Save the environment and £50 a month by wasting less food

Research shows 61% of shoppers are concerned about the environmental impact of food and groceries¹.

As families look for ways to save money on their household bills many of us aren’t aware that food waste not only hits us in the pocket – up to £50 a month - but has a serious impact on the environment too.

Producing, distributing, storing and cooking food uses energy, fuel and water. Each of these emits greenhouse gases contributing to climate change.

Think of a pack of cheese. The resources that go into raising the cows, processing the milk, transporting the cheese, refrigeration, the fuel we use to drive to the shop to buy it - all this to put it in the bin at the end of the week.

In the UK we throw away the equivalent of more than three million slices of cheese a day!

If we stopped throwing this good food away it would save the equivalent of at least 20 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.  That’s the environmental equivalent of taking 1 in every 4 cars off our roads.  

But it’s easy for us all to make to make a difference.  Love Food Hate Waste, in partnership with Herefordshire Council and Worcestershire County Council, has some great solutions to help us reduce the amount of food we throw away.

• Make the most of your fruit and veg. Apples last even longer when you keep them in the fridge – up to two weeks longer if loosely wrapped. And if they’ve had a knock, try putting them in a crumble, a sauce or start the day with a smoothie.
  
• Did you know you can freeze bread and toast it straight from the freezer or alternatively use it for puddings, stuffings and even to thicken sauces?
  
• Ever thought of making the most of your potato peelings? Why not sprinkle with salt, pepper, chilli or whatever flavour takes your fancy and pop them in the oven. Free crisps the kids will love!
  
• Keep a marker pen handy in the kitchen for labelling up your freezer pots and tubs with the contents and date prepared – this will make it much easier to identify them at a later date.
  
• Planning is everything. Think ahead to what the week has in store - look in the fridge, freezer and cupboard, make a simple list so you only buy what you need and make the most of what you have.
  
• Did you know food can be frozen any time before the ‘use by’ date on the label? Then when you have an evening where you don’t feel like cooking, take it out of the freezer, defrost and use within 24 hours.

Find out more about how we can all help to save our environment - and money too - by visiting www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

Notes to editors

·         WRAP report Household Food and Drink Waste in the UK

www.wrap.org.uk/retail_supply_chain/research_tools/research/report_household.html

·         IGD ShopperTrack is a monthly analysis of British grocery shopper, http://www.igd.com/