RECAP News

06/01/2010 - Happy New Year for Local Food Lovers Rewarded for Their Efforts

Six residents from across Cambridgeshire have won prizes for their commitment to reduce the amount of food they put in their bins.

This is a result of the prize draw run by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Waste Partnership. To enter the draw local residents were asked to pledge to reduce the amount of food they were throwing away.

 

Hundreds of residents pledged to become “Food Lovers” and minimise the amount of food they throw away. The opportunity was open to anyone attending a number events held by the Waste Partnership over the past year, where prospective pledgers were provided with advice and useful giveaways to help them reduce their impact on the environment.  

 

The winners were randomly selected by BBC Radio’s Jeremy Sallis, and they received a fantastic eco prize to help them reduce food waste even further. 

 

The lottery was part of the Waste Partnership’s Love Food Hate Waste campaign which provides a wealth of tips to help reduce food waste. 

 

Latest research shows that in the UK we throw away 8.3 million tonnes of food a year, most of which could have been eaten. If everyone followed a few simple tips to reduce food waste, it would have the same carbon impact as taking 1 in 4 cars off UK roads! 

 

The winners reported that since they pledged to become “Food Lovers” they were much more careful with their food and how they deal with leftovers. In general they cut down the portions and the amount of food they buy and some even started home composting.

 

Sarah from Wisbech St Mary, one of the prize winners said:

“We have children who don’t always eat everything. We cut the portions down which was helpful. We also saved some money this Christmas not buying so much food and making better use of the food we bought. We feed the peelings to the chickens and we are recycling the food we cannot eat. And we are encouraging our children to recycle too. “

 

Councillor Peter Murphy from the Partnership said:

“I would like to congratulate the winners on doing their bit for the environment. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the pledgers who made a commitment to reduce their food waste. The Partnership is keen to help all residents in their efforts to reduce the amount of food they throw away and will be organising further events and other opportunities to waste less in 2010. I hope we all see less food going to waste this year.”

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