Welsh shoppers throw away a staggering 330,000 tonnes of food each year – roughly a third of all of the food we buy – and enough to fill nearly 41,250 double-decker buses or more than 36,000 waste collection vehicles. And it’s hitting our pockets too – around £500 million is wasted in Wales every year on food that could have been eaten. That’s equivalent to £420 per household per year.
Food waste produces methane, a gas which is 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. And with food production, distribution and storage accounting for 20% of all greenhouse gas emissions, Waste Awareness Wales is working with all Welsh local authorities to convince local residents to play their part in cutting down food waste.
Councillor Gareth Roberts, Gwynedd Council’s Environment Portfolio Leader, said:
“It really is shameful to think that a third of all the food we buy ends up in the bin. However, I am confident that by highlighting these shocking statistics and suggesting some simple tips, we will get householders across Gwynedd thinking about how much food they waste and considering the consequences, both to the environment and to their wallets.
“By cutting down the amount of food waste we throw out, we could save ourselves up to £50 a month on our shopping bills. That’s clearly an incentive in itself but food waste also has serious environmental implications.
“If we all stopped wasting food that could have been eaten, the reduction in carbon dioxide would be the equivalent of taking one in five cars off the road. With this in mind, we are encouraging everyone in Gwynedd to play their part in making a difference.”
Waste Awareness Wales’ tips to reduce your food waste:
• Before you go food shopping, try to plan your meals for each day of the week so that food you buy doesn’t go out of date before you’ve had chance to eat it.
• Familiarise yourself with best before and use by dates. While food past its ‘use by’ date shouldn’t be eaten, it is safe to eat food past its ‘best before’ date – it just may no longer be at its best.
• Freeze any food you won’t be eating immediately.
• Keep your fridge temperature between 1-5 degrees to get the best from your food.
• Keep food staples such as tinned tomatoes, pasta and rice in the cupboard to make a quick meal from ingredients you have at home.
• Managing portion sizes is one of the key ways of reducing leftovers. Measure out your portions so you don’t cook too much. For uncooked rice, one portion is 75g and one portion of vegetables is about 80g.
• Be creative with your leftovers – either save them for another meal or use them to make delicious meals such as soups, curries, pies and salads. Lots of recipe suggestions can be found on www.wasteawarenesswales.org.uk or on www.lovefoodhatewaste.co.uk
• Ripe fruit that you don’t want to eat can be great for smoothies or ice-creams.
• Any food waste that cannot be made into lovely leftovers should go into the brown bin for composting so that Gwynedd Council can make something useful from your waste.
