Food Savior

Whether a local or expat, you’d be no stranger to the city’s food waste problem: approximately 3,400 tonnes of food is sent to the landfill every day, enough of a mass to fill 220 double-decker buses. Among those who find such waste of resources outrageous - and a pressing issue to tackle - are the founders behind Food Savior, a green start-up that is dedicated to food waste reduction by linking up surplus food supply at local restaurants and cafés with consumer demand for high-quality food at bargain prices. Yes, that actually means that you could be paying less than HKD50 for scrumptious meals by some of the city's much-loved foodie hotspots the likes of Cali Mex, SpiceBox Organics, La Cabane Wine & Cheese Cellar, 208 Duecento Otto, Jinjuu, Café D'i, Tartes & Pop, Café Sausalito, Rummin' Tings, Commissary, Monsieur CHATTÉ.

Read on and find out why you, as a responsible global citizen, should be part of Food Savior’s #endfoodwaste and #nofoodwasteHK campaigns. 

1. Who are the amazing founders behind Food Savior? 

We are Liz Thomas (journalist), Florent Sollier (finance), and Adrien Hay (finance).

Florent and I are married and have a two-year-old, and Adrien is a good friend also married with a child the same age 

2. How did the idea of Food Savior come about? 

[Liz Thomas] The past few years have felt quite bleak in terms of world affairs and I think it is easy to despair. Perhaps becoming parents triggered it - thinking about the kind of world our children will grow up in. But the three of us felt it was time we actually did something, instead of ranting on Facebook. That if we wanted the world to change, then we needed to actively do something about it.

Food waste has always bothered me - I used to take doggie bags home if I couldn't finish my meal at restaurants. In Hong Kong there are endless buffets and free-flow brunch deals, plates piled high, mountains of food continually replenished, and there is always plenty left towards the end of the sitting. I started to wonder what happened to all the surplus - the realisation that much of it was thrown away was grotesque.

We noticed too how much people loved the discount corner at the supermarket, and felt there must be a way to do something similar with restaurants - to highlight last-minute deals or special offers in a bid to reduce waste.

3. How does Food Savior Work?

[Adrien Hay] We came up with essentially a digital version of the discount corner. It connects customers with restaurants who have a surplus of excellent food left at the end of service, and are happy to sell it at bargain prices. Restaurants can also list last-minute deals or special offers for their quiet periods to help ensure nothing is thrown away.

You can just input your location and see what's available near you - or hit ‘SHOW ALL’, and it lists all the discount deals across the city.

The pickup window is set by the restaurants and café to suit their needs. The eateries schedule the collection window to coincide with the end of their different service schedules. This means that you are likely to get food at different period of time: Around 12pm at the end of the breakfast service, around 3pm for the close of the lunch service, at 7pm when cafés close and from 10pm when restaurants close. There should be something to fit different working hours and different lifestyles, and the range of options will only increase as the number of restaurants we work with expands. We started with restaurants but we hope supermarkets and caterers will come on board later too. We're also looking at ways we can work with food redistribution charities, so that people can buy and donate.

4. What is the goal of Food Savior? 

[Florent Sollier] To curb the amount of food waste in Hong Kong, to get people to think differently about throwing out food and our consumption culture.

The aim of this is to get the whole industry to see there is an opportunity - for them to make money on surplus food, and to do their bit for making Hong Kong a cleaner, greener, place to live. But also for consumers, to realise how much power they have. Want cleaner air in Hong Kong? Well, food waste rotting in landfill is a big contributor to that. So why not use Food Savior, get a bargain, but also show restaurants - and food and beverage industry - that this matters to you. If you have a favourite restaurant that isn't working with us - ask them why not.  

We're building up a little community in Hong Kong for people who want to get more involved in these issues, but also to highlight some brilliant companies already innovating to help curb food waste. The more people know what's out there, the better.

5. What are the pros and cons of launching a food reduction initiative in Hong Kong?

[Adrien Hay]

Pros - People in Hong Kong are incredibly receptive to new ideas in that there is a lot of good will that you succeed. The green sector is growing, we know that as people understand the gravity of the issues we face, they are keen to make small changes to make a difference. People love to eat so anything that involves offering special deals or food at bargain prices is met with a good response. It is a small city so you don't have to go far to find a participating restaurant. 

