In many Western countries, people are trying to find new ways to reduce waste, especially when it comes down to food. Restaurants and grocery stores are the biggest culprits of waste — all items about to expire or unwanted by the customer are doomed to end up in the trash. This results in so much waste, new laws and incentives have been implemented to keep it at a minimum. And this perfectly good food has the potential to go to those who need it the most.
But a eatery owner in India's port city of Kochi has perhaps found an easy solution to the problem, and she's putting it to the test. Minu Pauline, the owner of Pappadavada, was struck with a brilliant idea when she saw a woman rummaging through a trash can in search for food. She suddenly realized that her restaurant was part of the problem: it produced a ton of unused leftovers on a daily basis, which could have easily fed this woman and many like her.
Soon after, she installed a fridge outside the restaurant.
Scroll down to find out how this outdoor refrigerator is being used!
Photo source: Facebook/Pappadavada
[H/T: Huffington Post]
Restaurant owner Minu Pauline was appalled by how much waste her restaurant was producing, especially when she knew that many people in the neighborhood were in need. So she came up with an incredible solution to both problems.
Minu installed a fridge on the street outside her restaurant. She says that it's meant for leftovers her customers have, if they're willing to give them away. But anyone can put food in the fridge, and anyone can take food out. Minu has even appropriately nicknamed the fridge: it sits in the shade of a tree with a name that translates to "tree of goodness."
So far, the fridge has been a huge success. It's often filled thanks to the many donations it has received, but its stock is often depleted over the course of the day. She says that there are days when she donates one hundred meals — all gone by the end of the day, even when the fridge is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Minu tells the Huffington Post that she discourages people from buying food and putting it in the fridge — although this is an incredibly generous gesture, it doesn't stop the food already in their fridges at home from going to waste. If food isn't wanted by the people who bought it, then it could easily be given to another!
Please SHARE if you would like to see Minu's genius idea put to use in your community!
