Waste Less, Save More is new Poole mission

Over the next year, the council will be working in conjunction with the major supermarket to bring a series of projects to Poole to help residents reduce their food waste and save money at the same time.

Projects will include the FabFoods scheme, which will see schools working to reduce their food waste and bringing food waste into the curriculum for students.

Poole will also be running a Zero Waste Kitchen Challenge throughout the year. The average UK household throws away £700 of food each year, so the Zero Waste Kitchen Challenge will see 50 local families equipped with the knowledge and skills to reduce food waste, save money, and become advocates for change within their communities.

Cllr John Rampton, cabinet portfolio holder for the environment, commented, “This is a fantastic chance for the people of Poole to get involved in a project which will not only help change the way we think about food and what we waste, but will also save us all money. I would like to thank Sainsbury’s for the funding and opportunity to introduce these innovative projects to Poole, and I look forward to seeing what we can achieve as a community.”

Some of the £50,000 funding will also go to the Poole-based charity ‘Waste not, want not’. The charity works with suppliers who provide surplus food that would otherwise have been thrown away, and use it to stock a community supermarket offering discounted food to those suffering financial hardship.

Waste Less, Save More was launched by Sainsbury’s in 2015 to help combat the growing issue of food waste. Following a 12-month trial in Derbyshire, the retailer has unveiled a new plan which has included a further £1million investment to support 29 UK-wide community projects.

Paul Crewe, project lead for Waste Less, Save More, at Sainsbury’s said, “We’ve already learnt a huge amount as a result of our 12-month pilot and we are really excited to be rolling out the next phase. Our experience over the last year has taught us a great deal about how we can help households waste less food and save more money, but we’re now casting our net wider to see the innovative ways communities up and down the country tackle food waste.”