PRESS RELEASE
Food Waste in the Home Responsible for Significant Environmental Impacts
61% of food waste is being generated in households
11th December 2023
Over half of all food waste is being generated from people’s homes across Europe. Food waste is contributing to greenhouse gases, by as much as 8-10%, and is one of the leading causes of freshwater pollution.
The Theory of Planned Behaviour by Azjen (1991) may explain some of the reasons why people are more likely to waste food. He proposes 3 factors that can influence individual’s actions:
- Perceived Behavioural Control- barriers that individuals think they cannot overcome or prevent them from carrying out a task
- Attitude- How an individual views a certain behaviour- is it positively or negatively perceived?
- Societal norms- expectations created by society
Routines also influence behaviour. Russell et al. (2017) highlighted that PBC became less influential once habitual habits were taken into consideration. Individuals might not acknowledge routines as a cause of food waste, compared to their thoughts and feelings which would usually provoke action.
In understanding why people make certain choices, management strategies can be arranged to effectively target specific audiences.
Websites such as the BBC and Waitrose have suggested minimising food waste by planning meals and shopping lists, freezing food and composting food instead of throwing it in general rubbish.
The use of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), particularly SDG 12- responsible consumption and production, creates clear criteria for which people can follow to reduce their consumption. It sets out sub-goals, creating a timeframe which society can use to help them achieve consumption and production goals by.
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To find out more, please contact: Tiakara Philips, 2nd year BSc Environmental Management and Sustainability student, University of Plymouth on [email protected]
