Family give the thumbs up to food recycling
Released Friday January 7, 2011
Wolverhampton couple Ben and Lynne Davis and their two children, Joseph aged 5 and Hemara aged 4, have been pleasantly surprised by how easy and odour free it is to recycle their waste food.
St Martin’s CofE Primary School head of school Ben and full-time mum Lynne of Bradmore, Wolverhampton, agreed to test out the council’s new recycling service – the first in the Black Country - which will be offered to 98,000 households in the city from next week.
Lynne said it took the family a little while to get used to recycling their waste food. “We’d remember to recycle our tea bags but it took longer to remember to scrape waste from our meals into the caddy. But we soon got into the swing of it. It’s easy to use and not in the least bit onerous.”
They kept the silver five-litre caddy next to the sink – and found that the family tended to fill it every two to three days. “I noticed we weren’t filling our normal kitchen waste bin as frequently which goes to show just how much food is wasted,” said Lynne.
In fact, food waste can account for between 20 and 25 per cent of household waste, or in monetary terms, £680 a year for the average family with children. Like most busy families, the Davis’s try to plan their meals and shop to a budget.
Lynne added: “It’s definitely made me far more conscious of how much we waste, particularly the children. Their appetites can vary. One day they’re ravenous, the next they’ll eat like birds. Sometimes, we’re obviously giving them too much.”
She agreed that being more waste conscious could help the family save on its food bill.
Before the trial, Lynne thought food scraps in the caddy would cause smells, but she’s been pleasantly surprised. “It’s the thing that might put people off, but there were no bad smells at all, nothing. In fact, I’m not sure what would cause bad smells – possibly fish. But then you’d put that straight out anyway.”
So will the family use the recycling service? “Yes, definitely,” said Lynne. “We’re not eco-warriors, just an ordinary family, but we do try to use the council’s recycling services. We’ll be using this one too, and hopefully, cutting down on how much food we waste and saving money.”
Households across the city will be provided with a silver five litre caddy to keep in their kitchen, compostable liners and a green 23-litre food caddy to keep outside. The food waste will be processed into electricity for the National Grid and fertilisers for local farms. For further information visit www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/recycling
To read our myth-busting guide to the new food waste scheme, please click on the PDF file below:
Issued by the News and Information Team - www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/news
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