Food
At ‘Garbage Cafes,’ You Can Trade Plastic Bottles for Free Food
Every morning, Akash, a 28-year-old living in Delhi, ventures out to collect plastic in order to feed his family of four.
He usually starts his day by scavenging for plastic bottles in and around the waste collection areas of different neighborhoods. He begins around 7am, when the waste from nearby houses typically arrives. His aim: to gather around three kilograms of plastic, which is enough to secure his meals for the day.
Each item he collects feels like a small victory, he says, adding up to a “bag of treasures” that he can exchange for food at what’s known as a “garbage cafe.” All three meals of the day, not only for him but for his whole family, are taken care of by these cafes across the city.
Akash often spends his day looking out for plastic bottles in the city. Credit: Rishabh Jain
In a bid to preserve the environment and increase awareness about safe disposal of plastic waste, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) came up with the concept of garbage cafes in 2020. Under this initiative, individuals who drop off one kilogram of plastic waste at designated garbage cafes receive a voucher for a complimentary meal at participating restaurants. (One kilogram can be exchanged for lunch or dinner, while just 250 grams can be exchanged for breakfast.) Eligible plastic waste includes empty water bottles, soft drink bottles, plastic containers and similar materials.
The aim is to encourage the gathering of waste while also managing the use of disposable plastic products. Eateries hand over the plastic they collect to a municipal organization, which then recycles and repurposes it.
“This has really made my life easier,” says Akash. Credit: Rishabh Jain
For Akash and many others, the cafes have been life-changing. “I came to Delhi around three years ago and started living with my relatives here,” Akash says. “While looking for a job I came across this scheme of the government where we can exchange plastic for free meals. This has really made my life easier, as I not only earn money out of selling plastic but also get free meals for my entire family.”
Business owners have seen benefits too, both environmentally and economically. Yash Kumar owns Evergreen Cafe in South Delhi. In the short time since his business was designated a garbage cafe, he says he has already seen the way the initiative has made people aware of the importance of safely disposing of plastic waste so that it gets recycled and reused, rather than ending up in landfills.
“I have seen an active participation by the people,” says Kumar, who notes that about 20 people have come to the cafe to ask about the program. “The authorities have also installed a plastic crusher machine right outside where the plastic gets safely [broken down]. We not only provide food and refreshments to people but also educate them about recycling plastic waste.”
Pointing at a pile of garbage just outside the shopping complex, predominantly consisting of plastic waste, Yash expresses that his decision to participate in this program was primarily driven by the desire to contribute positively to the city, though he also appreciates that it provides publicity for his cafe.
Mahesh, who works at Evergreen Cafe, adds that the MCD has also put up a banner outside their shop in order to spread awareness.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi came up with the concept of garbage cafes in 2020. Credit: Rishabh Jain
“People observe the banner, inquire about the process, and then come back with plastic bottles,” he says. “A significant number of them are motivated not by discounts but by the desire to make a contribution, which further motivates us. With increased publicity, we are confident that more individuals will join our cause.”
Tackling plastic pollution in Delhi
The capital city houses a population of 20 million and generates approximately 11,000 metric tons of municipal solid waste daily, the highest among Indian cities. According to government data, more than half of this waste is deposited in landfills.
Roughly 70 percent of the city’s plastic waste consists of single-use items, the majority of which either accumulate in landfills or obstruct drainage systems. This poses a significant threat to hungry cows, as they often scavenge through garbage bins, consuming plastic inadvertently.
Additionally, treatment capacity has not kept up with the volume of sewage the city produces, a trend observed not only in Delhi but also across the country. Experts suggest that raising awareness about waste sorting and expanding treatment capacity could be instrumental in addressing these challenges.
A landfill site in Delhi, where garbage often ends up burning and polluting the environment. Credit: Rishabh Jain
In another attempt to address the city’s plastic waste problem, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee introduced a prohibition on plastic bags smaller than 50 microns in 2015. Heavy fines have made the ban’s enforcement effective.
Efforts to reduce single-use plastic received a significant endorsement in 2019, when India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth to declare India’s commitment to phasing them out, though he fell short of implementing a complete ban. Since then, the country has made progress by banning certain varieties as well as by promoting reusable packaging in the food sector, which has historically been heavily reliant on plastic.
A unique initiative
The first garbage cafe opened in Chhattisgarh, a state in the central part of India, in October 2019. Places in other parts of the country picked up the trend once they saw how successful it was. Similar initiatives also exist in a variety of other countries, including in Europe, the US and Cambodia, among others.
A plastic crusher machine set up outside a garbage cafe. Credit: Rishabh Jain
Plastic collection efforts across India reflect a growing commitment to sustainability. In Siliguri, West Bengal, alumni of a local school are offering free meals on Saturdays to individuals who contribute half a kilo of plastic waste. Similarly, in Mulugu, Telangana state, authorities provide one kilo of rice in exchange for one kilo of plastic, with local school children actively involved in plastic collection efforts. The district collector of Mulugu aims to make his district the first in India to eliminate single-use plastic. A local couple even sent out wedding invitations printed on reusable cloth grocery bags.
