Launch of Kirkcaldy’s first community fridge

The initiative is supported by the environmental charity Hubbub and enabled by a grant from the Scottish Government’s Climate Challenge Fund (CCF).

The Greener Kirkcaldy Community Fridge, which is located in their new premises at 8 East Fergus Place, is part of a first wave of Community Fridge Network fridges in Scotland which will reduce food waste whilst bringing people together and encouraging a spirit of sharing within communities.

The fridge was launched last week, as part of the launch of Greener Kirkcaldy’s new community building and Lang Spoon Community Kitchen – which will be a place for people to come together to grow, cook, eat and learn.

The fridge will be open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, from 9.30am – 4.30pm, and Wednesday noon – 4.30pm, to enable residents and local businesses to share surplus food and for anyone to help themselves to quality food that would otherwise be wasted.

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Greener Kirkcaldy welcome donations from individuals, community groups or businesses, of unopened, packaged foods within their use by date and raw fruit or vegetables, which will then be available to anyone in the community to take away.

There is also a distribution point for Kirkcaldy Food Bank in the building so donations will be shared with them.

Food waste is a big issue in Scotland. Every household throws away on average £460 worth of food every year. Most of that waste (around 60 per cent) is avoidable and could have been eaten had it been better managed.

The Scottish Government has recently introduced a target to reduce food waste in Scotland by 33 per cent by 2025 and Hubbub’s Community Fridge Network has been praised by Zero Waste Scotland for its approach to tackling the issue.

Rosanna Zywietz from Greener Kirkcaldy, said: “Community Fridges are a wonderful concept and we’re delighted to host the first for Kirkcaldy.

“All our community are welcome to get involved, whether by giving or receiving food, volunteering to help with the fridge, or coming along to one of our cooking activities in our new Lang Spoon Community Kitchen.”

Ylva Haglund, food waste campaigns manager, Zero Waste Scotland, said: “Scotland is committed to reducing food waste and Community Fridges are a brilliantly simple way of using up quality fresh food that would otherwise be thrown away.

“It’s exciting to see the growing trend for Community Fridges in Scotland and we hope other communities across the country will follow suit when they see the positive impact they can make.

“It’s great to see the commitment from Greener Kirkcaldy to make fridge a success and we particularly thank the Climate Challenge Fund for making this project possible.”

Environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful manage the Climate Challenge Fund on behalf of the Scottish Government.

Alastair Seaman, operations manager, said: “We are delighted to see another Community Fridge launch in Scotland.

“Community Fridges provide an opportunity for local communities to address the problem of food waste, helping to tackle carbon emissions and climate change, whilst ensuring anyone who needs it has access to high quality fresh food.”

If you’re interested in volunteering with Greener Kirkcaldy’s Community Fridge, or have any questions about donating, or taking away, food, please contact [email protected]. You can find out more on Greener Kirkcaldy’s website: www.greenerkirkcaldy.org.uk.

Find out more about Hubbub’s Community Fridge Network, including a map of fridge locations and advice for those interested in setting up a Community Fridge, at www.hubbub.org.uk/communityfridgenetwork.