Public Refrigerators Sprout in Europe, Tackling Food Waste with an Eco-friendly Initiative

Ever found a head of lettuce in your fridge just a tad too wilted to be in a salad? Or maybe purchased extra loaves of bread just before your holiday?

Geneva-based non-profit, Free-Go, is offering a solution for such eco-minded consumers. In a move against food waste, they’re expanding their initiative of setting up free public refrigerators on the streets, where anyone, from professional chefs to home cooks, can drop off food on the verge of spoilage. This initiative forms part of a larger environmental effort across Switzerland and other European countries to combat food waste and help the environment.

Free-Go, with its name playing on the word ‘frigo’, the French slang for fridge, has successfully launched refrigerators and food shelves in Geneva. Pedestrians can freely pick up perishables like fruits, vegetables, bread, and croissants.

The project costs approximately $40,000 annually, receiving support from both charitable organizations and the local government. From its beginnings with a single refrigerator located outside a community center in western Geneva, Free-Go has grown to operate four strategically located refrigerators with a fifth one planned before the year ends.

Marine Delevaux, the director of the project, notes that food donations are typically taken within an hour after being dropped off. Due to health and safety regulations, the refrigerators cannot accept frozen items, open food containers, prepared meals, or alcohol.

Free-Go is also experimenting with regular pickups from apartment buildings, making participation more accessible for residents. They have established a “hotline” for restaurant owners to arrange the collection of unused food.

Delevaux states, “When the food gathered from stores and restaurants arrives in the morning, individuals are already present to help themselves.” She added that the first fridge in Geneva managed to save around 3.2 tons of food from being wasted in the previous year, with only 3% of the donated food needing to be discarded because no one claimed it.

Free-Go ensures that contributors, like restaurants or food sellers, commit to providing safe-to-eat food. According to Swiss legislation, food past its ‘recommended use-by date’ can still be consumed up to a year later, says Delevaux.

The Swiss government estimates that nearly a third of all food products intended for consumption end up wasted or needlessly discarded, equating to about 330 kilograms (around 730 pounds) of food waste per person per year. Out of this, approximately 100 kilograms (about 220 pounds) are wasted by households.

Globally, about 1 billion tons of food is wasted every year according to Free-Go, using up precious energy and resources during the farming and transportation process.

“The issue of food waste is not just ethical and economic, it also erodes the environment of finite natural resources,” states the EU’s Commission.

Similar initiatives have taken root in Bern, the capital, and western Neuchatel, after the concept was imported from Germany.

Foodsharing.de, a German community group that started over a decade ago, states that over half a million people across Germany, Switzerland, and Austria have participated in the “food-sharing initiative,” helping save 83 million tons of food from being wasted, making it an international movement.

As the food is donated and varies, there is no guarantee of what will be available in the fridges, and some may not find what they’re looking for.

Shala Moradi, a 65-year-old housewife from Iran, who has lived in Geneva for ten years, expressed her disappointment when she couldn’t find bread in a fridge located in a community center in a working-class area of Geneva. Regardless, she appreciates the initiative, stating that she can find other things like strawberries and cherries, and she appreciates that the food is free.

After donating some tomatoes from her garden, Severine Cuendet, a 54-year-old teacher, praised the initiative. She said, “we have too much,” and further emphasized the significance of the initiative due to the needs of the neighborhood.

“And it happens to all of us to buy too much,” she added with a smile.

Contributions by Geir Moulson and Kirsten Grieshaber from Berlin.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Food Waste Reduction

More about Food Waste Reduction

• Free-Go Official Website
• Foodsharing.de Official Website
• EU Commission’s statement on food waste
• Swiss law on food consumption past use-by date
• Swiss government’s report on food waste