Lunch time is crunch time for eco-friendly pupils

 

 

 

Members of the 'eco council' at the school in Avenue Road, Westcliff-on-Sea, are to keep food waste diaries for the week, carefully recording what they throw away from their lunch boxes.

The 25 children who have agreed to undertake the challenge are part of a borough-wide campaign to tackle food waste.

Southend Food Waste Week runs from Monday 18th to Friday 24th June and coincides with National Recycling Week.

During that period the Council will challenge residents to avoid wasting any food which could have been eaten.

Executive Councillor for Public Protection, Waste and Transport, Tony Cox, said: "During Food Waste Week we will be encouraging residents to take on our Food Waste Challenge.

"Across the borough people will be getting involved and doing their bit to reduce food waste and to help others achieve their goals. 

"I was shocked to learn that more than half of all the food waste thrown away in the UK each year comes from our homes, and half of it is food that we could have eaten.

 

"Every day in Britain we waste around five million potatoes, two million tomatoes, 37 million slices of bread and even throw away half of the salad we buy.

"Some people can achieve a week with zero food waste by finely tuning their shopping lists or adjusting their kitchen scales - for others it may involve changing their entire family's behaviour.

"But if we all stopped wasting food the benefit to the planet would be equivalent to taking one in every five cars off the road.

"It would also save the average household £50-a-month - that's £480-a-year!"

The Council provides a weekly food waste collection service and it couldn't be easier for you to play your part in reducing food waste if you're not already doing so.

You can be provided FREE with a small plastic kitchen caddy in which to place fruit and vegetable peelings, bones, tea bags, plate scrapings and leftovers.

The contents of the caddy can be wrapped up into sheets of newspaper to create a parcel and then placed inside the large blue recycling bins for collection.

Alternatively the Council issues compostable caddy liners which are now available at a reduced price of £1.25p for 25 liners (see www.southend.gov.uk/foodwaste for outlets).

The food waste which is collected from the kerbside is turned into compost which is spread onto field across the Eastern region to help grow new produce.

For more details and to sign up for the Southend Food Waste Week Challenge go to www.southend.gov.uk/recyclingchampions

Meanwhile, you can grab some useful food waste recycling tips from stalls at the following times and places:

·         Monday 18th June: Sainsbury's, London Road , Southend - 10am to 4pm

·         Wednesday 20th June: Warrior Square , Southend - 10am to 4pm

·         Thursday 21st June: South Essex College , Southend - 10am to 4pm