Tag Archives: WRAP

Messaging on Food Waste Messaging

UK research group WRAP has released some incredibly useful research for cities and towns hoping to both reduce and recycle food waste, those that have implemented food waste collection already and those that plan to do so. You can see the full report here or view the easily-digested, data-heavy slides. The study stemmed from this problem: implementing composting […]

August 28, 2013 | Posted in Composting, International, Stats, Waste Stream | Comments closed

Packaging Pros and Cons

I’ve been thinking a lot about packaging recently, as I’ve been writing something about Austin’s mostly packaging-free grocer, in.gredients. From a life-cycle assessment perspective, packaging is environmentally harmful. It’s just more stuff we’re using oil to create, often unnecessarily, that usually ends up in a landfill. Yet, it’s not that simple.  Smarter packaging could limit […]

May 16, 2013 | Posted in Waste Stream | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

The NRDC’s Switchboard blog provides a thought-provoking view on the latest thinking from British businesses on how to reduce food waste. And it all starts with a different mindset: that reducing food waste can yield increased revenue. — — On the topic of helping with the bottom line, free food waste reduction seminars would certainly […]

April 5, 2013 | Posted in College, Friday Buffet, International | Comments closed

Food Packaging: Lesser of Two Evils

With food packaging, you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Too much, and you’re using unnecessary materials. Too little and you’re risking damaged food in transit and elsewhere. I suppose the ideal is going uber-local and bringing your own reusable containers like at Austin’s in.gredients (check out their incredible 6-month sustainability numbers). But until that sweeps […]

March 13, 2013 | Posted in Energy, Environment, International, Storage | Comments closed

Flash Freezing

Let me get this straight–before last week, all perishable food bought in the UK carried the advice to ‘freeze food on day of purchase?!’ Seriously? Happily, that is no longer the case at the major British chain Sainsbury’s, as they’ve backed off that uber-cautious advice. With the backing of the waste-reduction crew at WRAP, Sainsbury’s labels […]

February 15, 2012 | Posted in International, Supermarket | Comments closed

(British) Progress!

While the US grocery industry is slowly turning to the topic of food waste–huzzah!–their British counterparts are already a year into a voluntary agreement to trim waste. More than 50 UK grocery retailers have signed on to The Courtauld Commitment Phase 2, which sets many waste reduction goals. Food is one of them. Interestingly, the food […]

December 7, 2011 | Posted in Energy, Environment, Household, International | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Britain’s waste-crusaders, WRAP, have a new report out on hospitality sector waste. View the full report (with the rare consecutive prepositions) here. — — At Tuesday’s All-Star Game in Phoenix, stadium operators will collect and compost food waste. — — The other NRA–the National Restaurant Association–is taking on food court waste. Both at malls and airports! — — A […]

July 8, 2011 | Posted in Composting, Events, Friday Buffet, International | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Walmart recently announced that their California stores have reduced what they send to the landfill by 80 percent (since 2009). Food donations, composting and anaerobic digestion all play a role there, with their stated goal of eliminating landfill waste by 2025. — — A new UK study found that household food waste accounts for 3 […]

March 25, 2011 | Posted in Friday Buffet, International, Personal, Supermarket, Waste Stream | Comments closed

Taking the Temperature

It’s happened again. Our British friends at WRAP released another food waste study, this time on Reducing Waste Through the Chill Chain. (Here’s the abbreviated version.) While their “chill chain” may be our cold one, the study is quite useful on either side of the Atlantic. It found that many folks’ refrigerator temperatures are often […]

August 23, 2010 | Posted in Food Safety, Household, International | Comments closed