Food rescue organisation, OzHarvest has launched a new campaign to tackle the 2.5 million tonnes of food wasted from homes every year.
The Use It Up campaign is informed by unique consumer insights gathered from Australian first behavioural research conducted by BehaviourWorks at the Monash Sustainable Development Institute and aims to make it easy for Aussies to waste less food at home.
Ronni Kahn AO, OzHarvest Founder and CEO, said Australia’s national target to halve food waste by 2030 is looming fast and change is urgently needed.
“We cannot watch what’s happening to our planet and wait for others to fix this – tackling household food waste is the low hanging fruit and where we can get results fast! Not everyone can afford an electric car or solar panels but reducing the amount of food we waste is something we are all able to do. People are blown away when they learn the number one thing they can do to take climate action starts right now in their kitchen!
“OzHarvest has been fighting food waste for 17 years, but to revolutionise behaviour at home, we teamed up with BehaviourWorks Australia to understand the most impactful way households can reduce their waste. The overwhelming answer was to Use It Up – a simple behaviour that can save food, save money and save the planet.”
To get the nation on board OzHarvest created the Use It Up tape™, a world first product that makes it easy for people to see what food needs using up in their fridge or pantry, which can then be transformed into their next meal.
Environment Minister Sussan Ley said: “The Morrison Government is committed to halving food waste to landfill by 2030. We all have a part to play in reducing food waste and Use it Up shows that small changes in the kitchen can deliver real savings and reduce the amount of food thrown in the bin and ending up in landfill.”
Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction, Trevor Evans said reducing food waste has significant sustainability benefits.
“No one likes wasting food, but the reality is that most of us do and 70 per cent of the food we waste is perfectly edible. The research shows the simple but effective act of using food up could save the average household enough for a holiday each year and the tape is a good visual reminder to help people get into good habits at home.”
Mark Boulet lead the research with BehaviourWorks Australia at Monash Sustainable Development Institute. He says it is the first time such innovative methods and in-depth insights have been used for household food waste behaviours.
“The result of this exciting research draws on expert knowledge and community engagement to understand what really matters when it comes to making an impact with food waste at home. Use It Up has the biggest potential to shift the dial, with families immediately noticing how much food they saved. The tape is a great family communication and meal planning tool, and acts as a daily prompt to change behaviour.”
For more information visit:
https://www.ozharvest.org/news/use-it-up/
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https://wastemanagementreview.com.au/12-million-to-keep-food-waste-out-of-landfill/