In this interview I’m joined by Lara Hussein, Co-founder of ‘The Waste Lab’ for a discussion that looks at how far reaching the benefits can be when we bring our attention to valuing food scraps and left-overs.

Find the full interview above & watch the short intro animation below!

Jump to the Show Notes.

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Show Notes:

In a world of convenience with services that bring our food to the shops and take our waste from our doors, we’ve perhaps overlooked some simple yet very powerful solutions to our expanding climate issues.

Across the globe our soils are becoming depleted of organic matter; the impacts are severe and far reaching. But every day unthinkable volumes of food waste are dumped within landfills and taken entirely out of the loop.

Within our previous discussions we’ve learnt the significance of shifting towards a more holistic mindset for our approach to agriculture.
And I feel strongly that this shouldn’t be limited to farming, as there are clear and accessible benefits that can be found when we continue it out through the whole of society.

Nature of course does not believe in waste. And it’s ability to compost, or break things back down ready to be reutilised over and over again is one of the most incredible and essential technologies here on earth.

We could make a big dent on our problems by ensuring that all organic waste always stays within our growing cycles.
However the larger and more ‘developed’ societies have become, the more challenging this seemingly simple task can be. 

In many locations the necessary waste management for this doesn’t exist. But this absence actually became the inspiration for Lara and Ceylan who are establishing a new type of collection and repurposing business in their home of Dubai.

In our discussion Lara explains how they are reconnecting people with the magic of composting.
We also learn how shifting waste management from an industrial process to something much more local and intimate is enabling them to create benefits far beyond the composting.
They’re developing a web of collaborative partnerships that are not only keeping organic matter within the loop but are seeing much of it utilised as valuable resources within supply chains.  

Use the time stamps below to get a sense of what’s included:

00:00:00 – Introduction
00:06:16 – Reconnection Through Compost
00:11:48 – Landfills are Growing
00:14:29 – Rethinking Waste
00:17:29 – The Waste Lab Operations
00:22:32 – Technology from Nature
00:24:58 – The Composting Process
00:28:53 – Becoming a Closed Loop?
00:35:55 – The Unique Offerings of Dubai?
00:42:29 – What gets Composted?
00:45:15 – Segregating Scraps for Partner Supply Chains
00:51:15 – Getting Involved?
00:54:58 – Continuing Ambitions?

The Latest Animation:

What is Regenerative Agriculture?