'Taste it, don't waste it'
Rutland Youth Council is raising awareness of the need to reduce household food waste.
The Rutland Youth Council is raising awareness of the need to reduce household food waste and help families in the area save money.
5 families will take part in food waste reduction activities, testing everyday practical tips and techniques that will reduce levels of food wastage and also save them money, all these experiences will be documented on video and shared on social media.
The group says the most common products thrown away are milk, bread, potatoes, tomatoes, bananas and poultry, which for the average Rutland family costs around £700 a year or nearly £14 a week.
Heather Kelly, the chair of Rutland Youth Council said:
"We're going to conduct interviews with families who volunteered, from this we will get an understanding of the items they tend to throw away and issues they struggle with most.
"Then we will create plans of actions to try and help combat their waste currently, we will then do interviews later to see how useful these tips were.
"We will be distributing our facts and tips, that hopefully all families across Rutland can use."
She continued:
"A lot of people can struggle to see the connection between climate change and food waste, so hopefully they'll be able to have a better understanding of how the production process is able to emit so many greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, that aren't necessary at all if you are just not being able to use the food that's produced efficiently.
"Hopefully people will become more aware of the connection their actions have towards the environment."
Councillor Lucy Stephenson, Rutland County Council Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure said:
“I am delighted to hear of the RYC’s work on this: wasting food is something that we can all do something about with benefits not just for the environment but also on our pockets!”