Microgarden

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Repurpose.

Owned and operated by eco-warriors Kerry and Marc Engelen, Microgarden aims to reduce food and other waste with its range of sustainable alternatives for the home which makes going green that much easier.

“Our company’s essence is sustainability, therefore our main purpose is responsible consumption and production. We encourage this by providing eco–friendly alternatives and in return this contributes to waste reduction,” explains Kerry and Marc.

This includes a kitchen composter that turns household food waste into odourless pre-compost in as little as five hours, reducing kitchen waste by 80 percent. As well as innovative hydroponic smart garden systems, which allow customers to cultivate herbs in their kitchens all-year round.

The units come with a built-in LED light with a timer, built-in low-water indicator and power indicator, as well as growing medium and hydroponic fertiliser, making it super easy to grow basil, coriander, lettuce, mint, oregano and more.

Households can then simply harvest what they need when they need it. It’s another simple way of cutting down on food and other waste – just think of the amount of herbs and lettuce we often purchase (in plastic packaging!) and then only use half of it.

“Although it may sound intimidating to start growing your produce, it can create many health benefits for you, as well as sustain our planet. It is known that produce from the grocery store often lacks nutritional benefits. Therefore, growing your fruit and vegetables will enable you to bring diversity, better nutrition and homegrown flavour to your table,” says Kerry.

Of course, going green is not always easy but we can make some small changes to be more sustainable – just as the company had to do when it came to sourcing its products.

“In an ideal world, we would love to say all our products are produced locally, however, we know this is not possible,” says the duo.

“When deciding to add a new product to our range, our first step is to search locally for suppliers to manufacture our products. Unfortunately, we often find that the machinery needed is simply not available, however, regardless of where the product is sourced, we always ensure that it is done in the most ethical manner possible. To help neutralise the carbon footprint of our international shipments, we have teamed up with Greenpop and donate towards tree planting every month.”

Reducing food waste is a quick – and cost-effective way – of living more sustainably and with Microgarden it has just become that much easier to reduce, reuse and recycle.