Epping rewards flats residents who waste less food

Incentives business Local Green Points, explained today (17 May) that the authority had launched a new Food Waste Challenge with the aim of  helping residents waste less food and save money on their food shop.

The Challenge aims to help residents save money on their food shop by providing simple strategies for preventing unnecessary food waste going into their communal refuse bins. It will operate as part of the district’s existing Recycling Rewards scheme – which rewards residents of flats for recycling more and sending less waste for disposal.

Epping Forest Recycling Rewards launched in October 2017 and has seen more than 460 residents sign up so far.

The challenge is integrated into an online platform, provided by Local Green Points, which allows residents to earn Green Points for reporting their recycling every week, taking part in waste minimisation activities and now taking part in the new Food Waste Challenge.

Five behaviours

Residents who sign up to the Challenge will be encouraged to make pledges to incorporate WRAP’s five food waste behaviours: storing food correctly, understanding date labels, portion control, planning meals and making use of leftovers.

For every week residents stick to their pledge they will be rewarded with ‘Green Points’, explained Local Green Points. Residents also receive a five month digital communications campaign to try to get them to keep to their pledges.

Prizes

The Green Points residents earn contribute to their individual and community points totals, which make top earning residents and communities eligible for prizes. Every month the six residents who have earned the most Green Points for their community win a £25 voucher from a choice of M&S, Love2Shop, iTunes and Local Leisure Centres, or they have the choice to donate their £25 to charity. At the end of the first year, the top four performing communities each win a share of £1,750 to donate to their favourite local charity.

The Local Green Points’ Food Waste Challenge has been adopted by nine other local authorities, including four London Boroughs. West Norfolk, Havering, Camden, St Helens, Waltham Forest, Torbay and Epping Forest have all launched the Food Waste Challenge to their residents, with Kingston and Bexley due to launch the Challenge later this year.

Graham Simmonds, Managing Director of Local Green Points said: “We’ve found our approach to reducing Food Waste is both innovative and inspires residents to make long-lasting behaviour changes to their food habits. We’re pleased to be working with nine local authorities to help them reward residents for their positive steps to cut down their food waste.”

Local Green Points is an LLP company backed by Green Rewards, a supplier of sustainable rewards programmes.