Residents are being encouraged to adopt smart kitchen and shopping habits as part of a new campaign to tackle the climate crisis by reducing food waste in Leith.
Leith’s Good With Food, a new campaign from Zero Waste Leith, encourages the local community to shop smart, cook just the right amount and use up or share any leftovers.
The campaign is delivered by leading environmental charity Changeworks as part of the Zero Waste Leith project, with funding from the European Regional Development Fund.
Food waste is one of the top contributors to greenhouse gases – and throwing away food waste means you’re throwing away money too. Right now, 60% of the food we waste in Scotland could be avoided, and that’s something the campaign is looking to change. If food can’t be reused, it can be turned into energy through Edinburgh’s kerbside food recycling service.
The campaign kicked off with a launch event at the Leith Walk Police Box yesterday.
Hannah Milne, Zero Waste Leith Co-ordinator at Changeworks said: “Leithers are already leading the way towards zero waste in Scotland and now they are adopting food waste savvy habits in their kitchens, shops and streets with our new campaign, Leith’s Good With Food.
“Our team of volunteers gave out our new Good with Food kits which contain tools, tips and recipes to help Leithers avoid food waste and a kitchen caddy for collecting food waste recycling.”
The campaign is modelled on the successful anti-flytipping campaign, Flyspotting, which featured portraits and messaging from local Leithers and halved flytipping in ten test streets surrounding Dalmeny Street Park.
Councillor Lesley Macinnes, Environment Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council said: “Food waste is a big greenhouse gas emitter, but it’s something households can tackle easily and help make a real, positive contribution.
“All food waste collected in Edinburgh goes to our state-of-the-art facility at Millerhill to be converted into energy – just one food caddy can generate enough electricity to power a TV for five hours!
“I welcome this new campaign from Changeworks and look forward to even more people getting into the food waste reduction and recycling habit.”
