Food waste. It never stops to amaze me how much food we actually throw away each year.
Personally I am a repetitive food waster. I go to the shops and get mesmerised by the colours in the fruit and vegetable aisles - usually post-work and without a shopping list - and end up buying more than I need or will eat over the next couple of days. What usually happens? At the end of the week I will find a half full salad bag or a lonely courgette at the back of my fridge, too far gone to even attempt to rescue parts of it. So in the bin it goes.
According to the Love Food Hate Waste campaign, UK households throw away 8.3 million tonnes of food every year, most of it could actually have been eaten. This amounts up to an average of £680 a year thrown out with the rubbish.
Why are we wasting so much food?
Well, a lot if it falls into the categories of 'cooking or preparing too much' or 'not using food in time'. How often have you not bought a bag of apples because they looked delicious, only to forget about them until you re-discover them a little soggy and brown. Not so appetising anymore, are they?
Another reason for food waste is simply because people's plans change. You might have planned to use that mince before its use-by-date tomorrow, but then a last minute call from a friend sees you heading to a restaurant in town.
And how are you with leftovers? In the freezer for another day or can't stomach eating one day old food?
How can I cut my food waste?
There is a group of people called freegans who live according to alternative strategies. Combining the words "free" and "vegan", Freegans avoid buying any products to the greatest degree possible. Instead of heading to their local shop entrance, they head to the back of buildings to rummage through the rubbish of retailers, offices, residences and other facilities to recover food and beverages, as well as other goods.
But if this is not your cup of tea, here are some tips on how you can reduce your food waste and perhaps even save a few pennies in the long run.
From: Green graffiti - It's all in the mossage