According to his student blog, 6 May 2019 was the day that Durham University student Matthew Unerman got angry and decided to take action against something that really shouldn't be an issue. Food waste. As Mr Unerman pointed out, perfectly good food was being thrown away by University College at the end of the day.
In a world where some people struggle to find meals, rely on food banks, and where rotting food waste is contributing to the climate crisis which we are facing right now, throwing away perfectly edible food is unacceptable. Mr Unerman, therefore, decided to take action.
As a second-year student who was no longer living in University College, he couldn't use the college canteen. When he approached the college one lunchtime and asked if he could consume the unused food, he was told he could not and that the food would go into the bin. This began a one-person protest which involved Mr Unerman holding a placard in his college. It only took a week for the college to respond.
It agreed to allow students who were living out of the college to attend the canteen at the end of some mealtimes, give a minimum donation of £1 which went to charity, and they could eat as much unused food as they liked. After two weeks, they raised £100 for the charity MIND and saved 90 meals from going to waste.
As Mr Unerman writes on his blog, "If all this positivity can come from just one college, imagine the amount of food can be saved and money raised if EVERY catered College implemented this scheme."
It would appear that Mr Unerman is now targeting the whole of the University, and is asking for fellow students to get on board and to make sure all colleges make a difference to food waste.
This kind of initiative shows just how far the action of a single person can go to make a significant environmental difference. Food waste not only contributes to unnecessary waste going to landfill, but it also wastes the energy, water and fuel that was used to grow and produce it, as well as, when it rots it produces greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change.
It is a wonderful example of how small changes can make a big difference. Food for thought maybe...
