These are my tiffns. For the past couple of years I have been taking my lunch to school in these. They are great because they are reusable, so I have a litter-less lunch!
I recently discovered something called @TiffinProject on Twitter, and I was really interested to find out more. I was lucky enough to be able to have lunch with the founder of the project, Hunter Moyes. We met at Nuba, on Broadway in Kitsilano, and I learned what the Tiffin Project is all about.
Hunter started the Tiffin Project to reduce waste in Vancouver with the help of the local food community. Vancouver is aiming to be the Greenest City in Canada by 2020. Being a chef and an environmentalist, Hunter realized that there was a lot of waste happening with all of the disposable take-out containers that were being used in the restaurant industry. Did you know that 25,000 TONNES of waste every year in Vancouver comes directly from take-out packaging!? Hunter saw a way for restaurants to be able to have way less needless-waste, and so started planning his project.
Hunter first started planning for the Tiffin Project in 2009; it officially launched in 2012. It took him almost two whole years to decide where the containers would be manufactured. He wanted to make sure that the conditions of the factory in which they were made were good for the workers, and as well that the environmental conditions in which they were made were good.
Vancity helped Hunter with the original money to start the project. Hunter works with a small team of great people who help him make the project work!
The graphic above, shows how the project works. There are several restaurants in Vancouver that participate in the project right now:
Nuba
The Noodlebox
Edible Canada
Curry 2You (on of my favs on Granville Island)
Tacofino
Harvest Union
Chau VeggieExpress
Hunter is working on getting more restaurant partners for the project soon!
The tiffins come in two sizes. The larger tiffin has a removable divider, so you can have 3 different food options in one container.
(PIC 3, 4, 5) via: Vanessa Prescott
Not only are the Tiffins a great idea for reducing waste. Part of the proceeds from the purchase of a tiffin goes towards the restaurants purchase of local ingredients. This is great, because local and organic produce can be a bit expensive. But the money from the tiffins will help the restaurants buy more local ingredients and help those local farmers. AND:
When you bring in your tiffins to the participating restaurants, you get a discount on your meal!
So it’s WIN -WIN -WIN -WIN!!
Hunter is one of the nicest people that I have met lately. He is very excited about the project, and so am I now!! I really think it is a great idea.
Learn more by visiting the TIFFIN PROJECT website. Go get a tiffin, and in Kitsilano, go visit Nuba.
The Tiffin Project, Thetiffinproject.com
Nuba, 3116 W Broadway, Kitsilano, 604-336-1797, Nuba.ca
Last modified: August 1, 2013
