The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is launching a month-long initiative designed to help households across the state reduce the amount of food they waste.
Led by the EPA's Love Food Hate Waste team, the free online Love Food Challenge aims to empower individuals with the skills and knowledge needed to prevent unnecessary food waste.
Research shows that NSW households are inadvertently one of the major culprits when it comes to the state's food waste issue, accounting for 688,000 of the 1.7 million tonnes of food discarded each year. Around 70 per cent of this food – most of which ends up in landfill – is edible.
The Love Food Challenge will run throughout September and will include weekly emails full of tips to help households think differently about food and waste. Participants will also be sent a Love Food starter kit of reusable tools – including shopping and veggie bags, food covers and bag clips – to kick start their food-saving journey.
Amanda Kane, Love Food Hate Waste program lead, said households generally underestimated how much food they threw out and that small changes in habits could significantly reduce food waste while offering cost-saving benefits.
"Most people assume they're only throwing out a small amount of food every now and then, but the reality is the average Australian is really discarding around $965 worth of food every year. For households, that's $2100 in the bin," she said.
"Not only is reducing food waste critical to help protect our environment, but in a cost-of-living crisis, it makes clear financial sense.
"Educational initiatives such as our Love Food Challenge have been shown to play a key role in influencing behaviour change around food habits, with the potential to reduce household food waste by up to 40 per cent.
"Our weekly email instalments will focus on different topics and share food-saving hacks that can be easily adopted in everyday life. As the name suggests, we'll also be setting a challenge so participants can put their new knowledge to the test."
To join the Challenge and receive a starter kit on time, participants must register here by this Friday, 23 August.
