Garbage Cafe in India gives food for trash

This October, Garbage Cafe opened in India. This cafe gives food in exchange for trash, achieving two goals – raising awareness of the harmfulness of plastic waste and securing food for everyone.

The cafe, whose motto is “More the waste, better the taste”, opened in the City of Ambikapur.

Waste is a great problem in India. In most cities, waste is not processed at all. There are not enough treatment facilities, especially considering that around 25,000 tons of waste is produced daily in the country.

The city authorities support the initiative. They believe that it is also a good solution for food supply, as anyone who brings half a kilogram of plastic waste gets a meal, and sometimes whole families bring up to 7 kilograms of waste. The cafe is located in a busy area.

Ambikapur was the second cleanest city in India this year, according to one list. It stimulates private companies to recycle paper and sell plastic. The plastic collected at the cafe will be used in the construction of roads meant to withstand monsoons.

Several other cities and municipalities in India have supported this endeavor and carried out similar activities. Schools in West Bengal give free food on Sundays to those who bring 1 kilogram of plastic waste. In Mulugu, 1 kilogram of rice is given to anyone who brings 1 kilogram of plastic waste.

The government intends to open a chain of these cafes in new Delhi as well, where over 70% of the plastic is use-once-and-discard plastic, most of which ends up at landfills. Last year, as much as 70 kilograms of plastic was removed from a cow's stomach. These animals, which are considered sacred in India, often search waste for food on the streets, which is how they end up eating large amounts of plastic.

Garbage Cafe

Ambikapur

waste

recycling

plastic waste

cafes

food