By Sophia Grace and Catalina Pérez
Denmark is progressively more sustainable and green than other countries in Europe. In the recent climate with Covid-19 in Aarhus, there are dedicated bins for the disposal of face masks, to help reduce environmental and sanitary impacts. In addition to this, recycling is an important issue for the country, and homes of Aarhus have dedicated recycling points. Furthermore, there is a deposit-refund system in Denmark which involves depositing used cans, plastic and glass bottles in return for DKK. However, even with these positive habits and changes, there is still a huge problem with waste, specifically in shops.
Every year, Danish supermarkets throw out 160,000 tons of food, creating a lot of unnecessary waste. Therefore lots of Danes have taken to Dumpster Diving to save produce and money. The supermarkets’ need to sell fresh products to meet the expectations of their customers. Each week fresh produce comes in, anything unsold from the previous week gets trashed to make room for new products. Often these products are not inedible or unusable and are merely waiting in a dumpster behind the supermarkets for sustainable individuals to give them a second chance. Dumpster diving has become much more common and is even beginning to be encouraged as it has a good impact on the environment.
Read Gone Fishing in Denmark post Brexit? here
Read Fresh Fish, Fresh Air here