Sainsbury’s Isle of Wight is calling for residents and community groups on the Island to nominate their town or village to become a test bed for cutting down food waste.
The Sainsbury’s Waste Less, Save More town challenge is being launched in response to the escalating issue of household waste, which results in the average family throwing away £700 of uneaten food a year.
From the start of 2016, Sainsbury’s will partner with the selected town, investing £1 million to trial some of the best ideas from around the globe to uncover the most effective ways to reduce food waste and save people money. The final ideas will be chosen specifically for the winning town, but could include:
• Fridge innovations for the home to track when food is beginning to go off
• Talking bins that give tips as rubbish is put in them
• Reward programmes to encourage recycling
• New packaging to keep products fresher for longer
• Educational programmes for local schools and community centres
Paul Dyer Store Manager at Sainsbury’s Newport said:
“We know that waste – and particularly food waste – is a big challenge for households and it’s something our customers really care about. It would be really great if the Isle of Wight could benefit from this new initiative. We’re here to help anyone that wants to find out more about applying.”
This year-long trial is phase one of a five year commitment and £10 million investment from Sainsbury’s to help reduce waste across the country. Additionally, Sainsbury’s will work closely with the local authority and key community groups within the successful town to crowd-source new suggestions on how food waste could be reduced.
Findings and recommendations from this trial phase in year one will be developed into a blueprint and made public in year two so that communities across the country can benefit from the results.
The final phases of Sainsbury’s Waste Less, Save More campaign will be focused on supporting the changes that need to be made to ensure a long-term difference and measurement of the activity and looking at opportunities to reduce other kinds of household waste.
Individuals or community groups that would like to nominate their town, city or borough to work with Sainsbury’s and benefit from £1 million investment as part of its Waste Less, Save More project can find out more at www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/wasteless.
The closing date for applications is 23:59hrs on Friday 30th October 2015 and the winner will be notified by 1st December 2015.
