A new campaign is urging Lichfield residents to reduce the amount of food they throw away.
In the UK, we throw away a third of the food we buy. Not only is this a waste of money, but producing and transporting food is a major contributor to climate change.
That is why Lichfield District Council is asking local people to cut down on the amount of food that ends up in landfill this summer.
Christine Cole, Recycling & Street Scene Development Officer for Lichfield District Council, said:
“When we checked a number of sample black bins, to find out if residents are disposing of waste that could be recycled, we were shocked to see just how much food ends up being thrown away. At the moment local people are only recycling five percent of their food waste. This means we’re still sending tonnes of unnecessary waste to landfill. Not only is this damaging to the environment, it also means paying avoidable landfill tax – currently set at £40 for each tonne of waste.”
To turn things around locally, Lichfield District Council is promoting Wrap’s national campaign Love Food, Hate Waste. This is the campaign that gives handy tips and recipes to use up leftover and spare food.
The council is handing out free Love Food, Hate Waste recipe cards, at a series of summer road shows. From vegetable lasagne, to spaghetti bolognese, through to roast lamb salad on a potato cake, the recipe cards offer lots of inventive and delicious alternatives to throwing away perfectly good food.
The first road show to kick off the series is taking place at Tesco in Burntwood on June 26 from 10am to 2pm as part of National Recycle Week.
Christine added:
“On top of reusing food that’s within its use-by date, we also want to remind people that spoiled food, and food peelings, scraps and bones can be added to local residents’ brown bins. The best thing about recycling your food waste is that it is turned into nutrient rich compost which can then be used to grow more carbon off-setting plants.”
To make it easier for local people to recycle their food waste, the council is handing out free kitchen caddies at the Tourist Information Centre, in the Lichfield Garrick. This nifty little brown tub sits on your kitchen work surface, and is a great place to store food waste before adding it to your brown bin.
To find out more about recycling food waste visit www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/brownbin and to see top tips and recipes by celebrity chefs, visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com.
