Greener Kirkcaldy has launched the first community fridge in the town.
It has been supported by the environmental charity Hubbub and aided by a grant from the Scottish Government’s climate challenge fund.
Located at its new hub, it is part of a first wave of Community Fridge Network facilities in Scotland.
Its aim is to reduce food waste while bringing people together and encouraging a spirit of sharing within communities.
It will be open between 9.30am and 4.30pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and from noon to 4.30pm on Wednesday, to allow residents and local businesses to share surplus food and for anyone to help themselves to goods which would otherwise be wasted.
It welcomes donations, from individuals, community groups or businesses, of unopened, packaged foods within their use by date and raw fruit or vegetables.
There is also a distribution point for Kirkcaldy Foodbank in the building so donations will be shared with them.
It is estimated every household throws away, on average, £460 worth of food every year.
Around 60% of that waste is avoidable and could have been eaten had it been better managed.
The Scottish Government has recently introduced a target to reduce food waste by 33% by 2025 and Hubbub’s community fridge network has been praised by Zero Waste Scotland for its approach to tackling the issue.
Greener Kirkcaldy’s Rosanna Zywietz said: “Community fridges are a wonderful concept and we’re delighted to host the first for Kirkcaldy.
“All our community are welcome to get involved, whether by giving or receiving food, volunteering to help with the fridge, or coming along to one of our cooking activities in our new Lang Spoon community kitchen.”
Zero Waste Scotland’s food waste campaigns manager Ylva Haglund said community fridges were a brilliantly simple way for using quality fresh food which would otherwise be thrown away.
“It’s exciting to see the growing trend for community fridges in Scotland and we hope other communities across the country will follow suit when they see the positive impact they can make.”
Hubbub currently has 50 community fridges in a network across the UK, which on average each redistribute half a tonne of food per month.
Anyone interested in volunteering with Greener Kirkcaldy’s community fridge, or for more information email info@greenerkirkcaldy.org.uk.
