“Reduce Food Waste, Save Money”: Testing a Novel Intervention to Reduce Household Food Waste

TLDR

The study tested a theory‑of‑planned‑behavior‑based intervention in a randomized trial with 112 households, measuring food waste by directly collecting curbside garbage samples from 58 control and 54 treatment households. The intervention reduced total food waste by 31 % and avoidable food waste by 30 % in treatment households, significantly greater than controls (p = .02 and .05), with reductions linked to attitudes, perceived control, household size, and garbage set‑out.

Abstract

An intervention, which used elements of the theory of planned behavior, was developed and tested in a randomized control trial (RCT) involving households in the city of London, Ontario, Canada. A bespoke methodology involving the direct collection and measurement of food waste within curbside garbage samples of control ( n = 58) and treatment households ( n = 54) was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. A comparison of garbage samples before and after the intervention revealed that total food waste in treatment households decreased by 31% after the intervention and the decrease was significantly greater ( p = .02) than for control households. Similarly, avoidable food waste decreased by 30% in treatment households and was also significantly greater ( p = .05) than for control households. Key determinants of treatment household avoidable food waste reduction included personal attitudes, perceived behavioral control, the number of people in a household, and the amount of garbage set out.