Forget diving into dumpsters for food – the lure of free shoes prompted these thrifty sandmongers to raid a dumpster outside the headquarters of a popular shoe retailer.
Crowds of people were seen outside Betts headquarters in Osborne Park on Saturday afternoon after two large bins full of shoes were released.
“I’m sure this has already been shared on Perth’s wild community pages…but hurry to the (Betts) HQ in Osborne Park and help loot the two giant bins full of shoes,” said one social media user. on Facebook.
“Or if that’s too much work, check out one of the markets or some IGAs around Perth tomorrow.”
Betts Group chief executive Todd Wilner was on his way to the office with another senior executive to clean up the mess on Sunday when he told The West Australian the shoes were samples, some of them with holes in them pierced, and none were in pairs.
Mr Wilner said the company was very aware of the waste and had contacted charities in the past, but was told the shoes were not wanted unless they were in pairs.
He said if there was a charity that would be interested in using the samples, he wanted to hear about it.
“If there is an organization willing to work with us and take simple shoes, we are absolutely happy to work with them to reduce our waste,” he said.
Bin diving – when people rummage through bins for edible food, usually thrown away in shopping centers – recently made headlines after a Fremantle city councilor was caught red-handed last month.
Cr Rachel Pemberton admitted she took minced meat and ‘a few small pots of yoghurt’ from a bin in South Fremantle Woolworths, where she was spotted, filmed and photographed by a bewildered resident.
“The amount of food waste in Australia is shameful – if I and others save some of it from landfill, is that really a problem?” said Cr Pemberton.
“I know a lot of people who dive into the bins, not just hippies and backpackers, but also very low-income people who wait by the bins when the staff close the store and throw away the day’s unsold stock – until to the well-dressed old people driving Mercedes around the leafy western suburbs.
Although removing food from bins can be grounds for trespassing and even theft in WA, Cr Pemberton said she believes ‘extreme amounts of food going to landfill’ should be illegal.