Community fridges have been fighting food waste for over a decade

Jaque Taylor (pictured left) checks-in on Bristol’s first community fridge and the impact it’s still making today. If you are running a community fridge, please get in touch.

This year, community fridges have been around for a decade — the first one was introduced in 2015 when Germany saw it as an innovative solution for reducing food waste — and they’ve made a huge impact in that time. There has been a steady and supportive global expansion of the concept, with community fridges cropping up all around the world, and the UK has arisen as a leader, currently boasting over 700 community fridges and counting.  

The main purpose of community fridges is to get the community sharing and uniting to tackle the ever-present issue of reducing food waste. Unlike traditional food pantries, the community fridge effort generally encourages people to help themselves, therefore removing any potential stigma. This runs counter to many other programmes that may require people to sign-up or sign-in in order to receive food support. And although many of these efforts are in fact supporting people who may struggle to afford or have access to food, their main purpose is primarily food waste reduction.  

Bedminster Children’s Centre Community Fridge

The first community fridge set up in Bristol for this very purpose was the Bedminster Children’s Centre Community Fridge, which began its program in 2020 and is still going strong today. The fridge operates with the support of six dedicated volunteers who help pick up weekly food donations from Sainsbury’s, Co-op, Aldi, Lidl, and Asda. Because of their efforts, the community fridge currently receives food donations most days except for Friday. Occasionally there are donations from the general public on top of this, but the vast majority come thanks to the supermarkets that donate items that are past their best date. 

These donations include common shelf-stable items such as tins, pasta, and drinks (water and fizzy) but also more perishable items such as bread, fruit, veg, as well as common dairy products like milk and yogurt. There is no fresh meat or fish available, but there are sometimes canned meats or fish on the rack that sits alongside the fridge. Everyone is free to use it — not only Bedminster residents — and can take up to five items, ensuring there is enough for everyone.  

Last year in 2024, this single fridge alone saved 8,127 kilos (or eight tonnes) of food from turning into food waste. In the UK, 9.5 million tonnes of food is wasted annually. And for the rare times when there is something leftover, any extras will be taken to the fridge’s resident pig who will happily eat the scraps — creating a truly no-waste system for the community!  

‘[W]e wouldn’t be able to do it without our volunteers. They’re amazing . . . They keep it running’, says Julie Long, a worker at Compass Point, where the community fridge is located.  

The Community Fridge Network

In the UK, a convenient way of locating a community fridge nearby is through The Community Fridge Network (TCFM), which was started in July 2017 by Hubbub, an environmental charity focused on inspiring positive environmental changes through community campaigns. Through TCFM, you’re able to use an online map feature that enables you to see the available community fridges within your area.  

Currently, only Ignite Community Fridge comes up as a result for Bristol specifically, due to the fact that not all community fridge organisations choose to register on TCFM. Ignite Community Fridge, which was launched in early 2023, has a ‘no questions asked’ policy, where anyone can help themselves to the community fridge and food pantry once a week. Ignite Life UK is a charity that gives young people in need life-changing experiences and opportunities. Their community fridge opened to support people in food poverty as well as to fight food waste.  

With more awareness and support of the concept, we can empower these community fridges to keep popping up all over the UK, and make a nationwide difference to the UK’s food waste.  

Tell us about other community fridges!

If you’re an organisation that runs a community fridge or if you happen to know of one, we’d love to know about it. Please tell us about other community fridges in the city, so we can all share and spread the word. 

And if you have surplus food you’d like to donate, please drop off donations at the Bedminster Children’s Centre. They are also looking for additional volunteers who can help support the community fridge programme during the busier holiday times. Please get in touch with Julie Long at Julie.long@bristol-schools.uk.

To stay updated on future events, job opportunities and news, don’t forget to sign up for our monthly newsletter at bristolgoodfood.org/newsletter. ⁣