Cons - People here don't yet realise how much damage food waste is doing to the planet. It's a huge contributor to air pollution and it is a massive waste of our resources. So much energy goes into producing food, transporting it, preparing it, cooking it - what a tragedy it is to see all that just end up in the bin. If people stopped to think about that, they might be much more cautious. Hong Kong is a fast-paced consumption-led city where people generally want things quick and easy, so getting people to stop and think about changing their habits takes time. Most people go to the same few places for lunch every day, but our hope is that one day, people will check Food Savior first whenever they are hungry and see what they can ‘save’.

6. How has the public's response to Food Savior's food waste reduction effort been so far? 

[Liz Thomas] Everyone loves a bargain - and the people of Hong Kong are savvy about shopping so using our site makes sense. Restaurants update in real time and there are offers available throughout the day, so people are finding they can pick up something yummy for more than 50% off the original price whenever they feel hungry. In fact, we've had demands for us to work with more restaurants across Hong Kong, so we are really hoping to make sure we have options across the city. If you like the idea, make sure your favourite restaurant knows about it - ask them to work with us! We also really want to work with more local restaurants, and we'd like to meet with Cantonese speakers who are interested in working with us to help make that happen. 

7. Why do you think more people should be part of this initiative? 

[Liz Thomas] We are at a turning point in terms of our environment that will shape our future, and that of children, and grandchildren. We already know that if food waste were a country, it would be the third biggest emitter of greenhouse gases behind China and the US, and we already know that this is contributing to global warming, and if current temperature rises continue we are heading to catastrophe. But I think sometimes people find that too big a concept to really take in - it's hard to see how we can turn things around. 

So our view is to start small, to make the changes we can, and to build up from there. Use Food Savior, bring your own box, bring your own water bottle, reduce single use plastic, don’t bother with straws. 

I think former US President Barack Obama says it better than us:  "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” We want people to be part of the change!

8. What’s the best thing about being the founder(s) of Food Savior right now? 

Florent Sollier - The brilliant people we are getting to meet. There are so many people doing small things to try and make Hong Kong a cleaner, greener city. And there are even more doing so worldwide. We hope that Food Savior will be doing lots of collaborations with all sorts of companies and start-ups trying to tackle environmental issues. 

We are slowly building a little community on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/foodsavior/), and here we hope to publish interviews with other great environmental and anti-food waste organisations, and generally highlight the other great initiatives out there (as well as the bargains on our own). We are running social media campaigns with #endfoodwaste and #nofoodwasteHK which we would urge people to join. 

We would also love to hear from anyone interested in this issue so if you want to join the conversation, please do follow us and get in touch!

More info here www.foodsavior.hk

Sustainable Seafood Week

Credit: WWF-Hong Kong

So you knew Hong Kongers are mad about seafood, but did you know we also are the second-largest per capita consumer of seafood in Asia? From lobster served with e-fu noodles in cheesy sauce to the ordinary home-steamed fish, there isn’t a dearth of seafood traces in our staple diet. But as overfishing and overconsumption is pushing many marine species towards extinction, it’s about time we started thinking twice about what we put on our dining table.

As an attempt to promote and encourage a more sustainable seafood consumption habit across the city, WWF-Hong Kong has announced its annual Sustainable Seafood Week, held from 27 June to 5 July this year, partnering with over 100 restaurants scattered all over Hong Kong, just to show that a sustainable seafood menu can – and should – be had anywhere in Hong Kong, by people from all walks of life. From all 32 Tsui Wah Restaurant’s outlets to 44 Maxim’s MX outlets, Congress Plus at HKCEC to Steakhouse at Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, Plat du Jour to The Continental, you’re literally spoilt for choice when it comes to a seafood feast matching various budget concerns.

Go on, check out WWF-Hong Kong’s list of partnering restaurants and do your bit as a responsible global citizen!  

