Dreaming of a green Christmas

Cork City Council is dreaming of a green Christmas this year.

In a bid to curb food waste, the council has launched its Green Christmas campaign to encourage people to waste less food by planning their menus, using or freezing their leftovers and only buying what they need.

The message is to reduce food waste and to make sure all recyclable materials are recycled by placing them clean, dry and loose into your recycling bin.

Cork City Council’s Environmental Awareness Officer, Mary Walsh said: “The typical Irish family wastes about €700 worth of food each year by simply buying too much. Along with being a waste of money, this also has a negative impact on our environment. We are encouraging people to save money and the environment by meal planning, smart shopping and using all their leftovers.

“Additionally, Christmas is a time when we generate lots of paper, cardboard, plastic, aluminium cans and other packaging. We would urge people firstly to choose recycled goods and to put these materials in their recycling in a clean, dry and loose state.”

The campaign begins this week and reminds people to plan their meals in advance, make shopping lists and stick to them and offers great ideas for using leftover food.

See corkcity.ie for more details.