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New campaign helps cook up a food waste free Christmas
WILTSHIRE people are being urged to cut down on their food waste with a new campaign launched by Recycle for Wiltshire.
More than a third of the rubbish in Wiltshire bins is taken up with food waste from bones and peelings right through to loaves of bread, pasta and salad. And that scary statistic look set to get a seasonal boost as people step up their purchase and consumption of Christmas goodies.
Now Recycle for Wiltshire is supporting the national 'Love Food Hate Waste' campaign in a bid to reduce the 30,000 tonnes of food waste that currently end up in landfill in Wiltshire each year.
The campaign, which is launched this week, has leaflets, posters and a website that provide tips on cutting down food waste, information about storage and measuring and even recipes for cooking up leftovers. It also gives advice on composting and offers reduced price food digestors for your garden.
Recycling advisors will be launching the campaign in Devizes market on Friday December 14 when they will be handing our leaflets packed with recipes and tips, giving away jute shopping bags and offering advice about cutting down on food waste. They will also be giving away seasonal fruit, with a compost bin on hand to make sure nothing is wasted.
"There are lots of reasons why so much food is thrown away," said Wiltshire waste services manager Andy Conn.
"We have got out of the habit of cooking leftovers, we all love the buy one get one free bargains then end up throwing them away, and we don't store food properly so it ends up being wasted. This campaign is packed with commonsense ideas about making the most of your food as well as helping the environment."
County council leader Jane Scott has come up with a favourite leftover recipe of her own to back the campaign.
"It is really horrifying when you think that for every three bags of shopping you buy, one ends up in the bin. At a national cost of £8billion a year, food waste is a serious issue that not only affects the environment but our pockets too," she said.
TV chef Peter Vaughan from Devizes is also backing the campaigns and urging everyone to think twice about how much they throw away.
"We are all responsible for the health of this planet and for ourselves. Wiltshire can easily be a sustainable and environmentally aware county or we can continue to waste food and produce. The choice is up to every one of us," he said.
The national and local campaigns are also supported by the Women's Institute, who are launching their own 'Love Food Champions' initiative to provide on the ground support on how to minimise food waste.
"If every individual plays their part in just three simple ways it would make a real difference. We need to ensure we buy no more than we need, make the most of our leftovers and compost what's left," said Maggie Simons of Wiltshire WI.
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Contributor : communications communications@wiltshire.gov.uk
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