Who Did You Interview?
- Restaurant Owner (My father’s cousin)
Demographics That Might Provide Helpful Context for Their Responses
- Age: 54
- Lives in Abu Dhabi
- Restaurant location: Abu Dhabi and Dubai
- Originally from Lebanon
Key Findings from the Interview
- His business has a contract with a local composting company to take away the large amounts of organic waste the restaurant generates per day (from the staff and, mainly, the customers).
- He is passionate about composting, especially for people to start doing so in Lebanon as there are many farmlands and unique agriculture that he believes must be preserved.
- One main reason for not using a composting product inside his restaurant is that there are currently no products that are large enough to handle customer waste. He also informed me that there are no reliable products to buy for individual use for his own home.
Below are the (slightly shortened) original answers to the questions:
- Can you share your experience with managing organic waste at home? Do you deal with it a lot at home? What challenges have you faced from it?
Answer: As a restaurant, managing organic waste is a daily task for us, not just at home. We generate a significant amount of organic waste every day at the restaurant whether through our staff or our customers. We try to limit it as much as we can, but there's always a certain amount.
- Tell me about the last time you used a product (or service) to reduce the impact of organic waste in your home.
Answer: For our restaurant, we recently started a contract with a local company that collects our organic waste from the restaurant and composts it as we're trying to align our business with more sustainable practices. At home, I've been using recycling bins for separating different types of waste, and I try to compost whatever I can.
- Can you describe how important sustainability and the use of eco-friendly methods in agriculture is to you, and why?
Answer: Having grown up in Lebanon, I deeply appreciate the land and the importance of agriculture. We try to use organic, local produce as much as we can in the restaurant. I believe it's important for us to respect the land that feeds us and do our part to limit our environmental impact.
- What are your hopes and expectations for a product such as a compact composting system in terms of reducing the use of harsh fertilizers?
Answer: If a compact composting system can turn our organic waste into nutrient-rich compost that would be used in agriculture, I'd be very interested. Not only would it help us reduce waste, but it would also reduce our dependency on chemical fertilizers.
- Have you ever used a composting system before? If yes, what were the positive and negative aspects of your experience? If not, what barriers or concerns might have kept you from trying?
Answer: I haven't used a composting system in the restaurant yet, although we've been considering it for some time now. Our main issue has been finding a system that can handle the large volume of waste from the restaurant. For my home use, I haven’t done so yet as it's a matter of space and maintenance time.
- Are there any fears or concerns you might have regarding the use of composting systems or similar products in terms of efficiency, cleanliness, or other factors? Can you elaborate on these concerns?
Answer: My hope would be that it's efficient, easy to use, and hygienic.