The total food waste produced by UK households is £12,500,000,000 (!) which is approx. £456 per household per year! There’s several things to think about when you get your head around these statistics! First of all if we can reduce the waste we will save all that money which can go onto our own household budgets which MUST help especially as we are reminded of the “Cost of Living Crisis” every single day, and secondly we can really alter the costs of dealing with all this waste if each of us can make a real difference. As fresh vegetables are responsible for a high proportion of waste there are several things we can do to reduce our waste as well as several composting methods which can in fact eliminate our veg waste.
Here’s our top five ways of reducing the waste you need to compost.
1: Don’t Over Buy. Sounds obvious but we all forget what we have. Taking a photo of your in stock veg in the fridge or larder is a good idea to remind you what you have. (I believe this is called a Shelfie)
2: Plan ahead. If you know what you intend cooking you have a much better chance of using everything you buy so a Sunday night plan is probably the easiest way to work out the week’s meals.
3: Use up your leftovers. The main reason given for food waste is that it’s “gone off” but we all know that even if your veg has gone past it’s best you can use it in all sorts of recipes, and where possible using the veg with the peel on can be a real advantage. Thanks to Gousto recipes our household has discovered the beauty of potato mash with skins!
4: Using peelings. You can definitely make the best soups and veg stocks from your peelings. Much better than your stock cube and FREE.
5: Ferment or compost your waste. From teabags, through coffee grounds, to veg/fruit and plate waste (even cooked fish and meat) there is an answer, from Bokashi Kits to Worm Composters. This is a great way of taking responsibility for your waste and redefining it as a resource which of course can be used to grow your own food and flowers.In short we can all make a difference and it will benefit our own pockets, the planet, and our own lives.
People, Planet, Profit.
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