How much food do you waste on a daily basis? It may not seem much to you but do you know every food wastage contributes to Singapore’s food waste problem—which hit a high of 809, 800 tonnes in 2017? Households in Singapore have been cited as a major source of food waste. Now, if that doesn’t scare you, what would?
Food wastage has been a very real and growing problem in Singapore. In 2017 alone, 809 million kilogrammes of food waste was disposed leaving only 16% to be recycled. This in turn is causing an uprising issue for our nation’s food security. Albeit, it is known by many that food wastage is a huge no-no, little to no action is taken by us. Hence, Electrolux has decided to come up with something that will help spread the word on food wastage in Singapore. Studies have also shown that if each household in Singapore does just one 200g swap per week, over a year, we can help save 10, 000 tonnes of food waste. Now, that’s the weight of over 40 MRT Trains!
If you, like Electrolux, are passionate about curbing the food wastage issue in Singapore, join them on this amazing journey. Two awareness programmes have been formed by Electrolux. The first being, HappyPlate SG and the other being Social Food Swap.
HappyPlate SG: this award-winning community initiative was built to support Electrolux’s commitment to raise awareness of food waste in Singapore. Founded in 2015, each year it aims to tackle various food waste related topics. It is also partnered with Food Bank Singapore to support the distribution of food to the underprivileged families in Singapore.
Social Food Swap: whenever faced with unused ingredients left over after each meal, one natural throws them out as they expire. The Social Food swaps helps by shifting one’s intention of ‘binning’ an ingredient to ‘swapping’ it. This can occur within social circles, colleagues, friends and neighbours. By working on this initiative, you not only save on purchasing more in what you need but feel good as to not be wasting any ingredients that will not be used by you. As such, both parties are ‘saving’ the ingredients instead of being wasted with no additional cost.
For example, if you have an abundance of garlic at home and have no use for it but are in need for chillies, find someone to swap it with and you’re good to go! Aim to swap 1 item per week to achieve the 200g goal. It may not seem much for now but one person making a difference is more than anyone can ask for.
Over time, major companies have also been known to join in on this awareness programme. Why wait? Don’t contribute to the problem anymore and let us all overcome it together!
Companies that wish to carry out Social Food Swap can go to happyplate.sg and download the Social Food Swap Toolkit to kick start their swap.
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