Crestwood kitchen goes green

In less than a year, the talented kitchen team at Crestwood Village have completely transformed the way they operate.

With a village-wide focus on waste reduction and a passionate resident-led sustainability group in place, Kitchen Manager Ros Goodwin turned her attention to how she could reduce her environmental footprint in the kitchen.

“We recognised that food waste was one area that we could really target and make changes to. Food scraps and leftover produce were going straight to landfill, and we were changing our rubbish bags up to seven times a day.

“We started with hiring one food waste bin for the village. We were a bit forgetful in the beginning, but once we worked out exactly how much was recyclable, we were away.”

Extending the initiative to residents, who jumped at the opportunity to recycle their own food waste, the village now has four food waste bins that are regularly collected and turned into nutrient-rich compost.

“The team and I have got creative with our menus too, to accommodate for any leftover produce. Unused meat now goes into pies for the next day. Vegetables go into frittatas or quiches. We’ll find a recipe for just about anything.”

Not stopping at food scraps, the team also retain their used cooking oil which is transferred into renewable fuel sources, and they have switched out plastic takeaway containers in favour of recyclable bio cane products.

And while the kitchen is well on its way to becoming a fully sustainable operation, there is still plenty more Ros would love to implement.

“The more we do now, the more we can help meet the needs of future generations to come. I’m always thinking, what next?”