Can you take the Zero Waste Week challenge?

Rachelle Strauss

28 August 2013

Food waste isn't just a waste of money. Producing our food uses up large amounts of our world's limited natural resources like water and land.

Guest writer Rachelle Strauss, My Zero Waste

Here's a challenge for you. Next time you come home with bags of food shopping, stop off at your bin.

Now open the lid and put in one third of the shopping you've just bought. If you've got three bags, put one in there. If you've bought six, put three in there. Now close the lid and walk away.

Sounds crazy, right?

Well apparently you, me and all our friends and family are doing exactly this every week. The average householder is throwing away £50 per month of food.

But not you, you say? Well, I didn't think I did either, until I tested myself with an audit.

All those half-eaten sandwiches, unfinished bowls of cereal, the bit of something I put in the fridge to eat the following day then promptly forgot about add up. And what about those UFOs (unidentified frozen objects) suffering from freezer burn?

Food waste isn't just a waste of money. Producing our food uses large amounts of our world's limited natural resources like water and land to grow crops. Fertilisers, packaging and transportation all have an impact on the environment too.

There's a role for food manufacturers and retailers in rethinking how they produce the food we buy in shops and markets.

And you can do your bit too. Join others in pledging to reduce food waste at home during Zero Waste Week - 2-8 September - and share tips for using up leftovers with our community. We'll be foraging in fruit bowls, salivating over salads and clearing out cupboards to fill bellies not bins.

Need some inspiration? Here are 5 top tips:

• Plan menus then just buy what you need
• Use your judgement rather than best before dates
• Don't shop when hungry
• Consider 'leftovers' as 'ingredients'
• Resist BOGOF offers

Rachelle Strauss, founder of My Zero Waste and Zero Waste Week tips to householders on how to reduce waste to landfill.

Friends of the Earth's Make It Better campaign is calling on companies to rethink the production, packaging and promotion of food and other products, to reduce their impact on people and planet.