One dumpster-diving grocery haul shocked Reddit when a diver discovered multiple meals' worth of fresh food in a bin, highlighting how much usable food gets wasted.

The post, shared in the r/DumpsterDiving community, features photos of a full spread of food, including cookies, potatoes, peppers, apples, pears, bananas, salsa, raspberries, watermelon, strawberries, salad, and mushrooms. 

The poster made four pounds of mashed potatoes and planned to make stuffed peppers and mushrooms. "Looking forward to bringing the mini cakes, apples, cookies, and bakery items to a food pantry tomorrow," they said. 

"I gave up trying to put a value on my dives, but $100 sounds close, plus the organic veggies that I usually can't afford," they added in a comment.

For families and individuals, dumpster diving can save money while also cooling the planet. People constantly throw away perfectly usable items and food. As one commenter pointed out,  there's often lots of value to be found: "Wow this is so sad... while the cost of groceries keeps rising."

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that in 2019, about 66 million tons of wasted food were generated by the food industry. In 2018, it was estimated that more food reached landfills and combustion facilities than any other single material, while 13.5% of U.S. households face food insecurity. 

Much of the wasted food could be donated to food pantries or turned into compost that could contribute back to the food supply or your garden, but corporate policies often require employees to dump everything. 

Anyone considering dumpster diving should check local laws, avoid unsafe items, and sanitize and wash any finds. Many divers recommend using gloves and focusing on public areas. Better packaging, eco-friendly approaches to food waste, and repurposing items can go a long way toward saving money for both producers and consumers and help keep the planet cool.

Commenters were thrilled with the diver's find and upset with the stores for tossing out so much usable food:

"The cake-like sugar cookies?!?! What's wrong with people??" one questioned. "Those are the best! Nice save OP!"

Should it be illegal to throw away old clothes? Heck yes 👍 No way 👎 I'm not sure 🤷 Only if it's free to recycle them 🤌 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

"These are my favorite posts! Food rescues! Good work!" another said.

"What a find! It makes me angry to see such waste, but I'm happy to see you found all this food and are eating it!" one user celebrated.

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