Free calendar aims to help households cut food waste
TOP local chefs are sharing some of their favourite recipes for 2020 as part of a campaign to reduce the amount of food that ends up in the bin.
Guernsey Waste has teamed up with chefs from the Sarnia Hotels Group to produce the Love Food Hate Waste 2020 calendar. From this weekend, islanders will be able to pick up a copy for free from local supermarkets.
It is estimated local households could save more than £10m. a year by reducing the amount of food that is thrown away.
Each year, more than 4,000 tonnes is collected in Guernsey. Some of this is unavoidable waste, such as egg shells, banana skins, and teabags. However, around two-thirds could have been eaten.
In the UK, it is estimated the average family wastes as much as £800 a year on food which ends up in the bin.
The calendar is part of the new Food is Not Rubbish campaign, which launched earlier this week with The Big Feed at Les Beaucamps High School. The aim of the initiative is to help islanders to adopt some good habits that will save them money in 2020.
Waste prevention and recycling officer Tina Norman-Ross said the run-up to Christmas was an important time to get the message across, given the emphasis on food and drink over the festive season.
‘Most islanders are beginning to get ready for Christmas and looking forward to getting together with friends and family. It is a time for family, delicious food, and exchanging gifts. That can also mean a pile of wrapping paper, boxes, empty bottles and packaging, not to mention the leftover turkey and trimmings. We are encouraging islanders to reduce their waste in general, and the 2020 Love Food Hate Waste calendar will hopefully be a reminder through next year to keep people thinking about how they can reduce waste and save a lot of money.
‘By making just a few small changes to their food habits, householders can save as much as £800 a year or more, as well as making a positive difference to the world around us.’
The free calendar includes some simple, practical steps to help householders reduce their food waste.
‘This year we’ve gone local with the help of the Sarnia Hotels Group who have provided us with 12 delicious recipes, chosen and created by their talented chefs using fresh and store cupboard ingredients.’
Each month also contains a ‘top tip’ to help reduce waste.
‘In the past the calendars have been extremely popular and so this year we have produced 5,000. They are a great way of getting the Love Food Hate Waste message directly into people’s homes, helping them reduce their food waste and save money in the process. We are very grateful to the supermarkets for their support in this initiative.
‘The added appeal of the calendar is that it tells you which colour kerbside bag is being collected each week, so if householders ever need to find out whether it’s a clear or blue bag week they can simply check their calendar,’ she said.
