Residents in Three Rivers challenged to Save Food and Save Money #WorthSaving

A new campaign has been launched to encourage residents across Three Rivers to reduce the amount of food that ends up being thrown away unnecessarily.

Three Rivers District Council is leading the #WorthSaving campaign which aims to tackle the issue of avoidable food waste by encouraging residents to follow a 4 Steps to Save  food waste journey to develop better habits.

The council will provide advice and guidance on planning, shopping, storing and eating which will give those wanting to cut down on their food waste the information and tools needed to do so.

The campaign follows a study in 2020 by the Hertfordshire Waste Partnership which showed that around 24% of the rubbish in Hertfordshire’s bins was made up of food that could have been eaten.

This equates to around £60 per month, per household of food that could otherwise have been eaten, at a time when household budgets are being stretched by the increased cost of living. In addition, throwing food away needlessly has a huge impact on the environment, with 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions linked to food waste.

Cllr Phil Williams, the council's Lead Member for Environmental Services, Climate Change and Sustainability said: "We have set ourselves the ambitious target of reducing food waste by 20% of 2020 levels by 2025. To achieve this, we all need to play our part by changing certain behaviours around food.”

“Simple changes to how we plan meals, what we buy, how we store it and what we eat will go a long way towards reducing the amount of food that we throw away unnecessarily, saving our residents money and reducing our impact on the environment.”

To join the campaign, residents can visit www.wasteaware.org.uk/worthsaving  where they can discover food saving tips and sign up to the #WorthSaving challenge where they will receive weekly tips and guidance on how to reduce their food waste over the course of five weeks. They will also be able to engage with the campaign on social media, as well as having the opportunity to join a Facebook group where they can swap tips and share their progress with other like-minded people.

• The #WorthSaving campaign launches on Monday 24 October and has been developed thanks to extensive research into Hertfordshire residents’ behaviours around food.
• The campaign is being trialled in the Three Rivers District area, with a view to being rolled out countywide in the future.

The 4 Steps to Save are:

Plan – check what you have

• Stock check
• Plan your meals
• Write a shopping list

Shop – buy what you need

• Avoid impulse buys
• Stick to your list
• Don’t shop when you’re hungry
• Substitutes - food item swaps when a store doesn’t have the item you need for a recipe

Store – in the best way

• Dates and labels
• How to correctly store food (right place for each food item)
• Fridge / freezer temp
• How to safely freeze and defrost food

Eat – what you have

• Choose to eat / cook with ripe food first
• Portion sizes
• Freeze excess food for later
• Eat your leftovers
• Use-up night
• Recipes for spare ingredients
• Batch cooking