Student Action to reduce Food Waste at UCL

The student-led Zero Food Waste UCL project are working with Food at UCL and the Students’ Union to collect UCL’s food waste and redistribute it to St Mungo’s.

Over one-third of food produced globally goes to waste, releasing high levels of greenhouse gases. If food waste was a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Tackling food waste is an essential part of our battle against the climate emergency.

Zero Food Waste UCL

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The student-led Zero Food Waste UCL project are working with Food at UCL and the Students’ Union to collect UCL’s food waste and redistribute it to St Mungo’s, a local hostel, thereby reducing the institution’s waste and greenhouse gases.

Food Waste Competition

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Zero Food Waste UCL aren’t the only students on campus helping tackle food waste; the UCL International Development Hub ran a competition in collaboration with Food at UCL in autumn 2021 to source student solutions to real-life campus problems. The winner, Malena, a post-grad student at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, won a meal for two for her idea to display a picture of the average meal sizes by buffets to encourage responsible consumption and reduce food waste from people overfilling their plates.

What you can do?

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Despite these efforts, the biggest source of food waste in the UK is the food we throw away at home, with 70% coming from household waste, and 12% from hospitality.

Start following these simple steps to tackle the household food waste mountain:

• Make sure you only buy what you can eat;
• Prioritise using the food you already have over buying new food for meals;
• Make sure you seal food properly in the fridge;
• Use your freezer to keep leftovers.

If you’re interested in joining Zero Food Waste UCL, email them on ­­su.zerofoodwaste@ucl.ac.uk or message them via Instagram.