The Adlington Post

Here is the meat haul mentioned in the Sunday Star Times article (below) the other week - this is my pile, I gave as much again away! stacked in the freezer

On Sunday 31 March the Sunday Star Times here in Auckland published an article on the tremendous waste of perfectly good food worldwide - and included an interview with myself: photo by Lawrence Smith/FairfaxNZ Diary of a Well-fed Freegan 0ne man's Waste is another’s dinner, and it’s not just about dumpster diving, writes Shabnam Dastgheib. AFTER SEVEN years of not paying for food, tools or art supplies, 63-year-old Martin Adlington has freeganism down to a fine art. He finds wine, biscuits, eggs, cheese, and bread and dips in a typical haul from a typical dive in a typical supermarket dumpster. He goes only when he feels like it and often finds enough to donate to large, hungry families in Auckland. This month, World Bank senior economist Jose Cuesta targeted retailers and consumers to find a solution to the world’s staggering food waste. A United Nations- backed campaign Think Eat Save estimates that in industrialized nations 300 million tonnes of food fit for consumption i...

Looks like bacon'n'eggs for me for the next week or so - I found six packets of bacon & a tray of 24 eggs in the skip last night (gave half to my neighbour). Check out the "best before" date on the middle bacon = 1 May 2014!

As an environmental artist I see a lot of perfectly good materials being disposed of in landfill. Having lived in Fiji and visited several Pacific islands I am aware that much of our waste would be very welcome to our neighbours - particularly after disasters such as tsunamis and hurricanes. The remoteness and often poverty of these islands makes recovery from disaster extremely difficult and very expensive. I have previously organised assistance to Bali after the bombing ("Byron Loves Bali" in 2003), and to Niuatoputapu in Tonga after the tsunami (2010). Currently I am continuing to collect tools, knives, nails, and pots and pans for Niua as many of the people have by no means recovered from the damage of the tsunami. See details on my blog http://www.pacificneighbours.blogspot.co.nz/ tsunami damage someone's roof in the lagoon john with donations 2014   distribution of goods from yacht Atutaki in 2010 hammers for niua 2014

Last Sunday I went for a drive amongst detritus of the annual inorganic collection...finds included a sleeping bag (new), a pair of woman's hiking boots (good condition), an oil can (with oil), and a couple of old wooden planes - I will refurbish the tools at the Men's Shed North Shore. See: www.mensshednorthshore.org.nz and my Shed blog: www.shedyarns.blogspot.co.nz  

Last week Men's Shed North Shore member Bob Stirk gave us a demonstration of vacuum-forming veneer. This is a process (on a much larger scale) used to make the Americas Cup boats. Bob uses pieces of curved veneer and laminated wood to make some very interesting furniture.   Bob kindly gave me a piece of this laminate to make some jewellery with. See more photos on my Men's Shed blog www.shedyarns.blogspot.co.nz

The annual inorganic collection is on at present here on the North Shore, maybe for the last time if the whingers about the collection "lowering the tone" of their neighbourhoods get their way. Three of my more interesting finds last Sunday were a filter mask, a cast iron pot - great for the campfire, and a bevy of broken Barbies. The latter demonstrate the fate of most consumer products - fervently desired, soon trashed, and then dumped. I haven't found any iPhones in the trash - yet....... While I was going through a pile of trash a Japanese TV crew came along & interviewed me re the inorganic collection & the reason for my collecting junk: "Is it part of your culture to pick up what other people have thrown away?"......I asked them to send me the link for the programme, but won't hold my breath.....