Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council supports launch of food waste initiative
Fri, October 16, 2020
Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council is proud to support the launch of a new environmental initiative – Wasting Food: It’s Out of Date.
It’s aimed at raising awareness of the huge impact food wastage has on climate change. The campaign aims to help people realise the urgency of the situation, where precious resources including water, agricultural land, and energy are wasted when food ends up in the bin.
Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council wants to remind residents that small actions can have big impact in safeguarding our planet for future generations.
In the UK, 9.5 million tonnes of food are wasted every year; 70 per cent of this comes from our homes. Of that, 4.5 million tonnes could have been eaten. We waste 1.2 million tomatoes from our homes every single day, which is also a waste of the 15 million litres of water that were needed to grow them.
Sarah Clayton, Head of Citizen Behaviour Change at WRAP, said: “Our research shows that, although 81% of people in the UK are concerned about climate change, only 37% understand that wasting food is something which contributes to it.
“We are launching Wasting Food: It’s Out of Date to help people recognise what a vital opportunity we have to make a difference, to make sure all those precious resources that we use growing food do not go to waste.
“Our food is as precious as our planet; we must make wasting food a thing of the past.”
Mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, Alderman Mark Fielding said: “We all know that recycling and reducing plastic pollution is good for the planet, but we might not realise how much of an impact we can have by not wasting food.
“I hope our residents will get behind this and make changes which will help to reduce the levels of waste in their homes. Unavoidable food waste can be recycled in our brown bins so please make full use of this service and do everything you can to use up the food you buy.”
For more information go to www.causewaycoastandglens.gov.uk/live/bins-and-recycling/food-waste-collection.
Follow Wasting Food: It’s Out of Date on Instagram and Twitter, and visit www.outofdate.org.uk to find out more.
