Londoners challenged to reduce food waste

Launched on November 17 as part of the London-wide Love Food Hate Waste (LFHW) initiative, the Food Waste Challenge encourages participants to keep a log of how much food they throw away over a two week period. The Challenge aims to demonstrate how households could save up to 50 a month by reducing the amount of food they throw away.

Social media such as Facebook and Twitter is expected to be used over this period, with participants encouraged to share their findings and photos online. At the end of the first week, those taking part will be invited to a free Love Food Hate Waste interactive event at City Hall, where they can pick up information, tips and tools to help them reduce their food waste.

Lambeth council is also supporting the LFHW initiative by hosting a Feed the 1,000 Roadshow, which will take place on November 23.

LFHW, which is organised by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), aims to raise awareness of the need to reduce food waste. WRAP estimates that the UK throws away 7.2 million tonnes of food and drink every year, at a cost of 12 billion.

Campaign

Commenting on the Food Waste Challenge, Andrew Richmond, Recycle for London programme director, said the campaign will help people to plan their meals better and use up leftovers which will hopefully be put to good use in the second week of the campaign.

Mr Richmond said: We know that each year, Londoners typically throw away around 540,000 tonnes of food and drink that could have been safely consumed. This costs the average London family around 50 a month our initiative aims to help people find simple ways to cut their food bills and avoid this waste.

Our campaign aims to raise awareness among Londoners and provide them with tools to help equip them to make long-lasting changes which will not only benefit their bank balances, but also the environment.

The Challenge coincides with the European Week for Waste Reduction which aims to raise awareness of waste reduction strategies and policies of the European Union (see letsrecycle.com story).

Lambeth

The London borough of Lambeth is also looking to reduce the amount of food thrown away every year through the roadshow which will take place in Brixton. It aims to demonstrate how 1,000 people can be fed using the same budget that the average family wastes on food thrown away every year – almost 700.

The event has been organised by the Western Riverside Waste Authority in partnership with Lambeth and aims to get over the positive message advising residents to make the most of their weekly shop and use their fridge correctly, to help reduce food waste and save money.

Councillor Pete Robbins, Lambeth cabinet member for Neighbourhood Services, said: Every year in the UK we throw away 7.2 million tonnes of food and drink from our homes, costing us 12billion. Around a quarter of all the food we buy ends up being thrown away, when most of it could have been eaten.

This is a great campaign from Love Food Hate Waste, as too many of us are still not aware that food waste not only hits us in the pocket around 50 a month but has a serious impact on the environment too.

Lambeths recycling bus will be at the event with information about recycling and composting.