By Jack Feeny, No Mise En Plastic
No Mise En Plastic (@no_mise_en_plastic) has launched an instagram campaign, to encourage restaurants to refuse, refuse bags and separate out their waste. We understand that 4-weeks of bin related content sounds pretty dry but the interviews, recipes and tips we have lined up might just be exciting, especially for a Food Made Good reader.
We chose to do this campaign for two reasons. Firstly, following conversations with chefs in our network, it was clear that there are still a number of restaurants who do not separate their recycling or use a food waste bin. Secondly, for the many restaurants already doing a great job separating their waste, there’s still a bit of confusion about what we can actually recycle in our kitchens.
Less potwashing
To help shed some light we interviewed recycling expert and CEO of First Mile, Bruce Bratley, whose thoughts on compostables certainly made us re-evaluate their usefulness. He also told us the staggering fact, that chefs don’t need to wash everything they put out for recycling. As long as items are free from any food (you can use a spatula if necessary), save on the water and pop it into your bin. All of our recycling is washed in the facilities anyway, so we can save ourselves some time.
What else can you expect from #TheRightBin campaign? As we know, when it comes to waste the most important thing is preventing it in the first place. That’s why as part of this campaign we will be launching our new zero waste, staff food segment.
Chefs often have a reputation for being angry, but it’s not surprising. Time and again they go through a busy day without eating a single morsel of food or drinking a drop of water. Proper staff meals can make all the difference to the atmosphere of a kitchen and can be the perfect way to use up all those odd bits of prep lying around, about to go off.
More creative cooking
Every day, chefs across the country are using their creative flair to turn a random assortment of prep into a delicious meal. Be it blitzing up mustard with old herbs to make a tasty marinade or using up courgette trim and old egg yolks for a veggie carbonara. Sometimes there isn’t room for broccoli stems and kohlrabi leaves on a menu but both of those are perfect to go in a staff curry.
We are going to be sharing pictures of restaurants’ staff meals, to swap ideas and celebrate all of the great efforts made by chefs to stop food going to waste. So next time you create a delicious staff meal using up prep destined for the bin, we want to see a photo! Send us a picture or tag us @nomiseenplastic.
We also have a load of delicious waste-saving recipes, tips on how to keep your food fresh for longer, innovative ideas for doggy bags and much more.
Whether you want to further reduce the impact of your kitchen or simply shave money off your waste management bill, producing less waste is always a great thing to do. So check out our instagram page over the coming weeks and see how empty you can keep your general waste bin.
No Mise En Plastic is a free online resource that helps chefs eliminate single-use products from the kitchen. It is also a platform for an expanding network of chefs to share ideas on how we can reduce waste in our workplaces.
