Through Silo, the first zero-waste restaurant in the United Kingdom, Douglas has spearheaded a movement that is now an international phenomenon. He draws inspiration from the “pre-industrial food system”, a concept that is motivating young chefs around the world. This approach allows nothing to go to waste: instead, everything is reused. He advocates for ‘upcycling’ – creatively transform used materials to produce an object of equal or superior quality – over recycling. He has demonstrated that waste only exists because we do not know what to do with certain parts of ingredients, and that cooking can help alter consumption patterns in favor of greater sustainability, not just as a mere slogan, but as a reality.
“Waste is only waste because we do not know how to deal with it. We have not applied enough creative power. Waste is a failure of our imagination.”
