National food waste action week
Did you know that when food waste is sent to landfill it contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and therefore feeding climate change! During national food waste action week, we want to ask what you are doing with your food waste and could you be doing more?
We work in the waste sector, so we know our clients are passionate about reducing the impact of our waste on the environment. We had a chat with our EPIC colleagues and found our food waste champion, our Sales and Marketing Administrator Kiri Powell, who said she ‘NEVER throws food away’ and I think we could all learn something from her despite her protests of not being very inventive! In all honesty, I think the less inventive it is the more likely we are likely to get on board and make changes!
Kiri’s top tips
- Plan your menu and only buy what you need. When you are planning your menu, it’s always worth a quick look in the cupboard and fridge to see what you already have which needs eating up and make a meal based around that.
- Don’t bin veggies that look sad! Use them to make soups or roast them to make yummy lunches. If the veg is looking a bit sad and needs using up, I just chop up whatever I have and whack it in the oven for about 30-40mins. You can add any kind of seasoning that takes your fancy. I quite like a bit of Nandos sauce on mine, or today I added some feta cheese and balsamic vinegar – there you go a yummy healthy lunch.
- Keep your fridge and freezer tidy. If you cram food into your fridge untidily, you’re more likely to forget something tucked away at the back.
- Use your freezer! Batch cooking is great, you can book a big chilli, casserole or curry and then pop the other portions into the freezer for another day. You have to be careful of portion control, but it does make a nice easy home cooked meal on another day. Also, if you notice something is going to go out of date you can date it and pop it in the freezer rather than the bin.
- Don’t throw leftovers away. How many times have you looked at what is left in the pan and thought it’s not enough for another meal so binned it? Could it had been enough for a lunch, or perhaps still a dinner with an additional side dish to accompany it? A favourite of ours is cooking leftover roast chicken in BBQ sauce and then shredding it over salad and chips!
- Challenge the sell by dates – don’t just bin the food that is past its sell by date, check it first.I look the sell by dates when I’m putting the food shop away and check them against my planned menus so I can make sure I’m using what needs to be used first. I must admit I don’t pay too much attention to use by dates, obviously I bear them in mind, but I generally go by look and smell, most things can last a couple of days longer than it says.
- Compost/recycle actual food waste. There will inevitably be peelings and trimmings, but make sure you’re composting them or putting them in your food waste caddy rather than filling your general waste bin. You’ll be surprised how much of a reduction in landfill waste you’ll be creating.
