Gurugram’s First Ever Community Fridge Helps in Reducing Food Wastage

Food wastage is a huge global concern, but thanks to some good Samaritans in our country, there have been quite a few initiatives that have come up with solutions to tackle food wastage by allowing the distribution of leftover food among those who are needy. One such brilliant idea is that of community fridges. Under this initiative, a refrigerator is placed in public places where anyone can put their leftover food -from restaurants, hotels or homes - and those who need food have free access to it. The main aim of the community fridge is to curb food wastage and help feed the people in need. While this concept was first conceived in Germany and Spain, it has reached Indian cities like Kochi and Mumbai where community fridges have been installed and now, Gurugram has one too!

How it started...

Residents of Suncity Society at Sector- 54 in Gurugram came together for a noble cause and decided to do something for the welfare of the society. According to primary conceptualizer Rahul Khera, "Suncity Society has about 1800 people and some of us started a messaging group to spread awareness about waste management, however, couldn't do much about it. We decided to collect the leftovers of food and give it to the needy. Considering there are so many people living in the society, we needed a common platform to work something out. That's when we bought a refrigerator and installed it in the society so that people could keep the food in it for the needy. Today, the fridge gets loaded with 35-40 food packages every day including not just leftovers but also freshly cooked food."
 

Mr. Rahul tells us that they have got an amazing response from all across Gurugram and people are interested in installing more such refrigerators in their localities. Now, there are two more community fridges that have been installed in the Millennium City. He shares, "It is an easy concept, has a low capital requirement and is easy to manage and maintain too."

The community fridge is open 24 hours, seven days a week and is accessible to everyone. The team has collated a list of guidelines for donors. Those who wish to donate food are advised to put neatly packaged meals along with an expiry date and other specifications like if it is vegetarian or non-vegetarian.

Needless to say, this initiative has garnered a lot of admiration and attention and people are doing their best to keep the fridge loaded with foods like milk, boxes of sweets, dal-chawal, and much more.

Friends extremely happy to share with you that a community fridge has been setup in Suncity, sec 54, Gurugram. The fridge is placed near the exit gate of the Society. Please help us to spread the word...

If you wish to donate some food, the fridge is located near the exit gate of Suncity Flats in Sector 54. Even a small act of kindness, can prove to be really helpful and we hope more and more people come forward to support such generous initiatives.