Raising awareness and accountability on food waste

The Brief:

The UK wastes 4.5m tonnes of food per year, with a devastating impact on the environment. Yet many Brits are in denial about how much food waste they produce at home, thinking of it as an issue for the food industry.

This is far from the case. WRAP tasked us with tackling this lack of awareness and accountability, and asked us to bring home the issue of food waste.

Strategy and Implementation:

Our approach was to bring the message of food waste home with an integrated campaign that dramatised the huge amount of food that Londoners are discarding every year.

Showing just how much those ‘little’ bits of domestic food waste add up, we created The House of Food Waste: a visually spectacular installation at a London home, of 3.75 tonnes of fruit and vegetables spilling out of its doors and windows.

Images and video of this stunt were sold in to media and shared across social channels. (All food from the installation was later offered to local residents and donated to organisations that feed people in need.)

Knowing that perception change is only half the battle, we followed up the stunt with a series of cookery events across 12 London boroughs, providing residents with practical tips on how to use leftovers, and store and prep food correctly, to prevent waste.

Results:

Our shocking installation captured the attention of the public and the media.

Ultimately, we helped effect change: most importantly, food waste in the capital reduced by 11%.