00:00 "Why are we going to get our garbage from the trash can? It's dirty."
00:02 She said, "No. Have you seen the garbage bins here in Finland?"
00:06 "This is the trash bin. Go down there and look."
00:08 I was shocked because I was thinking of the literal trash can in the Philippines.
00:14 Hello everyone, my name is Julie Korsberg-Villeza.
00:19 I'm 36 years old.
00:20 I'm assisting a PWD during the day.
00:23 During my free time, I also do dumpster diving.
00:26 [music]
00:37 I grew up in the Philippines.
00:39 I am half Finnish and I'm half Thai.
00:42 Thai mother and Finnish father.
00:43 My father brought me to the Philippines when I was about three years old.
00:47 I lived and grew up there.
00:50 I have never been engaged in the Thai culture and the Finnish culture.
00:54 So in my heart, I'm a true Filipino.
00:57 Hello, hello, hello! This is your Thai-Finnish, but with a Finnish heart!
01:01 I'm here in Finland because I am a natural-born citizen.
01:06 When I first went abroad, I went to Yemen way back in 2009.
01:11 Eventually, I went to Dubai.
01:12 I was 12 years in Dubai.
01:14 My husband lost his job in the UAE.
01:17 It was hard for us with our finances.
01:20 We had to pay for our kids' education.
01:25 Whereas in Finland, the education here is one of the best in the world.
01:28 And it's also for free for the citizens.
01:31 Dumpster diving doesn't literally mean that you're diving.
01:36 It's basically your way of exploring.
01:38 You're exploring what's inside the garbage.
01:41 There are different types of dumpster diving.
01:43 What I do is food dumpster diving.
01:46 So I basically go to the back of the gates of supermarkets
01:49 to get the goods that I'm hauling.
01:52 I'm not telling you that Inday Julien is a jackpot.
01:55 What introduced me to this is my boss.
02:00 He bought a summer house.
02:02 He told me that he would take our stuff
02:05 and get newspapers from the garbage.
02:07 When I got back, I told him that the garbage bins are well segregated.
02:13 He explained to me that,
02:14 "Do you know your colleague in the world?
02:16 He gets 80% of his food consumables from the bins he gets."
02:20 When I lost my job,
02:23 even though the government is helping us
02:26 and giving us an allowance,
02:27 we still have to find something.
02:29 So I thought of my boss.
02:31 So what I did was, I did some research
02:33 if it was legal to do it or if I was under violation.
02:37 And then I found out that there's no such law
02:40 that you are violating the law if you're going to dumpster dive.
02:43 So it says there that you dive at your own risk.
02:45 The staff here doesn't care.
02:47 It's really bad.
02:48 They just let it be as if they don't see anything.
02:50 That's how it is here, guys.
02:52 They don't care.
02:53 They won't blame you.
02:54 Because here in Finland,
02:55 their standard is high
02:58 when it comes to groceries and the supermarkets.
03:02 That's why they really dump a lot of things
03:04 that are nearly expired
03:06 even if it's just a little damaged.
03:08 Bio-yati.
03:09 It means, guys, bio-waste.
03:12 My work now is starting in the evening.
03:14 And then sometimes, I go overnight shift.
03:17 And then since one of the main supermarkets
03:19 that I go to for the dumpster diving
03:21 is near my boss' house.
03:23 So right after my shift, I go straight there.
03:26 I already know what beans I'm going to use.
03:28 I'm only going to use the brown ones.
03:30 Because it's like the bio-waste.
03:32 I get all the items that are thrown away by the supermarket
03:36 that I can still use.
03:38 This is the sandwich.
03:40 This one, we have meat.
03:43 It's delicious.
03:45 There.
03:47 We get trays of eggs.
03:49 We get packs of meat.
03:52 We get a lot of pasta,
03:54 pizza, salmon,
03:56 canned food that we get.
03:59 We also get boxes of wine,
04:01 boxes of beer.
04:03 Whatever we see in the supermarket,
04:05 we get it.
04:06 We got spare ribs.
04:08 They're really big.
04:10 Wow!
04:11 This is awesome!
04:13 That's a lot of spare ribs.
04:15 That's expensive.
04:17 How much is that?
04:19 2 kilos or more.
04:21 Honestly, I'm not afraid
04:23 that we'll get sick because we know what we're doing.
04:26 The things we get there,
04:28 they are well-sealed and packed.
04:31 It's not open.
04:33 We just get it from the trash.
04:35 This came from the grocery.
04:37 It was even maxed out.
04:39 It didn't fit in Mr. Bean's bag.
04:42 I watch their process.
04:44 At 10 in the evening,
04:46 they collect the trash.
04:49 They get it ready.
04:50 In the morning,
04:51 they scan it to drop it in the bin.
04:54 The bin has a garbage bag lining.
04:57 It's very clean.
04:58 Even myself,
04:59 I clean the bins during the summer.
05:01 From the dumpster,
05:05 it's straight to my kitchen.
05:07 We cleanse it.
05:08 We do some sanitation.
05:10 For the fruits and vegetables,
05:12 we soak them in water and baking soda
05:15 for 20 minutes
05:16 to kill the bacteria.
05:18 For the meat that's not packed,
05:21 we boil it with salt and vinegar.
05:25 I put salt or Sprite.
05:27 That's what I learned from our meat.
05:29 Through dumpster diving,
05:31 I have realized that we are very lucky
05:34 because we have a collection here.
05:36 While there are some parts in the world
05:39 where many kids are hungry,
05:41 that's what I always think.
05:43 I'm so grateful
05:44 because we are not in that stage.
05:46 We don't experience that.
05:47 Even if we go dumpster diving,
05:49 it's still a blessing that we get something.
05:52 Blessing.
05:56 We have a blessing.
05:57 There are people who judge us.
05:59 One of the comments I received
06:01 is that we are embarrassing.
06:03 We're lowering our Filipino identity.
06:05 That's why other people look down on us
06:09 because of what we do.
06:12 That's their opinion
06:13 and we respect your opinion.
06:15 But hopefully, you open up your mind also
06:17 and see the world in a bigger picture.
06:19 There are a lot of countries
06:20 who are suffering with food supplies.
06:22 Let's be more understanding to our fellow Filipinos
06:25 and let's not judge by what we see
06:28 because for sure, there is a deeper meaning
06:30 and there is a deeper reason
06:32 why people do what they do.
06:34 I don't think we're lowering our Filipino identity.
06:37 I think we're raising our Filipino identity.
06:41 We're just proving that no matter how hard life is,
06:44 we're fighting and we're not looking down on others.
06:47 If you're interested to know more about
06:52 Julie Forsberg-Belieza and my dumpster diving journeys,
06:56 please go on my YouTube channel,
06:57 Tay Finish Pero Pusong Pinay.
06:59 And don't forget to please click like, share, and subscribe.
07:02 Thank you so much!
07:03 Thank you so much!
07:04 [music]
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