REDUCE - tips on reducing food waste

When we discard food, we are not only throwing away money but are also filling up landfills, squandering water and producing harmful methane gas.

It is estimated that households in the UK throw away 6.6 million tonnes of food per year, of which 4.5 million tonnes is edible!

Did you know - shocking facts !

1. 33% of food is wasted before it even reaches our plates - this can happen during harvesting, processing, transportation, storage and retail.

2. Food waste is a bigger cause of climate change than plastics - Methane, released into the atmosphere from food decomposing in landfill, has over 21 times more warming power than CO2.

3. Almost two-thirds of Scottish food waste comes from households - Scottish households throw away 630,000 tonnes of food waste every year.

4. Food waste costs Scotland over £1 billion a year... - ...that's roughly £470 per household.

Sources: Scale of Scotland's food waste challenge, Zero Waste Scotland report. Wrap: The Food we waste in Scotland.

Reduce your household food waste - top tips

To help you make a difference to both the environment and your pocket here are some top tips:

• Track it- keep an eye on what you throw out most often and buy smaller amounts next time.

• Prioritise your fresh goods- eat those that will spoil first such as berries and make use of your freezer!

• Account for changing tastebuds and fussy eaters by serving kids smaller portions to and then offering seconds to reduce waste.

• Make a list- to help plan your meals and only buy what you need and when you need it. Don't overshop!

• Second chance- get creative! For example, you could use stale bread for croutons or freeze ripe fruit for use in smoothies and muffins. Use leftovers in lunches or transform it into another dinner the next night.

• Use everything- use as many parts of the food to get the most out of it for example broccoli stems make great coleslaw, meat bones make great soup stock, roast butternut squash seeds for a crunchy snack!

• Compost it - we all produce some food scraps but use a compost bin and turn them into free fertiliser for your garden to help grow your own next year

• Store food correctly - bananas, avocados and tomatoes produce a gas that encourages other fruit to ripen. So, if you don't want an overipe fruit bowl, keep those bananas separate.

• Preserve food - drying, fermenting and pickling are great ways to make things last.

• Save the seeds from your fruit and veg and plant them out in the spring - whether it's peppers, tomatoes or butternut squash

Help fight local food waste 

• Sign up to Too Good To Go so you can take advantage of reduced prices just before it goes out of date to fight food waste.

Great leftover recipies

• For some great recipes on using leftovers visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/recipes

Reducing your foodwaste when eating out - Plate up for Glasgow

Plate up for Glasgow was a hospitality-led pilot campaign during COP26 to highlight the issue of food waste and its impact on our environment and the local economy.

They collaborated with some of Glasgow's most loved venues, who all got involved by offering at least one low waste menu option during the campaign period. Each Plate up for Glasgow dish or drink was created specifically to send as little food waste to landfill as possible. 

As a pilot initiative, and the first of its kind in Scotland, Plate up for Glasgow has been an incredibly insightful project, and the team look forward to sharing the successes and key learnings of the campaign in the near future.

Even though Plate up for Glasgow has officially come to an end, many of the participating venues are continuing to offer low waste dining options for the longer term. Why not show your continued support by booking up and dining out, safe in the knowledge that you'll not only be supporting one of your favourite local venues but also doing your bit in addressing climate change. Find out more details on venues here.

Plate Up for Glasgow - also offer top tips on how to be a food hero at home here.