Food Waste Prevention initiative launched in Waterford
Mayor of Waterford City & County Council, Councillor Pat Nugent, officially launched a food waste prevention initiative in City Hall on Friday 12th January last.
The initiative, which is a joint venture between Waterford City and County Council and Wexford County Council, aims to raise awareness of food waste, the costs incurred to the average household and ways to prevent it.
A short 1 minute animated clip was produced to engage and introduce families to the subject of food waste prevention. The clip will be shown in cinemas for 10 weeks in County Waterford and County Wexford starting Friday 19th January. A version for YouTube will be produced in both Irish and English. A competition will be run for both primary and secondary schools to further engage all members of the community in food waste prevention.
Councillor Pat Nugent stated that households and businesses waste one million tonnes of food each year… that’s 2 ½ times Croke Park, filled to the top with food.
He added, “We waste 1/3 of the food we buy. This can cost your household €700 in one year! In Waterford we have been working to support waste prevention in becoming routine in our everyday lives across our communities.
We were delighted to deliver this as part of our program to reduce food waste. In 2017, funding was applied for and received from the Local Authority Prevention Network through the EPA to develop a short animated video about food waste prevention.
We worked in conjunction with Wexford County Council on this project. This video will appear in cinemas in Dungarvan, Waterford and Wexford from Friday 19th during the advertisements at every film. This coincides with Stop Food Waste Week which takes place from January 22nd until 29th January. This will be rolled out on social media and YouTube in both, Irish and English afterwards, as well as being promoted through schools competitions.”
The initiative is funded under the Local Authority Prevention Network, through the EPA. The Local Authority Prevention Network (LAPN) is a key component in the promotion of resource efficiency and waste prevention at a local level.
The programme has demonstrated that implementing waste prevention and resource efficiencies can lead to significant savings, in addition to the obvious environmental benefits. Through this network, Waterford City and County Council and Wexford County Council have been working to support waste prevention in becoming more commonplace in our everyday lives across our communities.
