According to the World Wildlife Fund, an estimated 1/3 of all food produced in the world goes to waste, wasting the energy and water used to produce, transport and sell the product, as well as creating additional greenhouse gases if the waste ends up in landfill and rots.
About 6%-8% of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced if we stop wasting food.
Food Portion Calculator
One way to reduce food waste is to try to make sure the amount of food we buy is not in excess of our needs.
The Love Food Hate Waste website provides a food portion calculator which helps you to work out the right portion size for your meals, potentially reducing any wastage.
Fridge Temperature
If your fridge temperature is set too high, food can spoil more quickly.
The Love Food Hate Waste website advises that fridge temperatures should be set to between 0-5°C. The site even includes details of how to adjust your fridge’s temperature settings.
Meal Planning
By planning meals ahead for the week, before food shopping, you can reduce the amount of food which may end up being wasted.
Lesswaste.org.uk provides some excellent advice on meal planning, even providing a list of the UK’s 20 favourite meals to provide inspiration.
There are also a large number of meal planning apps available for smart phones; again, the Less Waste website lists some of these.
Kitche App
Talking of apps, the Kitche app is another good resource to help you reduce food waste and save money.
Not only does the app help you to plan meals and keep track of what food you have in your fridge and cupboards, it also awards your achievements and tracks the amount of CO2 and water you are saving.
Too Good To Go
The Too Good To Go app is a way of individuals buying leftover food from shops, cafés and restaurants which otherwise would be thrown away, providing social, economical, and environmental benefits.
