Community Fridges
Greener Orkney was pleased to join the project launched by the Co-Op and Hubbub aimed at redistributing 6.8 million meals a year. Orkney’s first Community Fridge opened in March 2022 in Kirkwall, a second one opened in Stromness in July 2022 and a third operated in Dounby between October 2022 and May 2023.
2022-2025: Total amount of food from the Community Fridges
Food collected (kg)
Equivalent meals
Greener Orkney is part of the Community Fridge network
What are Community Fridges?
Community Fridges are a platform for sharing surplus food within a community to reduce food waste going to landfill. There are over 100 community fridges across the UK with each fridge sharing one to four tonnes of food per month. Each year these community fridges redistribute 975 tonnes of food surplus (equivalent to 1.9 million meals) and benefit up to 77,500 people.
Greener Orkney was awarded a grant by the Co-op of £4,000 towards the initial setup costs.
How do Community Fridges Work?
The premise of a Community Fridge is simple – any available items can be taken by anyone. As well as food sharing, Community Fridges give people opportunities to contribute through volunteering, learning new skills and sharing their existing skills.
About Greener Orkney’s Community Fridges
The project started with one Community Fridge at 26 Bridge Street, Kirkwall and this was followed by a second Fridge at 116 Victoria Street in Stromness. A third Fridge operated in Dounby within the Community School but following the sale of the Co-op store there and the policy of the new owner not to supply food to Community Fridges, this has ceased operations permanently.
A refillery opened at the Stromness Fridge in May 2024.
Opening times are tabulated below (all subject to availability of food):
| Day | Kirkwall | Stromness |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 8:30pm-9:00pm | 8:30pm-9:00pm |
| Tuesday | 12:00pm-2:00pm 8:30pm-9:00pm | 8:30pm-9:00pm |
| Wednesday | 8:30pm-9:00pm | 12:00pm-1:00pm 8:30pm-9:00pm |
| Thursday | 12:00pm-1:00pm 8:30pm-9:00pm | 8:30pm-9:00pm |
| Friday | 8:30pm-9:00pm | 8:30pm-9:00pm |
| Saturday | 12:00pm-2:00pm | 12:00pm-2:00pm 8:30pm-9:00pm |
| Sunday | Closed | 8:30pm-9:00pm |
We have over thirty active volunteers who open and close the fridges, collect food from suppliers and ensure the cleanliness of the fridge environment. There is a dedicated Community Fridge Facebook page and volunteers update it to advise what food is available.
2022-2024 Community Fridge Running Total
| Month | Location | Food collected (kg) | Monthly visitors | Cumulative food (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2025 | Kirkwall Stromness | 1,792 1,165 | 474 446 | 48,680 27,140 |
| December 2024 | Kirkwall Stromness | 1,767 622 | 439 351 | 46,888 25,975 |
| November 2024 | Kirkwall Stromness | 1,264 960 | 466 500 | 45,121 25,354 |
| October 2024 | Kirkwall Stromness | 1,257 987 | 470 607 | 43,857 24,394 |
| September 2024 | Kirkwall Stromness | 1,211 807 | 438 434 | 42,600 23,407 |
| August 2024 | Kirkwall Stromness | 1,166 716 | 515 431 | 41,389 22,600 |
| July 2024 | Kirkwall Stromness | 1,317 952 | 489 463 | 40,223 21,884 |
| June 2024 | Kirkwall Stromness | 2,157 675 | 413 375 | 38,906 20,932 |
| May 2024 | Kirkwall Stromness | 1,221 1,309 | 446 483 | 36,749 20,256 |
| April 2024 | Kirkwall Stromness | 1,499 1,086 | 529 425 | 35,529 18,948 |
| March 2024 | Kirkwall Stromness | 1,714 1,089 | 467 454 | 34,029 17,862 |
| February 2024 | Kirkwall Stromness | 1,168 802 | 369 299 | 32,315 16,772 |
| January 2024 | Kirkwall Stromness | 1,539 1,110 | 360 339 | 31,147 15,971 |
| December 2023 | Kirkwall Stromness | 1,776 727 | 424 268 | 29,608 14,861 |
| November 2023 | Kirkwall Stromness | 1,142 557 | 392 239 | 27,832 14.134 |
| October 2023 | Kirkwall Stromness | 1,622 1,533 | 401 268 | 26,691 13,577 |
| September 2023 | Kirkwall Stromness | 1,575 727 | 383 231 | 25,069 12,044 |
| August 2023 | Kirkwall Stromness | 1,575 709 | 430 277 | 23,493 11,317 |
| July 2023 | Kirkwall Stromness | 1,556 774 | 384 317 | 21,918 10,608 |
| June 2023 | Kirkwall Stromness Dounby | 1,396 866 Closed | 348 291 | 20,362 9,834 1,111 |
| May 2023 | Kirkwall Stromness Dounby | 1,491 713 34 | 403 315 7 | 18,967 8,968 1,111 |
| April 2023 | Kirkwall Stromness Dounby | 2,600 841 52 | 398 264 5 | 17,476 8,255 1,077 |
| March 2023 | Kirkwall Stromness Dounby | 884 496 168 | 434 269 115 | 14,876 7,414 1,025 |
| February 2023 | Kirkwall Stromness Dounby | 1,431 507 116 | 525 289 93 | 13,993 6,918 857 |
| January 2023 | Kirkwall Stromness Dounby | 1,571 972 139 | 543 367 97 | 12,561 5,549 741 |
| December 2022 | Kirkwall Stromness Dounby | 1,558 1,463 244 | 566 326 102 | 10,991 5,439 603 |
| November 2022 | Kirkwall Stromness Dounby | 1,657 1,016 359 | 569 414 222 | 9,432 3,976 359 |
| October 2022 | Kirkwall Stromness | 975 564 | 465 350 | 7,775 2,959 |
| September 2022 | Kirkwall Stromness | 636 1,096 | 424 396 | 6,801 2,396 |
| August 2022 | Kirkwall Stromness | 958 985 | 486 408 | 6,165 1,300 |
| July 2022 | Kirkwall Stromness | 1,345 315 | 575 56 | 5,207 315 |
| June 2022 | Kirkwall | 1,350 | 524 | 3,862 |
| May 2022 | Kirkwall | 1,114 | 472 | 2,513 |
| April 2022 | Kirkwall | 776 | 376 | 1,398 |
| March 2022 | Kirkwall | 622 | 160 | 622 |
Archive data – 2022 to 2023 graph here
We are extremely grateful to the following organisations for their support of the Community Fridges:
Help make a difference
If any organisations or individuals are interested in helping with, or finding out more about the project, please reach out to Greener Orkney by sending an email to greenerorkney@gmail.com.