Eco Matters: Throwing money out with your food?

Picture the scene. I take out a loaf of bread. The plate, butter and jam are on the counter, ready to smother some warm toast.

Instead of a satisfying first bite, this story ends up in the bin. Quite literally.

I throw away the mouldy end of a loaf more often than I care to admit as an eco-warrior.

But I’m not alone. Every day in the UK, 20million slices of bread face the same fate. That’s a heck of a lot of toast.

UK households are responsible for 70 per cent of the UK's 9.5m tonnes of food waste each year.

That equates to around eight meals a week straight in the bin.

If you bought three bags of food for your weekly shop, you wouldn't immediately throw one away, would you?

But statistically, this is happening across the world.

Around a third of global food goes to waste.

Producing, transporting and rotting that food releases 8-10 per cent of global greenhouse gases.

In today’s financial and climate economy, we can’t afford to throw away good food and our hard-earned cash.

Want to avoid food waste and save money?

Here are my top tips:

Meal plan – Plan meals to stay on track (and on budget). Leave one meal unplanned to polish off leftovers or dive into the freezer.

Buy proportionally – Avoid overspending by shopping in refill shops like Filling Good, where you can buy the exact amount you need package-free.

Use your freezer – Prolong food by freezing it and defrosting it as needed. You can freeze bread, fresh herbs, bananas… the list goes on.

Eat by priority – Start your week by eating the veg that wilts quickly. Leafy veg like spinach or lettuce first, robust root veggies last.

Store correctly – Prevent premature moulding or sprouting by storing food in the right place.

Know your labels – Best-before dates don’t mean your food is off, they indicate a loss in quality. A use-by date indicates the food could be going off. Use your eyes and nose to determine if the food is safe.

Sharing is caring – Made too much of something? Share it with your friends and neighbours. They'll likely return the favour!

Never shop hungry – Your eyes are always bigger than your belly.

For more food waste advice, pop into Filling Good on Maidenhead High Street to chat with the friendly volunteers (bring a container to refill, too!).

The Eco Matters Column is a community-led project run by local volunteers. Views expressed are the contributor’s own.

For information or to contribute to the column contact Andrew Ingram on ecomatters.today@gmail.com