Waste less food

A food waste diary helps to identify what foods are wasted more often in your home and how much is thrown away.

Think about:

• the type and amount of each food thrown away
• why it was thrown away (for example, gone mouldy, cooked too much, passed the ‘use-by’ date)?
• how you disposed of it (for example, in your food recycling caddy or compost bin)

Once you've an idea of the waste created, you can consider the following: 

• how often you need to buy certain items
• if you can reduce how much you buy by choosing to buy loose
• finding out how to store particular foods to make them last
• if you can freeze an item, or buy an item frozen to start with to keep it fresh
• looking up recipes to use up regularly wasted foods
• if you can recycle it in your food recycling or compost it instead of throwing away in the bin

Planning your meals means you can use up what needs to be eaten and you only buy what you need. This saves time and money and can be less stressful as there’s no need to worry about what to cook every day.

Think about what meals you want to cook, remind yourself of your food budget and create a plan.

Check your cupboards to see what you already have, and remember to write a shopping list before heading to the shops.

Life can be hectic, and plans can change, so try leaving a couple of empty slots in your meal plan. This can avoid missed meals going to waste, and means you can use up any leftovers!

Making and sticking to a list is a great way to save money as well as food, as it helps you to only buy what you need.

Checking your fridge and cupboards first helps you to avoid impulse purchases and buying unnecessary items that end up wasted.

Keep the list on your phone or in the kitchen so when you use up an item, you can add it to your shopping list before you forget.

And remember to check your list before you shop in case plans have changed!

Storing food correctly in the fridge will help you have more time to eat it before it spoils.  

By making sure that your fridge temperature is between 0-5°C, your food last up to three days longer! 

You can buy a fridge thermometer quite cheaply to check how your fridge is doing.

How to adjust your fridge temperature

If you’re unsure on how to check your fridge temperature, Love Food Hate Waste have a brilliant guide to help.

Choose your fridge brand from the list and look for the relevant temperature dial. Then just follow the instructions on how to check and change your fridge’s temperature. Easy as that!

Storing food correctly is an easy way to make your food last longer, so you’ll have more time to eat it before it spoils.

Small and easy habits include storing food in containers, putting clips on open packets, and keeping dry food in a cool, dark environment.

When you buy new food, make sure you bring items with the earliest ‘use by’ date to the front so they don’t get forgotten!

How to store common food items

Store in a cool, dark place:

• bread
• onions and garlic

Store in the fridge:

• potatoes
• meat and fish
• most fruit and veg
• eggs and dairy
• mushrooms
• leftover meals

The importance of storing your food correctly

By ensuring your food is stored in the right place, it can help to prevent foodborne illnesses caused from harmful bacteria. It also preserves the quality and nutritional values of the food making it taste better.

If you are unsure about the best place to store an item of food, check out the Love Food Hate Waste A to Z of food. You'll find great information about storage hacks and recipe ideas. 

Knowing your portions means you can get more out of the food you buy. It’s easy to overestimate what's needed and end up with too much.

Making a note of the portion sizes enjoyed by your household will help prevent too much food being cooked. Just think how much tastier your meals will be knowing you’ve saved both money and waste.

An easy switch to make is to use smaller plates. A healthy portion of food should fill a small plate,  so this can help us recondition our minds to not over-serve. Sometimes we have eyes bigger than our stomachs!

Guidance on food portions

The food portion calculator from Love Food Hate Waste provides guidance on the average amount of food needed for each person, for each meal.

Please remember that everyone is different, so adapt the measurements to suit you and your household.

No one likes finding a container full of mouldy food from the back of the fridge. Save the mess and the waste by simply labelling your leftovers.

Just note down when you cooked the meal and keep the container by the front of the cupboard or fridge. Use a marker pen or a post-it note if that’s easier.

Label any leftovers you pop in the freezer too, and remember to add the date.

You’ll save yourself money, time cooking, and food from going in the bin!

There are loads of brilliant apps available that can help tackle food waste, either by tracking what food you have, or helping you to give or get surplus food.

Here are a just a few suggestions:

Too Good To Go

On Too Good To Go, local restaurants and businesses list any surplus food that would be going to waste.

You can search for unsold food nearby, and then buy and collect a ‘magic bag’ for a fraction of the price. This is a great way to save food and money and you may be able to freeze this food to save for another day.

Olio

Olio allows you to share unwanted food (and other items) for free in your local community.

You can collect food from neighbours, local shops or even catering companies.

Remy

Remy provides personalised meal recommendations based on your current kitchen inventory, suggests recipes, and guides your shopping.

It can also  automatically update your shopping list by connecting to your online grocery account. By keeping track of the food in your kitchen, the app makes sure you don't buy too much and inspires you to cook with what you already have.