Hot off the Press...
Young people will be able to directly contribute to reducing the $2.5 billion worth of edible food that goes to waste in NSW each year and play a role in tackling global hunger, by sharing their skills and ideas through a new online platform.
Pop the sparkling fizz - 3things was recently announced as a recipient of the NSW Environment Protection Authority’s grants program, Love Food Hate Waste. We're gonna use the funding to take Design for Change online, which will get people fired up around food waste issues in Australia and its connections to global hunger. The innovative platform will also enable people to upload their innovative design + business solutions to the causes of food waste, bring it on!
“Almost a third of food produced for human consumption is either lost or wasted,” Oxfam Australia’s Design for Change Program Coordinator Sophie Weldon said. “There is enough food to feed the total global population of seven billion people, yet almost one billion people go hungry every night. In NSW alone households throw away more than $2.5 
billion worth of edible food each year and some of the biggest culprits are 18-24 year olds.”The EPA’s Director of Waste and Resource Recovery Steve Beaman said 3things was exactly the type of project that the Love Food Hate Waste grants program was trying to encourage. “The Love Food Hate Waste grants program encourages projects which will help to reduce waste at a local level and raise awareness about the impacts of food waste.
The Oxfam 3things project will help to spread the message and encourage new ways of thinking about food waste,” Mr Beaman said. Examples of ideas that could be shared through the platform include poster campaigns to change the public perception of food waste and designs showing people how to make the most of leftovers. The Design for Change platform is being designed and developed with Digital Eskimo, a leading Sydney design firm with experience in innovative projects for social good. The best ideas submitted on the platform will be selected for publication in an e-book and distributed to organisations working on reducing food waste in Australia, to help inspire other young people to contribute to creating a sustainable food future. The Design for Change platform will build on the success of the 3things’ Design for Change program which has been running since 2007.
Design for Change emphasises the significant role young people can play in creating change by using their existing skills and interests. More information about Design for Change can be found at: 3things.org.au/programs/design-for-change. For more information about the NSW EPA’s Love Food Hate Waste Program, visit http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.nsw.gov.au/
