Save The Food:Cooking Up a Food Waste Prevention Campaign for

Tompkins County

Kat McCarthy, Waste Reduction and Recycling Specialist

Tompkins County• 1991 - Compost Education program with CCE • 2006 - Commercial Composting partnership • 2011 – Compost & recycling support program at

multifamily dwellings• 2012- Residential Food Scraps Recycling drop spot• 2013 – Launched first pilot curbside collection

NYS Pollution Prevention Institute

Community Grants Program• Supports projects that raise awareness and

understanding of pollution prevention behaviors

Grant Timeline• Applied October 2014• Received November 2014 • Began implementing in 2015

Funding provided by the NYS Pollution Prevention Institute through a grant from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation

Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Environmental Conservation

Project Overview

• Benchmarking Research

• Film Screening

• Social Media Campaign

• School Presentations

• Food Waste Prevention Challenge

Benchmarking

• Sources:– EPA’s Food Too Good To Waste– UK’s Love Food, Hate Waste– Webinars and Reports

• Tips & Tools– Keep messaging simple– Target a few, simple behaviors– Smart Shopping Guide– Food Storage Guide & Infograph

• Opportunities– Young, full-time workers– Families with children

• Pilots demonstrate average 25% decrease in waste after implementation

Film Screening• Goals

• Increase awareness about food waste

• Generate community conversation• Partnerships

• Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival

• FDN • NYSP2I

Social Media Campaign

Goals• Encourage food waste

prevention• Highlight success stories• Network, build community,

motivate behavior changeTips• Post regularly• Include pictures, graphics,

and videos• Consider seasonality

Smart Cooking: It Makes Sense

School Presentations• Module for existing tours & presentations• Adapted by grade level• Discussion about food waste

– Reduction– Implications– Tips to avoid

• Activity: “Eat First” box

Food Waste Prevention Challenge

• For food scraps recycling drop spot users• Community based social marketing• Material weigh-in• Handouts and tools• Focus:

– Smart Shopping– Smart Prep– Smart Storage

Key Elements• Fold into existing programs• Community based social marketing• Partner to increase reach

Lessons Learned

• Plan ahead– Think about how data will be collected

• Develop partnerships• Keep things simple• Be engaging

– Have a clear ‘ask’– Provide new content periodically

Thanks To:

• NYSP2I• US EPA• Friendship Donations Network• Finger Lakes Environmental Film

Festival• Emma Frisch• Flourish Designs• Tom Hoebbel

Thank youTompkins County Solid Waste

Management Divisionwww.recycletompkins.org

273-6632kmccarthy@tompkins-co.org