At first glance, it may sound strange, but actually, it is true. A luxury restaurant in Coorg charges its customers Rs 100 for every 10 gm of leftovers in plates. The IBNII luxury resort in Madikeri, Coorg, started this initiative six months ago with the sole purpose of reducing food wastage.
And guess what? It worked!
Before this initiative, the resort generated 14 large bins of waste daily, but 6 months after the program was implemented, the amount is reduced to 1 bin a day. Above all, the money collected under the program is handed over to the Madikeri Girls Home, which is an orphanage with 60 underprivileged children. So, hats off to this initiative.
Shreya Krishnan, CSR head of the resort, explained the process, “The process is simple, at the end of the meal, whatever is left over is weighed on a weighing scale in front of the guests and the quantity is notified. This then is tracked through the course of the stay and the guests are given the final quantity at checkout against which they pay for their waste. i.e., INR Rs. 100 per 10 grams of wastage.”
Most people are lauding this initiative, but not everyone is drawn to the idea. Shreya Krishnan said, “There have been instances when people get into argument with us stating, “I am paying for the food, hence I’m allowed to waste.” While some understand our motive and our cause of food for underprivileged children, many do not listen. There are also some instances where people have paid money, gone back home and sent us photographs that they haven’t wasted food even at home.”
So people have mixed reactions to this initiative, but considering the Global food wastage and food wastage in India and the results of this initiative, it seems like a good idea to replicate by other restaurants to tackle food wastage.
Here are some reactions of people on social media:
Wasted! A weighing machine at the cafe. To weigh your wasted food and charge you 100 rupees for every 10 grams. Definitely made @pinkychandran and me conscious of leaving our plates clean! Well done @TheIbnii_Coorg #WeighTheWaste #Bold #SustainableTourism #ResponsibleTourism pic.twitter.com/iaDv6KSgX4
— Bala.OriginalWala (@Girisham1) January 23, 2020
At Ibnii Resort in Coorg, food wasted by guests is weighed and billed to the guests at Rs 100 per 10 gm. The proceeds go to an NGO that feeds children at an orphanage.
Good news is that none of the guests are unhappy about this rule and waste bins have come down from 14 to 1. pic.twitter.com/9DC3ZbQiN2— Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka) February 17, 2020
Applaud and due respect 🙏🙏🙏
— Vandanaa (@Vandanaa12) February 17, 2020
Source: storypick.com
