OzHarvest launches ‘Use It Up’ campaign to tackle household food waste

OzHarvest launches ‘Use It Up’ campaign to tackle household food waste
This International Food Loss & Waste Day, OzHarvest is launching a new campaign to tackle the 2.5 million tonnes of food wasted from Australian homes every year.

If you feel as though there’s not much you can do at home to combat climate change, think again.

“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 Founder and CEO Ronni Kahn AO says.

She’s referring to using up your food at home – food waste is a major contributor to global greenhouse gases. In fact, 8-10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions are caused by wasted food. 

Kahn’s food rescue organisation has launched Use It Up, a campaign which aims to make it easy for Australians to waste less at home. They’ve developed the Use It Us tape, a world-first product that allows you to label the food that needs using up in your fridge or pantry.

The campaign is informed by unique consumer insights gathered from Australian-first behavioural research, funded by the Australian Government and conducted by BehaviourWorks at the Monash Sustainable Development Institute.

The research found that the overwhelming answer to the question of how households can reduce their waste is to make use of food in their fridges rather than throwing it out.

Kahn says 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!” she says.

“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.”

Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction, Trevor Evan notes that this simple action also has benefits for our bank account.

“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,” he says.

“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.”

For more information and tips to help you Use It Up, visit ozharvest.org/useitup

To read more about Ronni Kahn and OzHarvest, pick up the October issue of MiNDFOOD:

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