Don’t throw anything away

by Eleonora Anello

A bit for the crisis, a bit for the environment, it’s better to reuse the remains of the abundant traditionally meals. Christmas is coming and soon we will be facing a sea of leftovers to manage.
It was estimated that each year only in the United Kingdom are thrown away 6.7 million tonnes of food still edible, the equivalent to one third of food purchased (Source: WRAP). Only because, perhaps, it wasn’t planned well the weekly menu.

Recycle for London, the permanent public awareness campaigns, commissioned by the Greater London Authority, to enhance the different waste collection in the British capital, on the web offers recipes with the leftovers, invented by the chefs to cook not only with unconsumed meals, but also with what has been hidden in a corner of the fridge. The "Internet surfers" can participate in the culinary community and give their advice.

Nationally, however, the British government underlines all of the advantages of the Christmas holidays to let their citizens reflect
on how to increase the amount of waste recycled, suggesting new areas of daily life to be converted to the reuse. In that regard since 2007 WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Program, funded by the government) has launched "Love Food Hate Waste". Thanks to this effective campaign, 1.8 million of families are taking steps to reduce the amount of food we throw away. These changes result in an overall saving of 296 million of euro and a reduction of 600,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases annually.

The result of government efforts in persuading their citizens is represented by this campaign in perfect British-style: practical, simple and humorous in a subtle and sophisticated way. "Love food hate waste," combines the characteristic faces of ordinary people which refers to the foods so only if the testimonial is similar to the product under discussion. Thus we have a man who resembles in colour and shape to a potato, another with curly hair similar to a lamb. The humour certainly plays a significant role in the campaign and not only in the verbal language but in its juxtaposition with the image. The humour then that goes beyond the words, tying the images and that involves the target in a fun, engaging them in co-production of meaning.

Wishing you'll enjoy your meal, we try to do an exercise in humour, communicative act that doesn’t offend, remembering that the recipes linked to the campaigns are ... English!