Tackling Food Waste Across Cumberland

Hands holding compost with food scraps in the background

Personal Food Waste

Simple steps to cut waste and save more.

Plan and shop smarter

  • Use a simple meal planner or shopping list to avoid impulse buys
  • Check your fridge and pantry before you shop

Love Food Hate Waste tips

  • Slash your food bill by up to £60/month
  • Host or join a leftover-cooking workshop for soups, stocks, smoothies, and more

Store for freshness

  • Freeze bread, bag up herbs, wrap cheeses,
  • Some produce does better at room temperature, while others need refrigeration
  • Keep bananas away from other fruits to slow ripening.
  • Store leftovers and dry goods in airtight containers to prevent moisture and bacteria from spoiling them.
  • Understand “use-by” vs “best-before” dates to avoid premature binning

See our section on composting for how to process unavoidable waste at home.

Personal Food Waste

Simple steps to cut waste and save more.

Plan and shop smarter

  • Use a simple meal planner or shopping list to avoid impulse buys
  • Check your fridge and pantry before you shop

Love Food Hate Waste tips

  • Slash your food bill by up to £60/month
  • Host or join a leftover-cooking workshop for soups, stocks, smoothies, and more

Store for freshness

  • Freeze bread, bag up herbs, wrap cheeses,
  • Some produce does better at room temperature, while others need refrigeration
  • Keep bananas away from other fruits to slow ripening.
  • Store leftovers and dry goods in airtight containers to prevent moisture and bacteria from spoiling them.
  • Understand “use-by” vs “best-before” dates to avoid premature binning

See our section on composting for how to process unavoidable waste at home.

Small changes, big difference - find your local refill shop text at top. Picture of girl standing in apron outside refill shop which has bottles drawn on window in white pen

Use Your Local Refill Shop

Save money and help the planet! Using your local refill shops means less packaging, less waste and more money in your pocket. Download our handy leaflet to discover refill options near you and make simple, sustainable swaps.

Attachment Size
1.46 MB

Business Food Waste

Working together to build a low-waste local economy 

  • Embrace the waste hierarchy
    • Reduce: adjust portion sizes, repurpose trimmings, optimise inventory
    • Redistribute: partner with local food pantries or sign up to Too Good to Go.
    • Recycle: send peelings and plate scrapings for composting or anaerobic digestion
    • Recover: explore energy-from-waste for unavoidable residues onsite. 
    • For inspiration and guidance, look here: Waste Reduction Resource Hub | Cumbria Tourism
  • Local collection and compliance
    • Under the Simpler Recycling legislation, businesses with ≥10 employees must separate food waste from March 2025 (all businesses by March 2027)
    • Cumbria Waste Management Ltd offers commercial food-waste collections across Cumberland
  • Guidance & training

Composting & Digestion: Turn Scraps into Soil Gold

  • Home composting
  • Community & commercial hubs
    • Find a community composting project via Cumbria Master Composters or Cumbria Wildlife Trust
    • Explore on-farm composting and small-scale Anaerobic Digestion (AD) through Cumbria Connect and Zero Carbon Cumbria
  • 5 simple composting steps
    • Choose a sunny spot with drainage twigs
    • Alternate “greens” (kitchen peelings, grass cuttings) with “browns” (leaves, cardboard)
    • Keep moist but not waterlogged
    • Turn monthly to aerate
    • Harvest rich compost after 3 - 6 months

 

Additional Resources for Homeowners and Businesses

Looking to go further? These national and local initiatives offer practical tools, funding and support to help you tackle food waste and composting at home or in your business.

For Homeowners

For Businesses