Great Stories: Visions for a Better System

Great Stories is a series featuring positive and inspiring storytellers that I’ve encountered over the years.

As cities and countries shut down around the globe because of COVID-19, I think it is a great time for us to dream about how this world can change for the better.

Today I’m sharing a short profile on Douglas McMaster, who many years ago had a vision for a food system without waste. Working without a manual, as no one in our modern food system had done this, he founded the award-winning zero-waste restaurant, Silo, in Brighten, England in 2011.

The Struggle of a Zero Waste Restaurant, “A Failure of Imagination”

Having a vision wasn’t enough. McMaster put in the work to make his dream a reality. He speaks about the process of failure, failure, failure, sort of success, failure. He saw success as coming once in a hundred tries. 

“Go out, use your creativity, and you can fix any problem,” McMaster.

The Atlantic Selects showcases short documentaries by independent filmmakers.

“A Failure of Imagination” was directed by filmmaker Matt Hopkins.