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Responsible Consumption

What areas could my project tackle?

  • Food waste

  • Holiday hunger

  • Single-use plastic

  • Renewable energy

  • Housing insulation

  • Fast fashion

  • Improving recycling

  • Composting

  • Household efficiency 

  • Preparing for the future

Addressing Food Waste and Holiday Hunger

Why are these areas important?

In so many areas we produce so much, throw away excess and leave people in need without access to essentials such as food, clothes and a roof over their heads. These issues can be worsened by other social issues such as reduced mental health, fleeing conflict and the cost of living crisis. However, these issues cannot be resolved with one-off interventions and require changemakers who can empathise with the root-causes of issues without victim blaming and implement creative, sustainable solutions.

Example 'one person' you could help

Mother and Baby on Floor

Natalia Sanchez is a 29 year old nurse and therefore they decided to move to the UK from Spain for work following separating from the father of her three children last year. The language barrier has meant that Natalia has found it difficult to develop friendships with colleagues and network effectively with her local community. In addition to this, Natalia has 3 children and the cost of living crisis has left the family struggling to eat, particularly in the holidays when there are no free school meals. 

Example project to support Natalia:

Natalia, like many people, is currently experiencing multi-faceted issues including language and his family are grappling with the cost of living crisis, particularly the cost of food during school holidays. Addressing these needs is crucial to the family's wellbeing. 

Social supermarkets are projects that take surplus food from regular shops and redistributes it at a 'pay as you feel' model. This ensures that food that would otherwise go to landfill is accessible at an affordable price which enables families to pay what they can to contribute to overhead costs. You could even compost waste from your local community to grow your own fruits and veggies like the changemaker below.

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How would this result in positive behavioural change?

By providing access to a social supermarket, your project would be reducing the food that goes to landfill while providing affordable food which are the ingredients to a balanced diet.

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How would a project like this be sustainable?

Unlike a food bank which giveaway items and are dependent on donations from the community, social supermarkets have innovated this model to use surplus food. This also means that fresh ingredients such as bread and vegetables are more accessible as these have a 'best before', rather than a 'use by' date. Taking the time to educate Natalia and her family on label literacy will help change the way they shop for items, and avoid food waste within the home as well.

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