Food waste sucks. Not only does it make your bin stinky, but it’s still extra junk going into landfill that could be used to make the most amazing thing: more food. Chloë Stewart is a foodie who recognised this and found a brilliant and delicious solution for the pulp leftover after juicing. Here’s her story…
Chloë, who has been nominated by Celia Ristow, our judge for the Zero Waste category as part of six-two’s 35 under 35 initiative, saw the amount of food waste created by the juicing craze and thought there had to be a way to make use of all that leftover pulp. It’s easy to see food waste and accept it as a given, but Chloë wanted to turn it into something even more delicious than the original food itself. So she started experimenting and soon Nibs Etc. was born.
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Nibs Etc. turns juice pulp into delicious crackers, breads, granolas and desserts. Emphasis on the desserts. Chloë documents her famous sweet tooth on her blog and says she “firmly believes chocolate can and should be incorporated into every dish in existence.” Besides being a super relatable chocolate addict, Chloë shows that leftovers and scraps don’t need to be wasted. “Food waste literally pains me to the core, I can’t explain it,” she writes on her blog, and describes her journey to sustainable food as ‘Bestovers’.
For Chloë, a zero waste lifestyle is simply a logical way of living, “Why would you throw away coriander stalks when that’s half of what you paid for when you bought the entire bunch of coriander? Why would you wrap a banana, when it is already wrapped in its own, naturally occurring protective case? Why would you serve 5 mediocre pancakes with all the trimmings when you can serve 2 fantastic ones, and guarantee less chance of leftovers? It is frustrating to see – particularly in big cities – that it is not. It used to be.
“Now, it’s about having more. We always want what we don’t have, more of anything, it doesn’t seem to matter what as long as there’s more of it. It is these frustrations that led to changes in my own life. And it is the light bulb realisation of people around me, new customers, old friends, that remind me to keep inspiring this change in attitude towards what ‘waste’ actually is – no matter how small – in others. Through a simple obsession with food, and determination to get as much out of our ingredients as possible, before we even consider to think before we toss.”
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You can find Chloë’s creations at the famous foodie haunt, Borough Market in London, but if you can’t get there she shares many of her recipes on her blog to encourage people to make the most of their juice pulp at home.
Getting into the zero waste way of living can feel like a daunting prospect, but it doesn’t need to. “Start small” says Chloë, “Sign up to newsletters – Olio’s Zero Waste Weekly or Lauren Singer’s Trash is for Tossers are personal favourites – for quick soundbites of inspiration. Try not to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of the waste-problem, nor to beat yourself up over every tiny waste-consequence of your actions. Focus on one habit at a time, that you are aware may produce one type of potentially avoidable waste – be it food, emotion, fabric or packaging – and see if you can alter it so as to reduce the waste. Notice how simple that is to do, and how quickly it becomes hard to unsee or undo what you’ve learnt or changed. Let that inspire new habits across different aspects of your life, work or personal, and see where that takes you.”
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Inspired to make your own delicious eats from juice pulp, or just want to follow Chloë because she’s super cool? Find out more about Nibs Etc. here.
To learn more about the six-two 35 under 35 initiative, and to see the individuals who made the list, head here.