everybody who shares his lifestyle will have encountered security personnel during foraging escapades. He says: “I have personally encountered a number of threats from store managers and the occasional policeman. Having said this, I have also encountered quite a bit of support from such people too – those who are open to reason.”
A spokesperson for Association of Chief Police Officers says they aren’t sure at what point freegan activity becomes criminal: “Individual cases would be treated differently, but it’s difficult to give a definitive answer.”
Freegan UK [NOTE: website has turned into a site for ‘online casinos’] has a more direct statement on its website: “To our knowledge no one has ever been charged in the UK with stealing rubbish. It is likely that this is because supermarkets realise that prosecuting someone for recycling waste would open up an ethical can of worms.”
A freegan who follows the true values of freeganism believes that a world without money would be a better place and bin diving is only one aspect of their lifestyle. Regardless of personal opinion, the actions of freegans not only reduce our landfill waste but present a fierce challenge to the monetary values that are integral to our society.
i think freegans are just doing what they need to do id love to do it just shops should be made to leave left over food out side the shop in special bin so they dont have to break the law
A lot of store/security staff i encounter point out that they’re not necessarily bothered about stealing rubbish, but they are concerned that they could be legally responsible for the waste and any health hazards I could be exposed to by eating it. Where does the law in the UK stand here? Are the stores legally culpable for any illness brought on as a result of eating their waste?
Good question – anyone know the answer to this?
A tramp successfully prosecuted M&S after he got food poisoning after eating food he had ‘rescued’ from a bin outside their store. That is why M&S started putting blue dye on their bin contents, to make sure they couldnt be prosecuted again.
Has anyone seen this documentary on Freegans? Shot in the UK…
* Waste Not Want Not – A Freegan Documentary (UK) http://vimeo.com/4423506
How can you steal something from a store when it has been discarded?
If stores want to stop freegans, then why don’t they stop discarding food? Why not give extra away with what shoppers purchase? Like two for one (one being near to the sell by date, for example). If that was done, food would not go ro waste. If the shopper did not want it (the free item given to them, then they could give it to a homeless person.
As for the question asked by Emily about the legal issue of someone becoming ill because of eating waste food – the eater should take that risk not the store because, after all, they discarded the food.
I have eaten food beyond the sell by date from my own fridge and I haven’t become ill because of it.
my son regulary gets his food from a certain well known super market.not only food,clothes and fancy goods to.i give the clothes to a hard up young mum with 4 kids.i often worry he.ll get into trouble if caught,but since looking up
My 42yr old son gets loads of fruit ,veg, meat, clothes etc from a well known cut price super market.till i found this site i was always worried he would get into big trouble if caught…..but i can now tell him he,s not breaking any laws!
If taken to court i would name and shame the super market ,as some of the items are in date and the clothes still in good wrapping..they throw all sorts of things away,fancy goods also….. ideally i would prefer these food items etc to go to people in real need
I’m been a freegan for quite a few years now, one thing that has always baffled me is WHY do shop go to a LOT of trouble to stop people like me getting at the waste? I personally make a point of leaving the area tidy to the extent of even picking up other large waste and bining it for them. When ever I use a ‘key’ to get access, I always re-lock before leaving. Safeways are the worse as they open all packages and smash-up the food before bining it WHY?
I imagine it becomes more of a legal issue if the freegan has to climb over a fence to get to the bins, then it would be trespass. I clicked on the link http://www.freegan.org.uk/ and it is now an online casino website, just so you know!
In my opinion, it is a criminal act to waste food when there are people out there who don’t get enough of it. It was always drummed into me by dinner ladies at school not to waste my food when so many people in the third-world go without. Perhaps it’s more about principle than legality?
I love rummaging in skips for treasures, just moving into food scavenging now as i am skint..
No job and no dole money!! after 10 years of self employmet!!
Long live the skip scavengers.