LISBON AND ITS SUSTAINABLE WAY OF LIVING
Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in Europe, constantly evolving and resilient to changes.
The city is conscious of the ecological footprint, making sustainable choices on the path to a thriving future.
Lisbon, like many other big cities in the world, has tons of waste to deal with. On the other hand, it is home to a new mindset generation that do their part in the fight for a more sustainable world.
Discover some of the most sustainable ideas that contribute to the construction of an increasingly green world.
ZERO WASTE LAB
This non-profit association has established itself in Mouraria neighborhood in Lisbon, where we run one of our food & cultural walks, to raise awareness and educate citizens about problems related to the production of waste. Associates and supporters seek regenerative action, transforming what does not serve some into things that serve others.
Amid the pandemic crisis, Zero Waste Lab (ZWL) has reinforced its position in passing the values necessary to maintain the quality of life and health since this new reality has linked the ecological issue to the public health issue daily, with the need for efficient waste management, such as masks, wipes, and gloves, which are sometimes abandoned in the streets, rivers, and oceans of the world.
Betting on digital communication with zero-waste proposals for everyday life, Conversas não Descartáveis (Non-Disposable Conversations) were launched twice a month on social networks, a cycle of talks that brings together people from various social and professional contexts, promoting reflections on ecological and human sustainability.
On the ZWL Youtube channel, there are also Lixo Zero workshops, with recipes for producing your household hygiene and cleaning products.
MOURARIA COMPOSTA
Also in Mouraria, in the space that was once the bar and the world cuisine restaurant of Renovar A Mouraria, the most impacting association in the neighborhood, is now a workshop store where you will find everything you need to create a home vegetable garden or a garden on your balcony.
Recycled furniture and materials make up the decoration of Mouraria Composta to inspire customers to adopt the same style at home.
If you wish to start composting, this is the right destination to learn and make this change in your daily life.
Despite the pause that the pandemic forced, this workshop offers short training courses related to urban agriculture, composting, pest control, building nests for birds, or even hotels for insects.
As for the store, given the restrictions imposed by the confinement, customers can stock up on some products usually on Fridays’ mornings, but we advise you to confirm the schedule on their Facebook profile.
MARIA GRANEL
The whole concept of this grocery shop is based on zero waste, promoting healthy eating and responsible and conscious consumption.
Nutritious and organic ingredients are sold by weight and packed in recyclable paper bags and packages tailored to your needs and in favor of a less rushed and greedy life.
We love their selection of tea blends, seasonings, and spices carefully obtained from sustainable conscious production.
This brand also offers several events that teach us how to live a more healthy and ecologic way of life and their Pantry Makeover consulting service identifies the nutritional needs of families, analyzes cooking methods and consumption habits in each household, and draws up an action plan with a list of purchases, tasks and best practices for a life with less waste.
They also have products for home, kitchen, cleaning and hygiene care, in addition to books that help us to put into practice some more sustainable lifestyle habits.
Maria Granel has two stores, one in Alvalade and another in Campo de Ourique neighborhoods in Lisbon, where we run our Lisbon Market, Food & Cultural Walk. You may also buy in its online shop.
FRUTA FEIA
The slogan of this cooperative is “Beautiful people eat ugly fruit”.
This project, which emerged in 2013 believes that beauty is overvalued and commercializes production that does not meet the aesthetic parameters required by large supermarkets and grocery stores.
What matters is the quality of the fruit and this remains despite the appearance. Fruta Feia, which stands for ugly fruit, is a great alternative to supermarkets, not only because it is helping the environment, but also because it manages to save you money.
A small fruit basket, with 3 or 5 kg, costs around 3.50€, a large one, with 6 or 8 kg, costs 7€ and the content varies constantly because it is chosen according to the producers’ surplus.
To join the project, you must first register to be included in a list of interested consumers. As soon as there are vacancies in one of the delegations in your area of residence or work, they will contact you to start collecting your basket weekly.
The restrictions imposed by the pandemic reality forced some changes to normal functioning and for that reason, strategic delivery points were defined that are sent to members via email.
This consumption choice manages to reduce the tons of quality food that are returned to the land every year by farmers and thereby also avoid the unnecessary expenditure of resources used in its production, such as water, arable land, energy, and time of work.
This project was very recently prized with European Union’s LIFE Awards 2020, collecting the awards for Best Project in the Environment category and the Citizen’s Prize.
NÃM MUSHROOM
“From waste to taste”, this is the motto of Nãm Mushroom.
Natan, the mentor of this business, has long believed and acknowledged that almost all the waste produced on the planet must have a new opportunity to generate value.
When he chose Lisbon as his home, he decided to create a business with a positive impact inspired by nature, which does not create waste and only uses what is locally available.
Portuguese daily lifestyle has a special relationship with coffee and this local daily habit has made this country the perfect place to start an original and innovative idea: using wasted coffee grounds to grow mushrooms.
The fact is that Natan’s initiative caught the attention of the largest Portuguese coffee brewing brand, Delta, which enthusiastically decided to support this business by allowing the construction of the first urban farm of mushrooms in Lisbon. Nãm’s urban farm has the capacity to transform 3 tons of coffee grounds into 1 ton of mushrooms per month, as well as generating 4 tons of natural fertilizer.
It all starts with the daily mandatory lisboners’ bica. The lees produced by ground and strained coffee beans are collected by Delta, avoiding the polluting landfill as its destination, and delivered to Nãm’s urban farm, which transforms them into fresh and organic mushrooms.
In turn, the waste of mushroom production results in a natural and nutritious fertilizer for growing fruits and vegetables.
Nãm Mushrooms‘ biggest customers are local restaurants, loyal to the unique quality and incomparable flavor of these mushrooms, but this project also sells DIY and home grow kits and promotes interactive visits to the urban farm in Marvila, Lisbon, where you will learn more about circular economy and urban agriculture, accompanied by good local food and a traditional bica.
KITCHEN DATES
This restaurant is unique and its concept combines a kitchen without waste with the exclusive use of local ingredients.
Sustainability has the main role at the table, in the workshops they promote and in their catering and consultancy services.
It is challenging to manage a restaurant without a waste bin, but effort, persistence, flexibility, and creativity tease them to rethink the whole business from the ground up.
The ingredients arrive directly from the producers, in reusable containers and all the vegetables and fruit are produced less than 50 km from this location in Telheiras neighborhood, Lisbon.
Other ingredients, such as grains or nuts, come from a wider range, always maintaining awareness of proximity.
Kitchen Dates left out other ingredients such as coffee, cocoa, spices, or cashew, which would necessarily have to travel great distances and therefore have a very high carbon footprint.
In this restaurant’s kitchen, the grains are ground, the sweeteners are prepared, vegetables and fruit are fermented to achieve more complex flavors.
The menus are constantly planned with what is available at the moment, in line with what the land produces seasonally, and in exchange Kitchen Dates delivers to producers a 100% natural compost, to return the richness of organic nutrients to the soil.
To share this knowledge in a more structured way, a series of online events has been prepared, which help us to eat in a more conscious, healthy, and sustainable way, according to the Portuguese reality and based on local products.
If you want to explore Lisbon and get to know the daily life of this city, the real people, the real food and its stories, follow our blog, Facebook and Instagram, where we passionately share the off-the-beaten whereabouts and authentic local habits.
Keep feeding your curiosity on Portuguese food culture:
Foods you didn’t know were Portuguese
7 unusual things to see, do and eat in Lisbon
The ultimate guide for the best Portuguese soups
10 ways to enjoy Lisbon outdoors
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