How you can take part

Food Waste Action Week at LSE Bankside: How You Can Make a Difference

This March, LSE Bankside is taking part in Food Waste Action Week, a national campaign dedicated to raising awareness about the environmental impact of food waste and encouraging everyone to take simple, meaningful steps to reduce it.

Across the UK, Food Waste Action Week highlights two key types of waste:

• Pre‑consumer waste – surplus food generated during preparation or storage
• Post‑consumer waste – leftovers on plates that end up being thrown away

At Bankside, our catering and reception teams work hard to connect these everyday actions to broader environmental issues, helping students understand how small changes can contribute to a more sustainable future.

"Each September, we introduce new students to Winnow, explaining how it works and how they can help reduce food waste, this approach has paid off, with students getting on board right away "

✅ Our Targets for This Year

At Bankside we have seen a 9% reduction in plate waste so far- from 94 grams per cover, to 85 grams per cover. 

This year Bankside has set ambitious goals for reducing food waste:

• 15% reduction in plate waste which means 80 gpc. 
• 55% reduction in kitchen waste

Results

As the week has concluded, we are pleased to share the students managed to exceed our target and reduce 17% of Plate Waste! This is an amazing accomplishment for both the students and staff at Bankside. 

🧂What’s Already Happening Behind the Scenes

Our kitchen teams are already taking creative steps to reduce waste, using vegetable trimmings to make stocks, creating flavored salts, and finding new ways to use ingredients efficiently while still delivering delicious meals.

🙌 How You Can Get Involved This Week

Food Waste Action Week is all about awareness and action. Here are some simple ways you can make a difference:

• Store food correctly – keeping items in the right place helps them last longer
  
• Understand date labels – “Use By” and “Best Before” mean different things
• Get creative with leftovers – many ingredients can be repurposed into new meals
• Plan ahead – thinking about what you’ll eat reduces impulse waste

For more tips check out the Love Food Hate Waste website which includes practical tips, recipes, and tools to help you waste less and save more.

Or if you would like to know more about what your catering teams Sustainability and Wellbeing Targets are you can read them here.