While celebrating the opening of a garbage cafe in South Delhi, a municipal official said, “The garbage cafe concept has been successfully implemented by local governments in Chhattisgarh and Odisha, where it aids homeless individuals by offering them complimentary meals in return for plastic waste. In Delhi, however, our approach differs in that we aim to extend this initiative to everyone. We believe that by engaging urban residents in plastic waste management efforts, we can enhance its effectiveness.”
He added that the plastic waste collected at such cafes could be used in road construction or repurposed in gardens. In Delhi, for example, a Waste-to-Wonder park showcases replicas of the seven wonders of the world, all made from discarded materials sourced from landfills.
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Benu Malhotra, one of the trustees of Parvaah, a nonprofit organization in New Delhi advocating against plastic usage, sees the garbage cafe as a model that should be replicated nationwide. She believes that the concept is making people from all walks of life aware of the harmful effects of plastic on the environment and also guiding them on how to effectively reuse and recycle it.
She points out that garbage cafes create a kind of virtuous cycle: “This cafe addresses waste management while also providing a warm meal to those in need, thereby incentivizing them to collect more plastic.”
The post At ‘Garbage Cafes,’ You Can Trade Plastic Bottles for Free Food appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.
Cartoon: The dirty food dilemma
Cartoon by Jen Sorensen.
This Guardian article lists various foods that tend to be high in toxic PFAS, commonly known as "forever chemicals," which are used to make products stain- and water-resistant. To quote from the report, "Among the main sources of food contamination are tainted water, greaseproof food wrappers, some plastics, pesticides, or farms where PFAS-tainted sewage sludge is spread as fertilizer." As for microplastics, where to begin? They're everywhere, from human placentas to the oceans to Mount Everest.
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Exclusive: Graham attacks ‘phony’ old Unite member nos – that she managed
Union general secretary’s ‘unhinged’ letter to staff, officers and organisers continues to backfire as insiders say numbers she is now attacking were part of her job to report
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham’s bizarre letter to all the union’s staff last week, attempting to undermine a number of criticism that have been levelled at her and her management of the union, was described by union insiders as ‘unhinged’ and a ‘rant’ – and it continues to backfire.
As Skwawkbox has already covered, Graham told recipients that the union under her will always prioritise jobs in the weapons industry above the fight to stop Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Her letter also claimed that an unfavourable interim financial report had been faked wholesale and that the forger had gone to the extent of copying the font and layout of actual reports to fool members. The union did not respond to an enquiry whether it stood by the claim despite the screenshots of the report appearing to show that it was found on the union’s official ‘Sharepoint’ network. The letter also claimed the union’s financial value was ‘pushing up towards half a billion pounds’ – but insiders say that the value was already around half a billion when she took over two and a half years ago.
And another issue with Graham’s claims has arisen – relating to Unite’s membership figures. In an apparent attempt to refute union insiders’ claims that membership has fallen by more than two hundred thousand during her tenure, Graham wrote:
Despite inheriting membership figures that included 32,000 members on union funded subs (essentially free) and dealing with a 60,000 loss in aviation and other areas during Covid, the work we have all put in collectively has recouped these loses and more. Furthermore, we recorded an additional 16,647 net membership increase in 2023. These are real membership increases, not the phony [sic] figures of the past.
Emphasis added
One insider told Skwawkbox that the 32,000 ‘essentially free’ members were in fact members supported by Unite when they lost their jobs during the pandemic, so that they could retain their membership protections until they found new work.
But even more significantly, another said that before Ms Graham became general secretary, one of her key responsibilities as head of organising was to monitor and report on the membership – and that the membership figures before her tenure were therefore compiled and reported by her and her organising team.
The senior insider told Skwawkbox:
The figures she’s calling phoney are her own figures.
Skwawkbox wrote to Unite:
Another question with regard to Ms Graham’s email to officers, organisers and staff. This one concerns her claim of ‘phony [membership] figures of the past’. She wrote:
“Despite inheriting membership figures that included 32,000 members on union funded subs (essentially free) and dealing with a 60,000 loss in aviation and other areas during Covid, the work we have all put in collectively has recouped these loses and more. Furthermore, we recorded an additional 16,647 net membership increase in 2023. These are real membership increases, not the phony figures of the past.”
Ms Graham as head of organising was responsible for reporting membership figures to the general secretary and executive. Is she really saying that she submitted ‘phony’ [sic] numbers? By 5pm today, please.
At the time of writing, more than ninety minutes after the reply deadline provided as standard journalistic practice, no reply had been received from the union.
The outrage provoked by the letter is not the first time members have been angered over Sharon Graham’s position on Gaza. She has been alleged by insiders to have:
- banned Unite officials and national banners from pro-Gaza protests
- banned and smeared films and books exposing the ‘Labour antisemitism’ scam
- placed an official under investigation who refused to cancel a Palestine solidarity fringe event at Labour’s 2023 annual conference
- told her chief of staff to threaten a soon-to-retire official with the loss of a pension bonus if he did not soften his support for Palestinians
Her supporters also prevented debate and votes on Gaza at a meeting of the union’s elected executive earlier this month.
