Carrickfergus Community Fridge to help tackle food waste

The project, which will be based at Eden Community Centre, was funded by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council and supported by Carrickfergus Vineyard Church.

A post on the Carrickfergus Community Fridge Facebook page read: “The fridge will be open to everyone. We want to change mindsets and instead of throwing out unopened, in date food come and leave it in our community fridge. Take what you need and leave what you don’t want.

“You don’t need to bring food to take food but if we all made a little change we could make a huge difference."

Carly Ogilvie, who is co-ordinating the project, said: “I’ve been blown away by the support of local businesses - Tesco, Henderson Group, Eden Vivo, Vape and Grind, Delacey’s, Thursday market vendors, allotment owners and M&S.

“The aim of the fridge is to try help eliminate waste going to landfill, help families that may be struggling and to also bring a sense of belonging to our community.”

Some 27 volunteers are on board to help run the fridge, which is due to open later this month.

The average UK household throws out a whopping £500 worth of food annually, rising to £730 for a family with children, according to Love Food Hate Waste.

Food placed in landfill rots and degrades over a period of years and releases harmful greenhouse gases, including methane, in the process.