Rise Of The 'Binfluencers'

You know the saying – one woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure. Now, a new breed of freegans are proving you can get cache, and cash, from the things other people chuck. Cosmopolitan went along for a rummage

- Salma Haidrani

So I’m in four-inch high black leather Chelsea boots outside an upmarket supermarket, knee-deep in bin liners that are bursting at the seams. Pooling at my feet is that suspect yellow liquid that I usually only have to face up to on bin day (and even then, I mostly rope in my flatmate to do the dirty work). A girl I’ve met only 20 minutes ago keeps watch as I desperately wave a torch. I pick up a can of beans – own brand, nope. I throw them back into the pile. Ditto the cheap-looking shampoo. There has to be something here. But as nausea begins to rise up my throat, I admit defeat and clamber out of the pile of bags gasping for air.

This isn’t exactly my normal Saturday night stomping ground. I’m usually traipsing around Dover Street Market or Brick Lane hunting out a bargain, but tonight I’m here, in a bin, Marigold-clad, at close to midnight (for the record, there are no bargains here). It is – and I appreciate the irony here – my love of luxury that has me tearing open these bin liners, searching, desperately, for hidden treasure. Because according to a new fashion- and-beauty-orientated breed of freegans (bin raiders to the uninitiated), there’s some seriously luxurious loot to be found down these dark, pungent alleys. And I’m determined to find it.

What was once the pastime of the socially conscious (or skint) is fast becoming a social media sensation. On both YouTube and Instagram, a growing number of ‘binfluencers’ (if you will) are gaining a following that is eager to see what haute hauls they dig up next. The Zoella of the pack is Shelbi Lee (@shelbizleee). Now a household name in the US, her vlogs show her unearthing Chanel No5, a Smashbox foundation and even a Keurig Coffee Machine (worth £333!) from bins at the back of department stores.