Did you know if food waste were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the USA?
According to Reading Borough Council, between 30% and 40% of the household rubbish put into our grey bins in Reading is food waste. This often ends up in landfill, where it rots, releasing methane, a harmful greenhouse gas. When recycled, food waste can be turned into energy and fertiliser for farming. It’s also cheaper – a lorry load of food turned into compost instead of sending it to landfill it saves £100 in disposal costs. But it is far better not to produce any waste food in the first place!
In the UK 7.3 million tonnes of food is wasted every year. Consider your food use and look for ways of reducing any waste. Perhaps you could maintain a ‘waste log’ to keep an eye on what you’re throwing out and use it to help you think about what waste could be recycled or eliminated entirely at the till point. Sometimes bulk buys and special offers can lead to food being wasted.
Try sharing unwanted food using the OLIO app, which has been set up to cut food waste, or experiment with your leftovers in the kitchen. There are several cookbooks on the subject, such as “River Cottage Love Your Leftovers: Recipes for the resourceful cook” by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
Phil Chatfield
Based on information from A Rocha UK and Reading Borough Council