Her tenure as Unite boss has also been marked by a string of other allegations – which neither she nor the union has denied – including destruction of evidence against her husband in threat, misogyny and bullying complaints brought by union employees. She is also embroiled in both an employment tribunal for discrimination and a defamation lawsuit brought by Irish union legend Brendan Ogle for the union’s treatment of him and comments made about him by Graham and her close ally Tony Woodhouse.
According to human rights group Euro Med Monitor, since 7 October last year Israel has killed over 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded more than double that number, overwhelmingly women and children and many of them with life-changing injuries, while Gaza’s health and school systems have been bombed into collapse, often using US- and UK-made weapons and systems. More than a million people have been forcibly displaced and Gaza is in famine because of Israel’s blockade of food and vital supplies. Israel is formally on trial for genocide before the International Court of Justice and ordered to stop its slaughter – and has been found by UN human rights investigators to be committing genocide.
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“Wish I Was Rich Enough To Eat Like A 17thC Flemish Peasant” Thinks Man Staring In Artisanal Bakery Window
A Sydney man staring idly at the pricey wares on offer in an Eastern Suburbs artisanal bakery is currently wishing that he was wealthy enough to afford to eat like a subsistence farmer from the Renaissance.
“You must have had to have made a fortune in the tulip craze to find room in your budget for a boulot sourdough loaf and a raisin snail,” mused Gymea electrician Phil Walker as he tossed up whether to enter the establishment to pick up a few things for dinner. “I’m guessing it must cost a shitload to put an unnecessary dusting of flour on everything and display them all in small wicker baskets.”
“I never knew that grim faced serfs who only got one half a day off every year for Easter cared so much about fine crumb structure and single origin grain,” pondered Walker as he read the hand written label on a basket of New York rye. “That guy behind the counter in the apron with the beard, tribal tatts and nose rings looks like he just stepped straight out of a painting by Pieter Brueghel the Elder.”
Unable to justify parting with $11.50 for a loaf of harvest grain lovingly crafted from a gritty mixture of millet, rat’s teeth, bark and plague germs, Phil has opted to get a six pack of Tip Top white hamburger buns from Woolies.
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Breaking: UN Special Rapporteur confirms Israel committing genocide (video)
Report to go before UN’s human rights commission against backdrop of starving Palestinian children and continued murder of innocents
The United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, international lawyer Francesca Albanese, has told Al Jazeera this morning that she will present her expert findings confirming Israel’s genocide to the UN’s human rights commission next week.
In January, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that there is a ‘plausible’ case that Israel is committing genocide, but Albanese – like hundreds of millions of people around the world – knows that the case is far more than merely ‘plausible’, even more so after Israel ignored the ICJ’s instructions to stop bombing, shooting and starving the Palestinians of Gaza:
Albanese’s interview took place against a backdrop of another confirmation of the obvious – that Gaza is now officially in famine and approaching a point where starvation and disease caused by Israel’s continued will kill more than Israel’s bombs and bullets. The harrowing footage of emaciated, dying children shown on Al Jazeera shows that Palestinian children are Israel’s main targets in the starvation campaign, just as they have been in the mass murder of civilians through bombs and missiles.
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145. Ring of Gold
When Mr. Sauce, Esq. goes out of town, two things inevitably happen when I am left to my own devices: I undertake home improvement projects like cleaning the hall closet and installing shelves; or affixing LED rope lights under the kitchen cabinets. I make the more unappetizing DiS cards so I do not subject himContinue reading 145. Ring of Gold →
South Africa calls on ICJ to take ‘additional emergency measures’ against Israel for Gaza
World court asked to rule immediately, without the delay of a hearing
South Africa has called on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to take extra ‘urgent’ measures against Israel and its genocide in Gaza – including ordering an immediate halt to military action and to any actions by Israel that may prejudice the right of the people of Gaza not to be subjected to genocide.
The request also asks the ICJ to order Israel to act immediately to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance and the restoration of essential services by ceasing all military operations and ending its blockade of the Gaza Strip, to ensure Palestinians can access food and water.
Because of the urgency of the situation – with hundreds more civilians slaughtered daily and hunger and disease now becoming the biggest killers in Gaza – South Africa has asked the court to issue an emergency ruling without a hearing:
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152. Italian Pork Chops
As we all know, I’ve been away from the blog for quite a while. So, naturally, I’m a little rusty. But I didn’t know how rusty until I finished No. 152 and looked back to my notes: That is literally “all she wrote.” I abandoned it before I even started it. But I didn’t necessarilyContinue reading 152. Italian Pork Chops →
Ultra Processed ham sandwiches
Political discourse is pretty depressing at the moment – so I thought I’d turn to food – which is, I fear, not much better. The first piece is what in the UK is called, a little more honestly, pre-formed ham and’, like Spam, is delivered, even for counter service, in a large can: The automatic... Read more
168. Skewered Flank Steak
Gonna tell you right off the bat that this was delicious. And super-easy. I marinated the flank steak the night before, hard-boiled the eggs for the salad, and made the cream cake roll that morning (that will be detailed in a later post). I’m happy to report that No. 168 started at 5:20 pmContinue reading 168. Skewered Flank Steak →