Zero Waste Week
Given its unpredictability, it’s perhaps fitting that the Butterfly Effect was first coined by a weather forecaster.
Edward Lorenz was a mathematician and meteorologist who realized that the further into the future you tried to forecast, the harder it was because the impact of seemingly innocuous, unforeseen events grew ever greater.
A flapping butterfly wing creates miniscule changes in atmospheric pressure but compounded over time such changes can have massive implications.
Human nature tends to focus on the negative side of this equation. For example, had the chauffeur Leopold Lojka received the instruction to change route, his passenger Franz Ferdinand would not have been assassinated and two subsequent World Wars may have been avoided.
At Zorba we prefer to look on the positive, the small changes we can all make that can culminate in enormous benefit for all and Zero Waste Week is a perfect example.
The idea arose following the devastating Boscastle Floods of 2004. Now considered one of the most extreme flash floods to ever hit the UK the resultant deluge swept buildings and vehicles away with villagers having to be airlifted to safety from upper floors and trees.
It mirrors the devastation seen recently by fires across Turkey and Storm Ida across the United States.
Rachelle Strauss watched the Boscastle Floods unfold with her family. In the following days and weeks, the dawning realization that human actions had contributed to the climate change that resulted in such devastation led the family to decide to live a more sustainable life.
Rachelle charted their progress in blogs and websites, and, from this single act, a global movement was born and now nearly 60 million people take part in Zero Waste Week worldwide.
Planning how much food to prepare can be a tricky business, whether it’s for a household or a business. You don’t want anyone to go short, but you also don’t want to throw food away.
At Zorba we have linked up with various charities including Fareshare to reduce food waste and hunger.
They take in date surplus food and distribute to Community Food Members (CFMs) across the country including homeless hostels, community centres, refugee centres and those helping other vulnerable groups.
The CFMs then use the food to prepare healthy balanced meals to support vulnerable members of the community.
To date, we have donated 6,000 meals of soup, risotto and pastas as well as over 125kg of houmous and dips.
The efforts of one family in Cornwall, or one food company in Wales, or one food distribution charity, may seem insignificant at first glance but the compound effect can rapidly gather momentum.
That can bring about real change to the lives of the individuals no longer going hungry and also in the positive impact on the planet of having less waste to deal with.
