WOKINGHAM Borough Council is making it easier for people living in shared residential buildings to reduce their food waste.
Its teams will be visiting more than 7,000 borough flats providing households with kitchen caddies.
The council thanks the many Wokingham residents who are already recycling their food waste, and says that more households than ever are using food waste caddies to help them reduce what goes into their general rubbish bins.
Nationally, households throw away 4.4 million tonnes of edible food each year, which, for a family of four adds up to around £1,000 wasted annually.
Small changes at home can make a big difference, says the council, both for household budgets and for the environment.
To help even more people to get involved, it wants to make sure that all 7,000 flats across the borough will receive a kitchen caddy and, where needed, a red wheeled bin for their food waste.
Participation in flats is lower than in houses, so the teams will be delivering caddies to people’s doors, sharing simple information with them, to help get them started.
Hundreds of caddies have already been handed out, but even with more people recycling, around 30% of what ends up in the average household bin is still food.
Ways to make food last longer and to reduce what gets thrown away, include: freezing bread, fruit and leftovers before they spoil; storing food correctly to keep it fresher for longer; planning meals and checking cupboards before shopping; and using up leftovers with quick simple recipes.
For information, visit: lovefoodhatewaste.com and wokingham.gov.uk
