6 Easy Tips To Reduce Your Food Waste Right Now

By Jess Commons

You know the stats: Each year in the UK we waste 9.5 million tonnes of food. Of that, 70% is stuff that was intended to be eaten; the other 30% is the stuff we consider ‘inedible’.

This, in turn, contributes to 8% of the global greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans.

Like most things to do with climate change and the environment, this information is exhausting and anxiety-inducing. But here’s some good news for once: recent efforts in the food waste area have produced a big difference. Between 2015 and 2018, the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) estimates that in the UK we wasted half a million tonnes less food. Which, when everything else is going up — carbon emissions, plastic use, fast fashion — is very good indeed!

Other good news is that there are loads of new technology startups dedicated to disrupting the market and combating the issue. From Apeel (which you might have seen on Instagram), which has invented a plant-based extra layer of protection for fruit and veg to help them retain moisture and stay fresher for longer, to AI helping supermarkets learn exactly how much fresh stock they need so they don’t end up with a surplus. Ocado now claims that by employing this technology, it wastes just one in 6,000 items.

What can you do to help, other than meticulous planning to make use of every food item you buy within a specific date range? This, of course, is always the aim but you know…life gets in the way.

Here are some useful tips to help you do your part.

Food sharing apps

From Too Good To Go to Karma and more, there’s a number of apps in the food sharing space that you can take advantage of. How it works is this: restaurants, cafés and stores work out what food they’re going to have left over and, as long as you’re able to pick it up, it can be yours for a hugely discounted price. Although the services aren’t available everywhere yet and work better when the user is in a densely populated area, it is possible to eat a healthy and varied diet. These apps do help facilitate plastic waste however, which is something the stores themselves need to be responsible for tackling. It’s also worth checking out Olio, an app which helps neighbours share their leftovers.

In a similar vein is Northern Ireland-based Gander, the app that allows users to alert others to reduced food in stores in real time. It’s currently working with Spar and Londis in Northern Ireland and one or two places in Scotland and England.

BluApple

Anyone who’s a sucker for a time-lapse video will love BluApple, a nifty little product from the United States which nestles in among your produce and absorbs the ethylene gas given off by some fruit and veg to naturally trigger ripening and causing your other fruit and veg to go bad faster than it should.

The BlueApple keeps working until it’s ‘full’ of ethylene gas which will be, on average, in around a year’s time, at which point you’ll need to order a refill.

Store your food correctly

It actually makes a huge difference whether you nestle your apples beside your pears; some foods will go off more quickly if they’re stored together or stored in the wrong place.

For instance, did you know storing potatoes and onions next to each other can make them more likely to sprout sooner? You should also keep apples away from other produce. Some things shouldn’t be in the fridge at all, like potatoes. More information on what you should and shouldn’t do with your fruit and veg here.

Practise FIFO

How often have you come across a weird smell in your fridge only to discover a solitary mouldy carrot right at the back of the shelf? It’s a common problem, especially in houseshares where there’s often more people than there really should be sharing a fridge.

To help combat this, you could employ FIFO or ‘first in, first out’. The idea is that you put new food at the back of the fridge to give the older stuff more of a chance to catch your eye and hopefully be used up before it goes off. Yes, your housemates might take some training but fingers crossed it all pays off in the end.

Buy products made from food waste

There are now plenty of companies turning other people’s trash into new food. Which, in turn, you should only buy if you’re in the market for that food anyway.

Have a look at Rubies in the Rubble on your next condiment-purchasing trip. Its products are all made with food that would otherwise have been thrown out for being the wrong shape or size.

Other UK companies include Snact (fruit jerky made from leftover fruit), ChicP (hummus) and Toast Ale, which is made out of leftover bread.

Gear your meals around what you already have

This app works with what you already have to come up with delicious recipes that save you buying anything more. Just put in your food preferences and the food you need to use up in your fridge or cupboard, and the app will give you something to make.

Perfect for weeknights when you can’t be bothered to think.

Originally published at https://refinery29.com.