Get informed and use your consumer power

• Celebrate fruit and vegetables of all shapes and sizes, even the wonky ones!

• Choose more local and seasonal food products – these often need less packaging and have travelled less

• Buy directly from food growers and producers

• Write to your local supermarket or food retailer and ask what they are doing to prevent food waste – are they already working with FareShare? How much local or seasonal food do they stock? Tell them what you would like to see and what you would not like to see in their store

• Check out links to similar or supportive organisations on our website (www.thisisrubbish.org.uk) including the Oxfam Grow campaign (www.oxfam.org/grow).

• Read ‘Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal’ by Tristam Stuart (www.tristramstuart.co.uk)

 

Get assertive when eating out

• Don’t’ be afraid to ask for smaller portion sizes and ask food outlets what they are doing to reduce their food waste and increase food sustainability in store – then tell us what they said!

• Check out Love Food Hate Waste for tips on how to be less waste full at home (www.lovefoodhatewaste.com)Get political

• Write to your MP: write your own letter or use the draft letter from our website as a template to write to your AM, MP or MEP about what they are doing to tackle the issue of food waste in your area, or visit their local surgery session

• Boycott the big offenders and tell them why you do not shop with them

 

Get growing

• Grow your own – it’s less wasteful and not as expensive as you think – and there’s lots of support from Community Growing Schemes such as the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens (www.farmgarden.org.uk) and Seed Savers (www.seedsavers.org)

• Join a Community Supported Agriculture scheme to support local producers

• Get Guerrilla Gardening (www.guerrillagardening.org)

• Join your local FreeCycle or Swap Shop to swap gardening tools and skills

 

To get involved with This is Rubbish you can …

• Check out our Feast Flyer for the upcoming This is Rubbish event near you

• Join the debate on facebook (This is Rubbish Group) and follow us on twitter (‘foodwaste’)

• Volunteer with us at one of the Feast tour dates – contact caitlin@thisisrubbish.org.uk

• Become a supporting organisation find out more on our website

• Join our e-Mailing list contact: info@thisisrubbish.org.uk

• For media inquiries contact: kate@thisisrubbish.org.uk

• Donate: so that we can continue the work that we do please contact rachel@thisisrubbish.org.uk

• Print this sheet and spread the tips This is Rubbish Top Tips