Fighting Food Waste With The People's Fridge

Food waste is becoming more prominent as an environmental issue, and it seems like every day there’s a new strategy for combating it. Too often, though, we focus on the big ideas, and we forget that small things can also have an impact on food waste. Small things like the People’s Fridge.

What’s The People’s Fridge?

The People’s Fridge is a refrigerator in a London market where anyone who walks by can take food from it free of charge. The fridge is stocked by people who have food they know they won’t be able to eat before it spoils, by stores who have produce they haven’t been able to sell, and by other businesses with surplus food. No judgment is levied on those who take food out of the fridge, or who put food in it; it’s there to help the community, and anyone who needs some of the food in it is welcome to it. In addition to acting as a kind of food exchange, though, the People’s Fridge is an education station about food waste. Statistics are posted breaking down the damage food waste does to the environment, and the fridge helps people understand the impact their decisions have on the world around them.

While it’s true that the People’s Fridge is just one, small refrigerator, the idea is something that could easily grow and spread. Ask yourself what would happen if every neighborhood had a fridge like this? Or if they had one at every store? How much food waste could we negate if we made sure people who needed food had a way to get it before it went bad?