In the UK, we throw away 6.4 million tonnes of household food waste every year—equivalent to over 15 billion meals! Taste Imperial is taking a stand against waste with our new initiative, Forage for Sustainability (FFS), designed to inspire both students and staff to rethink waste and its impact on our planet.
Get Involved
We’re kicking off the initiative with Friday Fridge Forage. A monthly activity inviting five students to hand in their leftover ingredients to our development chef, John Cavalli. He’ll work his magic to turn those odds and ends into a delicious meal! Find out more and sign up here..
This is just the beginning. We have an exciting range of activities planned and welcome your thoughts on how we can promote sustainability and reduce waste across campus. Follow us on social media @TasteImperial or email tasteimperial@imperial.ac.uk to get involved.
Our Mission
Forage for Sustainability aims to challenge how we think about waste and to inspire action towards more sustainable habits. Here’s what we’re working towards:
- Promote sustainability: We’re encouraging our community to think differently about waste and adopt more sustainable habits.
- Boost engagement: We want students and staff to take action in their personal and professional lives to actively reduce waste.
- Build a community: By working together, we want to foster an empowered community driven by sustainability.
- Raise awareness: We aim to spread the message on how we can tackle waste and to inspire more sustainability initiatives across campus.
Call to action
Sustainable Food & Drink
Our Sustainable Food & Drink Policy places sustainability at the core of the decisions we make about the food and drink we serve on campus. This policy forms part of Imperial's Sustainability Strategy 2021-26 and plays a central role in making our campuses more sustainable. Since the policy launched in October 2022, we have reached a number of exciting milestones and achievements thanks to the hard work of our Taste Imperial team and the support of our staff, students and community.
Sustainable food & drink policy
Elimination of beef
A 2021 report found that a complete removal of red meat from our menus could provide a 20% reduction in total carbon emissions. Beef is on track to be removed entirely from our menus by October 2024, ahead of schedule.
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Saving 825,000 litres of water
We've installed new plate wash and pot wash machines. Our Granuldisk pot wash is projected to save 825,000 litres of water per year and the Meiko plate wash is up to 38% more energy efficient.
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40% decrease in napkin consumption
Procured new napkins and dispensers, which are made from recycled tetrapaks, resulting in a 40% decrease in napkin consumption.
Sustainable food & drink policy
Say goodbye to disposables
We have eliminated around 30,000 single-use cups per year.
Dairy free
Since August 2023, all non-dairy milks are now free of charge across all campus outlets.
Waste not, want not
We use the aquafaba left over from our tinned chickpeas to make our own mayo. This saves us 26,000 eggs every year.