A commitment to walk-the-walk on waste reduction has paid off for the FOOD Week committee, with carbon emissions down 27 per cent since it began taking measures from signature events three years ago.
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An audit found a waste reduction of 8.7 per cent on last year, with 99 per cent of stallholders at the Night Market, Sunday Producers Market, Forage, FOOD HQ and FOOD Train complying with the committee's recycling standards.
President James Sweetapple said FOOD Week is about looking after producers which is why they're "leading" for sustainable events.
"If we create a truck load of waste, it's not going to work," he said.
"FOOD Week is about looking after and promoting our producers and if we don't urgently look after our planet we'll have a desert for people to visit."
FOOD Week achieves its sustainability targets at events by installing bins which are monitored by both paid workers and volunteers who help attendees correctly sort their waste.
It promotes car pooling, encourages the use of KeepCups and reusable water bottles, as well as ensuring all stall holders use recyclable plates, bowls and cutlery.
The committee enlisted the services of independent auditor Instep to quantify its sustainability efforts, with this years findings presented to Orange City Council this week.
Instep has worked with major events, including Sydney's Oxfam Walk and the Commonwealth Games, to help organisers cut down the emissions.
Mr Sweetapple said it will continue its focus on encouraging public transport and car pooling, which has already seen emissions drop 5 per cent - despite growing crowds.
"We are a regional events so we have to have people travel to us, that's what brings money into the economy," he said.
He said with the event growing the committee will get people car pooling by "singing about it" through their marketing avenues to ensure it was at the forefront of people's minds.
He said he'd like to see all future events in Orange increase their focus on sustainability.
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