Food waste halves as Dacorum Council challenges residents

The challenge, which was run by Dacorum Borough Council, helps to stop waste by showing everyone how they can prevent food waste in their own kitchen.

Regular tips were emailed to participants throughout November on how to get the most out of their food.

A free food waste prevention pack filled with goodies, such as a meal planner, bag clips and a fridge thermometer, was also sent out to help put the new knowledge into action.

A spokesman said: "Our food champions told us that they took part in the challenge because they wanted to help the environment, whilst others knew that they were already pretty good at saving food and wanted to see if they could do better.

"The majority of participants found that the challenge made them more aware of the food they wasted, with more than 90 per cent taking on new behaviours to reduce their food waste."

On average, the amount of food wasted by the participants halved by the end of the month-long challenge.

The new food champions said that among the top tips they learned were: using leftovers, freezing more food, checking what needs to be used up before cooking and planning meals in advance.

One lucky champion, Carol Blunden, was the winner of a new blender in our prize draw. Carol told us: "The Food Challenge really highlighted practical options available to us so we don't need to waste so much food. Food is precious - use and reuse it, freeze it or store it for later and plan weekly menus. Be in control for a healthy, less wasteful future.”

The next Love Food, Hate Waste challenge will be running again in the autumn, email [email protected] if you'd like to take part.

In the meantime, you can learn more about reducing your food waste by visiting the Love Food Hate Waste website.

For a a wide range of other environmentally friendly tips, visit our Top tips for a green 2020 page.