Wednesday 12 August 2020
Guernsey Waste is hoping that good shopping and kitchen habits adopted during lockdown could have a lasting impact in reducing the amount of food ending up in the bin.
It's new 'Food is Not Rubbish' campaign will highlight just how much is currently being thrown away, which items to look out for, and how to waste less.
For example, it is estimated that if all the bread thrown away in Guernsey every day was stacked up, it would be seven times the height of the weighbridge roundabout mast. And the amount of food waste collected from households each day is equivalent in weight to two elephants.
It is estimated that good food which ends up in the bin is costing islanders more than £10 million a year, and the average family could be wasting as much as £800 annually. Much of that could be saved by some fairly simple steps.
Guernsey Waste prevention and recycling officer, Tina Norman-Ross, said it was a good time to highlight this, given the impact of Covid-19.
The campaign comes as research suggests UK households became more conscious of food waste during lockdown, and adopted behaviour that could make lasting difference. In a survey, nearly half said they were throwing away less when the restrictions came in. Of those, half were planning meals more carefully, and 40% were using leftovers more.
"These are simple behaviours, but they really are at the heart of reducing food waste, and saving money," said Mrs Norman-Ross.
"During the lockdown locally, a lot of islanders will have been more conscious about the way they shop, and what they were buying. We were shopping less frequently, because we had to queue, which meant we were more likely to make a list of what we needed. And if we make a list, we are more likely to think ahead about the meals we are going to have.
"That simple planning is the secret to wasting less. You buy what you need, and make sure you eat what you buy. And that is the mantra for the Food Is Not Rubbish initiative."
Potatoes are now the most wasted food, with as many as one in five that are bought ending up in the bin, according to UK studies. Next comes bread, then leftovers from prepared meals like casserole or curry.
The main reasons are that the food was not eaten in time, or too much was cooked.
Mrs Norman Ross said there were positive signs that islanders were ready to make a difference.
"Last year we collected more than 3,100 tonnes of food waste, just from households, and it is not all eggshells and vegetable peelings. Most of it was perfectly good, had it been eaten in time, or if the right amount had been cooked," she said.
"Now we have separate food collections, islanders can see for themselves how much they waste, and are starting to appreciate how much it is costing. In the conversations we used to have, most people would tell us their household did not waste much food. Now we have islanders coming up to us saying they never realised how much they threw away, and asking what can they do about it? That's the important first step.
"If food waste was a country, it would be the third biggest contributor to the world's greenhouse gas emissions, behind the USA and China. That is the scale of the problem, but it only takes small changes to reduce our own waste, and those translate into big savings."
As part of the Food Is Not Rubbish campaign all households will receive a leaflet, to highlight the www.lovefoodhatewaste.gg web page. That provides links to lots of advice and handy tips for reducing food waste. It will also be promoted through social media, and in local retailers.
Food waste facts and figures
- In depth research by the UK's Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has found that households there throw away 20 million slices of bread EVERY DAY (which equates to around five slices a week per household). The equivalent for Guernsey would be 20,000 slices a day. A Hovis 800g loaf is 24cm long and contains 20 slices, so 20,000 slices on top of one another would reach a height of 240 metres. By comparison, the mast on the Weighbridge Roundabout is approximately 32 metres tall!
- According to www.Nationalgeographic.com, an African elephant weighs between 2½ tonnes and 7 tonnes - average 4¾ tonnes. In 2019, 3,115 tonnes of separate food waste was collected from households in Guernsey, equivalent to 60 tonnes per week, or 12 tonnes per night (five nights a week collection). Spread out over 7 days, equivalent to 1.8 average elephants per night.
- To highlight how much food is wasted, last November Guernsey Waste fed the whole of Les Beaucamps High School - more than 500 pupils, teachers and staff - with a budget of £800. That is the amount of money that an average local family could be throwing away each year.
- WRAP estimates the cost of household food and drink waste in the UK (approx. 27.8 million households) is more than £14 billion a year. Equivalent comparison for Guernsey (approx. 27½ thousand households) would be around £14 million.
