Would you like to reduce your household waste and be more food efficient, while saving money ? Stop Food Waste.ie brings you some practical tips to reduce your food waste.
The Price of Food Waste – Awareness is the key
Food waste is something that we all generate – it’s just the way it goes. Some gets fed to the dog, some we manage to reuse at home, but the majority goes into the bin. Remember, regardless of what happens to it, it still cost you money to buy in the first place and this waste costs Irish households anywhere between €500 and €1,000 a year.
It has been estimated that each Irish household wastes up to ¼ of the food it buys, most of it through mis-management like preparing too much, buying too much and not using it, food going off before being used, etc.
Imagine you went shopping and bought 4 bags of groceries and as you were loading up the car someone came and stole one of the bags – you’d be livid! Yet this is what we do to ourselves. So, as a new year's resolution, let's try and save some money by being more food aware and more food efficient.
Key Steps to Reducing Food Waste
The first thing is to be aware of how much you are throwing out, and what you are throwing out. So, for a couple of weeks try the following:
- Keep all your food waste in a separate sealed container – you’ll be surprised by how much you actually throw out (you can then add it to the appropriate bin when your waste is due to go out)
- Watch what you are throwing out – you may see some things that are always being thrown out
- If you can, keep a note of how much you throw out and what you throw out regularly
- Don’t forget the sink – a lot of milk and dairy products get thrown down the sink and while you don’t need to keep these separate, don’t forget to include them on your list
Doing this simple exercise often helps people reduce their food waste because usually this waste is out of sight and out of mind once it is binned. It is hard not to be shocked when you see all your food waste in one place and it can be a great motivator.
See you next month for more on Stop Food Waste (and saving money!) and if you want any more information go to Stop Food Waste
Related: Stocktaking Sheet & Money Saving Tips for Parents
If you have any other tips for reducing food waste let us know in the comments below
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