Welcome to the Action Phase! Here you will find examples and strategies to move your project from idea to execution. Each resource section contains assets that you can use, edit and share freely to help save time and resources.
The Action Phase of any project turns planning into reality. It requires clear coordination and effective communication to keep everyone on track and to ensure everyone's voices are being heard and included. Assigning responsibilities and monitoring progress ensures momentum, while staying flexible helps address any challenges.
Some things to keep in mind
Taking community action against food waste can take many forms, depending on the needs and resources of the area. It can involve anything from seminars and workshops to volunteer opportunities, food-shares and community composting. Schools and local organisations can also participate by hosting awareness campaigns, offering workshops on reducing food waste at home or in the workplace.
Working with local festivals is another powerful way to reduce food waste. You can offer to co-host an event that links their theme with food waste reduction, celebrating your communities efforts and creating opportunities for new connections.
During our 14-month food waste reduction initiative we found that the community was most engaged when we hosted workshops that catered to specific existing organisations, worked within existing groups or festivals, or ran things as a direct result of community suggestions. As a result we were able to collaborate, co-host creative events and stalls, enabling us to weave conversations about food waste reduction into ‘normal’ community activities and celebrations. Volunteering and Field Trip opportunities to see the scale of our Food Waste problem and work being done to solve it were among the most popular group events we co-hosted, alongside creative food waste reduction cookery and gardening workshops!
Community Action Examples: In the resource section below you will find ideas and pilot projects for community action, but remember - every community is unique!
Some examples to get you thinking from our project in Clonakilty: We co-hosted a Guitar Festival event at our local Meals on Wheels. In schools, we paired up with home economics teachers, green school committees, TY students, local chefs and gardeners. We organized events as part of the Lifelong Learning Festival, Culture Night, the Old Time Fair, the Clonakilty Bicycle Festival (A Curry Re-cycle). We collaborated with our local apple pressing group, local women and men's sheds, our Asylum seekers lodge, community garden and passionate advocates for local food, kids health and composting. This is to name but a few!
Food businesses are often eager to reduce food waste but frequently face competing pressures, along with time and budget constraints. To start, any business looking to reduce waste should conduct an internal waste audit and open up conversations with staff to share ideas for food waste reduction. These steps can uncover key issues, and businesses often discover several simple, cost-effective ways to save food from the bin. Click here for a great guide by the EPA to share with businesses.
In restaurants, hotels and at large events, common culprits like unnecessary garnishes, overgenerous portions, and overstocking contribute to waste and unnecessary costs.
Simplifying the menu can reduce excess stock by ensuring ingredients are used across multiple dishes, while portion control and offering flexible serving sizes can better meet customer needs.
For food retailers, an audit and internal discussion are also crucial. Shelves can often be overstocked, and perfectly good food may go to waste when it could be discounted or donated instead. Many businesses fear change, worried about appearing "cheap" or losing customers if they run low on products. By celebrating the efforts of local businesses and fostering collaboration, we can create a united front in the fight against food waste. Working together helps businesses share solutions and amplify their impact.
Early in our project, we discovered that larger producers and businesses are being encouraged to reduce food waste through various national government and sustainability programs. Identifying which businesses are already participating in these programs and providing information to those who aren't yet involved is an effective way to help further reduce food waste.
To recap, here’s our recommended approach for businesses looking to take impactful action against food waste:
Step 1 – Conduct an internal waste audit.
Step 2 – Hold an open meeting with staff at all levels to gather insights and ideas.
Step 3 – Connect and collaborate with other businesses to tackle food waste as a united front! Check out our resources below to help you save time and start the conversation.
Getting feedback is key to making your community food waste reduction initiative successful. It helps ensure the project is working well and really incorporates the needs and ideas of everyone involved. By listening to what local businesses, residents, and other community members have to say, you can learn what’s going well and what could use a little tweaking.
Some ideas to gather feedback
Use online surveys (e.g., free platforms like JotForm or Survey Monkey) to make it easy for people to share their thoughts and experiences at their convenience.
Request feedback via email, allowing community members to offer suggestions or voice concerns directly.
Host community meetings or focus groups to provide an opportunity for open discussion.
Gathering feedback helps you make informed adjustments, ensuring the initiative remains relevant and impactful, while fostering a sense of ownership and collaboration within the community.
The first step in tracking the success of your food waste project is to be clear what you aim to achieve by your initiative. A project can have multiple goals and it is important to list these goals from the outset and to check in regularly to see if you are making progress towards achieving them.
You can always refine goals further later on, but first just decide what the main aims for your project are – this should be done through discussions as part of your community meetings. Rate this list in order of importance to get you started:
Once you have set your goals you will want to try to establish the situation in your local area currently. This can be tricky to do!
If you are aiming to reduce food waste, you will need to talk to groups within the community about their food waste from the outset. Many businesses will already have a clear idea of the amount of food waste they are creating through their waste collection service figures, however households and community groups may not and could be encouraged to undertake a food waste audit. Chat to your stakeholders, be they businesses or households and ask them what they feel they waste the most and why!
Likewise with goals around composting/using the curbside organic waste bin, or redistributing excess food, have open, non-judgmental conversations in your community to find out where people, community groups and businesses are at with food waste currently. Once you know the community's current situation and where you want to get to you can track movement towards this.
Ask household and community group participants to complete surveys (e.g. use printed surveys at events, or free online surveys like JotForm or Survey Monkey) to look at changes in awareness of food waste and/or any changes to behavior (such as use of shopping lists, improved storage of food, increased use of composting or the organic waste bin etc) since engaging in the project. We asked our community to help us quantify the impact program as well as to provide quotes for us to share on their experience in order to encourage others to follow suit!
Business changes can be measured and recorded through waste audits, surveys (as above) or regular check-in conversations to see if they are on track with planned changes to reduce food waste and increase redistribution of excess food.
Highlight the successes of the initiatives through community events, newsletters, and social media. Celebrating successes motivates the community to engage in the initiative, building the momentum of the project, and builds community spirit!
The Community Climate Action Programme: Climate Education, Capacity Building and Learning by Doing (Strand 2) is funded by the Government of Ireland through the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications.
The project is delivered by the environmental NGO, VOICE, with support from locally based informal and formal partners.
VOICE is a member-based environmental Charity established in 1997. We currently focus our attention on waste and water issues. VOICE membership represents people from across Ireland and reflects the growing concern that Irish people have for the quality of their environment.
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