Zero Energy Home with One Kit in One Week

Credit: Fast Company

It’s almost too good to be true: a group of innovators in the Netherlands have created a device that could turn an old house into net-zero energy homes in just a little over a week. How neat is that?

The device was invented to show that you don’t have to be loaded or extremely environmentally conscious to be able to own a net-zero energy home, and the point the project is meant to start will be the mid-century, low-income rental houses that all share similar layouts. What the kit includes is a system of prefab parts that can be easily installed on existing properties, from a roof covered in solar panels to facades onto old walls without the need of demolition, and a cube-shaped energy module that holds everything necessary for the generation of sustainable heat, hot water, power and ventilation.

The best thing of all? The kit is also designed to ensure that the retrofits will cause the least disruption to the lives of the renters. According to Linda van Leeuwen of the BAM Group, one of the construction companies behind the project, residents won’t have to move out; if anything, they’re only required to move the sofa or television a bit for the removal of window frames to make room for the installation of new front and back façade.

With the advancement in technology and increased support from material suppliers, the cost of the project has dropped drastically from USD144,000 two years ago to USD45,000 per townhouse today. Needless to say, utility bills for the renters will drop just as exponentially, for now their houses will be able to create renewable energy by themselves.

The system is said to work in many different world countries, and we in Hong Kong can only hope the engineers could come and make the net-zero energy houses a reality here! 

Meet Hong Kong’s First CGS

Credit: www.info.gov.hk

If you’re still griping about the insufficient government effort in battling environmental pollution, it’s perhaps time you stopped and take a serious look at Hong Kong’s first Community Green Station (CGS), just opened in Sha Tin less than a month ago.

Run by non-profit making organisations, the CGS’s, expected to acquire a presence in each of the 18 districts to promote environmental education while serving as a spot to collect different types of recyclables, are designed with aesthetics and practicality in mind, and have therefore incorporated elements of sustainable development and green buildings. The Sha Tin CGS, for instance, is now a public place composed of container modules, reformed from the temporary parking space it previously was. A quick tour at the Sha Tin CGS reveals the multi-purpose rooms and ancillary facilities built for exhibitions, seminars, workshops and other kinds of educational activities.

Now, although there are already existing recyclers (with whom the Sha Tin CGS will be working closely with to provide a better recycling solution), one thing you should note about the CGS is that it will focus on the provision of collection services for recyclables of lower economic value, such as electrical appliances, compact fluorescent lamps and tubes, glass bottles and rechargeable batteries. The materials will then be delivered to trustworthy and qualified recyclers to turn the waste materials into useful resources.

The operator – Christian Family Service Centre, in the case of Sha Tin CGS – has already established collaboration arrangements with over 70 housing estates, institutions and schools in the district as we speak, and the network is expected to expand further in the future. For so long we have been wanting more government subsidies and support for the local recycling industry to ensure more waste materials are recycled, and it looks like now that the government has done something conducive to a sustainable future, as a response to the hitherto unsatisfactory recycling situation. Surely the CGS initiative deserves some applause? 

Grow a Book Tree

Credit: Fast Company, Pequeño Editor

If you need one more reason to get your children to read, Pequeño Editor has come up with a solution to make reading not just intellectually beneficial, but also environmentally educational.

Titled Mi Papá Estuvo en la Selva (‘My Father was in the Jungle’), the book – which has been made available in its standard format for quite a while – has recently been given a redesign to remind readers of resource conservation. The ‘resource’ in this case is trees, which are cut down to make books.

With each page printed with non-toxic inks and sown with seeds of the jacaranda tree, readers of the children’s book are encouraged to water the book cover to help the seeds germinate, before planting the book in a garden once the seeds have sprouted. To quote Raquel Franco, editorial director of Pequeño Editor, the book is a metaphor that “everything we read also takes root in us and is part of our mental library, our culture, of who we are as people”. 

From Amazon, With Love

Credit: RUNA, Fast Company

You’ve heard people promoting their health products with a detailed account of their near-death experience, but RUNA, a clean and steady energy drink brand founded by two liberal arts students, is different.

