Waste not want not

Birmingham’s Big Freeze leaves lasting impression.

Close to 1,000 people from across the West Midlands attended Friday’s Big Freeze event, where they learnt to make the most of their freezers, to help them save money and reduce food waste.

The event provided practical advice and top tips to local people about foods that can be frozen (and how to use them) to help save money – and the environment. Through interactive games, giveaways and competitions, people discovered how they could enjoy mouth-watering meals by mixing and matching frozen and fresh food.

Dozens of people made pledges to change their cooking and eating habits towards re-using and recycling food and throwing fewer ingredients away. The event also made a huge impact on social media, with posts reaching more than 130,000 people and attracting Comments, Likes and Shares from more than 3,000.

Love Food Hate Waste’s Twitter account attracted nearly 700 new followers, while hundreds more snapped up ‘top tips’ leaflets at the event. Central England Co-operative supported the event, providing visitors with lots of helpful hints and tips as well as goodie bags and the chance to win £200 worth of shopping vouchers.

Hannah Gallimore, Corporate Responsibility Manager for Central England Co-operative, said: “We are proud to be working in partnership with Love Food Hate Waste as part of our focus on responsible business which includes; improving waste reduction, encouraging sustainable behaviour in the environment and helping deprived communities. The Big Freeze is the latest in a series of activities we’ve been involved with and really highlights that clever use of the freezer is a great way to prevent food from ending up in the bin.”

The event provided practical advice and top tips to local people about foods that can be frozen (and how to use them) to help save money – and the environment. Through interactive games, giveaways and competitions, people discovered how they could enjoy mouth-watering meals by mixing and matching frozen and fresh food.