Tackling food waste
Did you know each year Australians waste around 7.6 million tonnes of food across the food supply chain? This is equivalent to throwing away one in five bags of groceries bought or 312kg per person per year. This is a waste of precious resources and money. This waste equates to $2,500 per household per year…or a family holiday for a week!
Research by Foodwise suggests some of the top reasons food is wasted includes:
- A lack of understanding of the difference between ‘Best Before’ and ‘Use By’
- Buying too much and not sticking to a shopping list
- Not checking the fridge/freezer/pantry before shopping
- Cooking too much food and not knowing how to use leftovers
- Buying take-aways at the last minute, instead of using the food at home
By switching a few simple habits, you can seriously reduce your waste and your household budget.
Avoiding and reducing food waste
Some ways to avoid and reduce food waste include:
- Do a weekly meal planner – look for meals to use up all that you buy
- Check your fridge, freezer and pantry before shopping to prevent doubling-up
- Always write a shopping list, so you only buy what you need and to help avoid impulse buys
- Buy local and seasonal (it stays fresher and lasts longer)
- Make sure you know the difference between ‘best before’ vs ‘use by’ labels on food items. Remember – ‘best before’ is just a freshness indicator date and food can usually safely be eaten long after this date! ‘Use by’ is the only absolute date that food should not be eaten afterwards – as seen on meat and seafood.
- Freeze food that is going to expire – and make sure to label it before
- Store fresh produce correctly in the fridge to extend its life.
- Store dry produce in the pantry in air-tight containers to extend its life.
- Get creative to use up with left-overs – there are endless delicious and easy recipes online e.g. Love Food Hate Waste recipes or Taste recipes
- Grow your own food – this can help avoid food waste as you only pick what you need as you need it.
- Visit farmers markets - if you can’t grow your own food, why not visit our farmers markets for fresh, seasonal and local food. Again here you can buy only what you need. This also supports farmers directly and is often packaging-free food too! There’s a great farmers market on every weekend across the region!
Keeping food waste out of landfill
Home composting and worm farming
Home composting and worm farming are great ways to recycle food waste back into useful products for our gardens, soils and plants. Learn more about home composting and worm farming to help reduce food waste and feed your soil
Food organics and garden organics (FOGO) bin
Some food waste can't be avoided. Use your food organics garden organics (FOGO) bin with the lime green lid to for ALL food waste including meat, seafood, bones, processed foods, citrus, onions etc.
Learn what can go in your FOGO bin by downloading and using our Surf Coast Rubbish and Recycling App (SCRRApp) or by visiting our FOGO bin webpage.
Save plastic and make your own beeswax wraps
Beeswax wraps make a great plastic-free alternative for wrapping muesli bars, slices, cut fruit and veggies.
See the below video on how to easily make your own, or download the step-by-step instructions(PDF, 496KB).
Resources