Cool move as town gets its first community fridge

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 the first wave of Community Fridge Network outlets 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 from 9.30am-4.30pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and from 12-4.30pm on Wednesday, to allow residents and 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, plus raw fruit or vegetables. There is also a distribution point for Kirkcaldy Foodbank in the building so donations will be shared.

It is estimated every household throws away, on average, £460 worth of food every year.

About 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 or volunteering to help with the fridge.”