Before we get to the drinks you need to know this Brown University student Tyler Gage, who took a course on the languages and religions of the Amazon, and later went on to live with Amazonian tribes in the jungle. From the Shipibo people he lived with for two years, Gage not only learnt their unparalleled hospitality, unique language and cultural heritage, and their coexistence with the nature, but he was also taught this drink the tribespeople would rise at 3am to make, by boiling a leaf called guayusa in clay pots. Everyone would sit together to enjoy the drink, while interpreting dreams and recounting myths before dawn, and again at night to provide energy and clarity for hunting in the jungle. Intrigued by the leaf, said to have mystical power, Gage decided to research on it, and learnt that this naturally sweet leaf has the same caffeine content as coffee, and double the antioxidant content as green tea.

Upon his return to the United States, Gage embarked on a mission to start a business that could help support the Amazonian families that he spent two years with, knowing that they are struggling in an increasingly urbanised environment, where they can no longer survive with natural resources alone – they need money to send their children to school. Gage knew the guayusa drink would make a hit in the US market, in face of the ever-growing health trend, but the problem was he, a liberal arts student, was clueless about running a business. So together with his close friend and classmate Dan MacCombie, Gage took a business class in the final semester and slowly worked on expanding their network via their professors’ connections. The two entered and won several business plan competitions, and soon after graduating from school, they moved to Ecuador to begin working with local Kichwa communities to build a guayusa supply chain.

Fast forward to today, RUNA is buying guayusa leaves from over 2,300 farming families in the Amazon rainforest, and it goes on to prove that you can have a business in the Amazon that can benefit the environment, human health, and the preservation of traditional cultural practices, all the while supporting local producers.

*RUNA’s organic, fair trade and non-GMO-certified guayusa drinks are only available in the US right now. But by all means speak to your nearby organic food store or café and get them to ship some to Hong Kong!

Poop Power

Credit: Fast Company

If you told your friends last year that your dog could be your source of renewable energy, you could easily be taken as a fool. But not anymore, with the conceptual design Poo Poo Power by Geneva-based designer Océane Izard, also the human parent of three dogs.

The way the device works is simple: place a biodegradable bag of dog poop inside, let the sludge-eating bacteria belch out methane that is then converted into power, and the electricity is stored in batteries to be used to power your appliances. Naturally, the amount of poop produced by different sizes of dogs matters too, so a German Shepherd produces around 500 grams of waste a day, which is enough to keep your fridge running. The Beagle, on the other hand, produces around 250 grams of waste per day, which would suffice to power a fan for two hours.

As gross as the idea may sound to some, powering your home with dog poop is nothing but ingenious. Not only does it help cities save up the cost of cleaning dog poop on the streets, it also prevents the emission of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere where dog poop is dumped into landfill. Additionally, it helps to keep the city clean – cities where dog owners don’t have the good manner to clean up after their dogs, that is. 

Save the Bees with One Billion Wildflowers

 Credit: Inhabitat.com

You’d be no stranger to posters of supermarkets void of fruits and vegetables, or various collective efforts the world over in saving the bees. In case you didn’t know of Colony Collapse Disorder, which sees the bee population dwindling at a staggering rate, partly as a result of lack of diversity or availability in pollen and nectar sources, look it up now. The possibility of losing this adorable and resourceful little creature – and depletion of food resources – is a depressing prospect, but fret not, there’s quite a lot you can do on an individual level to help bring back the bees, such as what a couple in Bay Area, the United States, is doing.

Determined to combat Colony Collapse Disorder, Chris Burley and Ei Ei Khin have come up with the ambitious plan to plant one billion wildflowers, and they are making it easier for keen individuals to join by creating the rainbow-coloured Seedle seed-bombs. Consisting of native, non-GMO-certified seeds, compost, clay and natural dyes, the colourful pellets of seed bombs can practically grow themselves – all you need to do is to throw them in the soil and grow them. As the fruit of the couple’s 18-month experimentation in their backyard, which eventually won USD11,000 of funding on Kickstarter, these seed bombs are designed as a solution to ensure a sustainable food system for the future generations.

If you’re looking at more instant, local solutions to help save the bees, find out what Hong Kong’s first urban bee keeper Michael Leung is doing with his HK Honey.