DO GOOD FOR THE CLIMATE AND REDUCE FOOD WASTE
Climate change is the most pressing issue of our generation, and food waste makes a huge impact on it. Global warming could effectively be controlled by reducing food waste. Wasted food globally causes 6,7 % of all the greenhouse gas emissions that warm our planet (FAO 2017). The worst burdens in terms of our climate are wasted milk and meat products. In Finland alone, 450 million kilograms of food waste is being generated, which produces the equivalent of 1 000 million kilograms of CO2 emissions. The food thrown away just in normal households equals the emissions produced by 100 000 cars in a year. Food waste is produced in every step of food production.
In the grocery stores and poultries of Finland, waste 65–75 million kilograms of food that ends up in the trash. Keru has been developed to prevent this. Keru community fridge collects the wasted food from stores and restaurants. Keru fridge puts this waste back to use, so that edible food doesn’t end up in the landfills. Households and individuals can also donate their wasted food to the Keru fridge.
The Keru concept aims to raise awareness of the food waste problems and its effects on climate change. With Keru, we want to offer an easy and simple activity for individuals to participate in for solving a global problem.
As a part of the Keru community fridge concept, we will organise waste food cooking workshops and food sharing events. We also welcome volunteers to participate in organising different activities with us. The Keru concept aims to increase the value of food by utilising and sharing the surplus food from shops and restaurants, while developing a new communal urban culture. It lowers the threshold for grassroots activity and promotes the community and sharing culture.