Two months ago, my girlfriend Tamsin and I embarked on a 30-day no packaging, minimal waste challenge — to see if it was possible. Now, it’s becoming a lifestyle.

It’s an ongoing process. After the initial strict no-packaging project, we’ve found a more realistic balance: barely any packaging, and any we do get must be fully recyclable. Absolute zero waste isn’t always possible.

The project is dictating what we buy and where from, and making us more inventive and creative with the ingredients we have in the house. Recently, I was at home, craving something comforting and homely at lunch. I came up with leeks, parmesan, mushrooms and celeriac. I played around with the idea of savoury porridge and it was incredible. Now I crave it all the time.

I used standard oats here, but I have been working on a version using a cover-crop grain instead of oats. The root-to-fruit approach comes into this dish — the whole celeriac goes in, plus some of the stalk, finely diced along with mushrooms and leeks, all sauteed in butter. Organic produce is so flavourful, you don’t need to make stock, just water does the trick, with a parmesan rind for more depth of flavour. I make crisps of the celeriac leaves, which I use as seasoning.

My aim — in all I do — is to bring people closer to the origin of their food and getting rid of packaging does that. Removing that plastic barrier, you discover thriving markets and producers. You have conversations and build relationships. It may sound time-consuming, but it isn’t really. We do one trip to the market each week, and a trip to the FairShares food co-op every two months.

It’s changing our home. I’m proud that we’ve done it without buying any extra Tupperware or fancy Kilner jars — we’ve stuck to our own collection of 50 jam jars, tote bags, small canvas bags, and plastic containers and donations. It’s made a big difference in our kitchen: we’re steadily using up all the packaged stuff that we had already, and as we do, the kitchen gets clearer and less cluttered. You don’t realise how much there is until it starts disappearing. The fridge and cupboards are becoming far easier to organise and cleaner.

I’ve gotten back into cooking more at home. I’ve started using different fats, rendered animal fat... We’re not going to be giving up olive oil, but we are getting it in 5 litre recyclable containers — which is better than 7 glass bottles.

We’re growing as much of our own produce as we can: greens, soy, mustard leaves and purple sprouting broccoli. The two definitely go hand in hand — growing your own is a big part of reducing waste.

Rye porridge with mushroom, artichoke and celeriac leaf salt

Serves 4-8 people

- 50g celeriac, with stalks and leaves

- A drizzle of rapeseed oil

- Salt

- 50g rye sprouts

- 25g puffed spelt or oats

- 50g Spenwood or parmesan cheese rind

- 50g butter, plus a knob more to finish

- 400g kibbled rye, spelt or rolled oats, washed and soaked for three hours

- 1 garlic clove, diced, skin kept

- 1 large, flat mushroom, finely diced

- 1 small Jerusalem artichoke, washed and finely diced

- 50g leeks tops, washed and finely sliced

- 80g delicate leaves, such as clover, or herbs

- 20g dried ceps mushrooms to make tea for serving (optional)

1. Set the oven to 150 Celsius. Pick the leaves from the celeriac and put them on a baking tray, rub them with the oil and pinch of salt. Roast until they dry to crisps. Those on the edges of the tray will cook quickest: remove them when ready and store in a dry container without a lid.

2. Strain the rye sprouts and the spelt or oats and set aside. Grate the cheese off the rind. Set aside the grated cheese and rind.

3. Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan. Add the celeriac, garlic, mushroom, artichoke and leek tops and saute gently on a low-medium heat for five minutes. Add the strained rye, spelt or oats and cheese rind, stir well and add 1 litre of boiling water. Continue stirring over a low heat for 10 minutes, or until it begins to thicken but still has a sticky but loose texture. Add a little more boiling water, if needed. Finish with a knob of butter and the grated cheese, stir and season.

4. Serve decorated with the rye sprouts, puffed spelt and leaves. Make the tea in a glass teapot with the dried mushrooms and kelp infused in water with a pinch of salt. Drink alongside the porridge and/or pour a little on top.

— Tom Hunt is an author, food waste activist and the chef-proprietor of the Poco restaurants in Bristol and London; tomsfeast.com