Avoiding Christmas Food Waste
Why we should be avoiding food waste
The average Australian household throws out 20% of the food they purchase. That’s 1 in 5 shopping bags! Or more shockingly, around $1,500 every year.
For individuals, food waste is an avoidable financial cost. Christmas adds financial stress to many people and food spending is an area that can easily be reduced.
Australian consumers throw away around 3.1 million tonnes of food—that’s close to 17,000 grounded 747 jumbo jets. Another 2.2 million tonnes is disposed of by the commercial and industrial sector.
When food waste is sent to landfill, it contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.
The impact of food waste also includes the energy, fuel and water used to grow food that may not be used. As most people consume food purchased from a retailer, the energy and fuel usage extends (but is not limited to) transportation, refrigeration and packaging.
Tips for avoiding food waste at Christmas
• Plan your meals and check your fridge and pantry before shopping.
• Write a shopping list and stick to it!
• Use up food from your freezer the week before to make room for leftovers.
• Stock up on storage containers to be ready for your leftovers!
• Get leftovers (especially seafood) into the fridge as soon as you can.
• Carve up ham, pick off chicken and turkey pieces so they are easy to eat over the next few days
• Move food that needs eaten to the front of the fridge and use up what you have!
• Let guests serve themselves for perfect portions with no waste.
• Extend the Christmas cheer! Feed delicious leftovers to friends and neighbours.
• Make your leftovers go further. Re-brand them as another recipe! There are heaps of recipes on the internet about using up your Christmas leftovers. Try“Taste” and “Delicious”for starters.
Avoid excess food packaging & individual plastic wrapping!
More tips for avoiding food waste all year round
There is a difference between USE BY and BEST BEFORE dates
Use-by dates are often labelled on fresh high protein foods such as dairy, meat and seafood. These dates should be observed.
With other foods the expiry dates are often Best Before and are an indication of food quality NOT safety. Click here for more information.
Your compost bin will love food but it should NOT be treated as an alternative‘waste bin’. Avoiding food waste really is the priority.
Composting is for food scraps (eg fruit and veggie peelings), and can play a significant role in preventing food waste ending up in landfill.
Visit NSW EPA Love Food Hate Waste Campaign