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Avoid food waste

A third of food produced is wasted. Some before it gets to the shops and lots after we take it home. 

Producing, storing and getting products to our homes uses a lot of energy. If UK householders stopped wasting avoidable food and drink it would save emissions equivalent to a quarter of private UK car journeys made. 

Some food waste can't be avoided. It's made up of things like peelings, shells, teabags and coffee. But the large part of household food waste is made up of edible food that is excess to requirements or has been left to go off. 

Shop carefully to avoid wasting food. Best before dates are a useful guide and do not mean that food is necessarily unsafe to eat after that date. The food may be fine, a bit tired, or off, it is up to you to judge.

Buy short life-span food in small quantities to avoid waste. Buy what you need and serve realistic portions. 

If you use up leftovers before they go off and compost the rest, you'll save all the associated emissions.

When it rots in landfill, food waste creates methane gas which is 20-30 times more potent than CO2.

The Global Food Security Programme estimates that each of us throws away 95-115kg food every year in developed nations. 

Source: WRAP, UK Waste and Resources Action Programme, Global Food Security Programme, UN FAO. 

22.11.2015
 
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  •  Biba Hartigan: 
     

    There are lots of ideas as to how to use up your leftovers online.

    BBC Good Food is a useful source of recipes.

    		  
     05.04.2016 
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  •  aretecreation: 
     

    very nice

    		  
     17.02.2016 
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  •  Liz Sutton: 
     

    I often cook enough for four, serve two portions and freeze the others as separate portions for another time. My partner is a great one for using vegetable peelings and chicken bones to make stock or soup.  We have a compost bin for fruit and veg waste. But the thing I struggle with at the moment is buying too much fruit and not managing to eat it before it goes off. I try to look for loose fruit but often the supermarkets only have it in family size bags.

    		  
     16.02.2016 
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  •  Howard Elston: 
     

    At our place, we aim to get the serving sizes right so there is little chance of wasted food.  If we've cooked more than the two of us require at that meal, the rest goes into the fridge/freezer as handy leftovers.  Any perishables (eg fruit) that are getting close to their use-by date go into the fridge and are consumed ASAP.

    		  
     18.01.2016 
    1 point
     
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