Reduce food waste

Reducing how much food you throw away will save you money and encourage you to eat healthier. Each year in homes across the UK, we throw away 6.6 million tonnes of household food each year, almost three quarters of which could have been eaten.

Food waste generates about 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. So anything you can do to limit what you chuck in the bin will make a big difference to your carbon footprint. 

Here are some tips for reducing your food waste:

1. Plan your meals around using up food that has a short shelf life. If there is a sad looking broccoli at the back of the fridge then maybe it's time for soup! Check out Love Food Hate Waste's A-Z guide on using up ingredients.
2. Freeze it. If you're not going to eat it in the next few days, stick it in the freezer. This can make a big difference with items like bread, cake, milk and much more! Just check the label
3. If you have leftovers from dinner stick them in the freezer or have them for lunch the next day.
4. Only buy what you need. Plan your meals so that you're not buying food you won't get around to eating.
5. Compost leftover veg scraps. Make a start composting with our simple guide.
6. Don't have the space for compost? Make stock with your leftover bits of veg!
7. Store food correctly. Bananas, avocados and tomatoes produce a gas that encourages other fruit to ripen. So, if you don't want an overipe fruit bowl, keep those bananas separate.
8. Preserve food. Drying, fermenting and pickling are great ways to make things last.
9. Save the seeds from your fruit and veg and plant them out in the spring. Whether it's peppers, tomatoes or butternut squash!
10. Pick ugly fruit and veg. It all tastes the same but a lot of this is thrown away. You can also sign up for a local veg box scheme that gives you a weekly or fortnightly delivery of seasonal veg that would be wasted otherwise.