Introducing the 5kg Food Waste Challenge
Take the Stop Food Waste Challenge & lose 5kg off your food waste. Read on to find out more about our monthly brown bin diet which prevents food waste & saves money on monthly shopping & utility bills.

Here’s how to slim your brown bin in 5 steps:
Step 1: Know your food waste – exactly what & how much are you throwing away? Keep a close eye on this in the coming you might be surprised when you look at what foods are most commonly wasted in your home.

Step 2: Plan your meals – simple meal planning helps with using up what you have in your cupboard & fridge. Planning ahead doesn’t have to be elaborate & it can save you cooking & shopping time as you know exactly what you have already.

Step 3: Smart Shopping: This is where most of us make our biggest mistakes but armed with a list you won’t go wrong. Also remember avoid shopping when you are hungry and avoid special offers on perishable goods unless you are sure you will use them all or that they are suitable for home freezing.

Step 4: Storage & Dates: Become more date aware – learn the difference between “Use by” and “best before” you can read more at www.safefood.eu How we store food can also prolong its life – foods that are chilled in the supermarket should be stored in the fridge at home and using airtight containers will keep bread, pasta, confectionery etc fresher for longer. Don’t forget to rotate store cupboard foods as well by placing newer purchased items at the back & moving older purchased items towards the front.

Step 5: Cooking & Serving: Know how much you need & avoid overcooking where possible. By keeping a track of food waste in week one of the challenges you may find you always cook more of certain items like rice, spaghetti & bread than you need. Also using serving bowls allows you to use left-over’s for tomorrows lunch whereas food on plates automatically becomes waste.

Steps to reusing your waste

1. Donate unwanted goods such as clothes, books, toys and furniture to charity shops or jumble sales. They will accept virtually any household item or have a car boot sale and make some cash.
2. Consider second-hand purchases.
3. Look for products in refillable containers such as fabric softener and cleaning products. They are cheaper, save valuable resources, and avoid packaging waste.
4. Reuse your own shopping bags rather than using new carrier bags each time.
5. Reuse packaging for other purposes, e.g. jars, boxes and bottles for storage purposes, plastic bottles as cloches to protect young plants, yoghurt tubs for seedling pots etc.
6. Use rechargeable batteries. This will not only reduce your waste but also save you money.
7. Reuse envelopes by covering the old address with a label.
8. Use both sides of paper and cut up scrap paper for use as notelets.
9. Start composting as much of your kitchen and garden waste as possible. If you don’t have the room to compost at home, you can take your green waste to a central collect point. Contact your local council for details.

How do you Treat Waste?