Food waste contributes 12% to greenhouse gas emissions globally. We waste between 30-40% of our food each year and in the UK, the amount of consumable food we waste is worth £284 per person. Food waste makes a large part of all the waste you make, as we throw away 3 kg of food per week per person. This is the equivalent of 3 bags of sugar or six packets of pasta! For, every 3kg of food that is thrown away, 23kg of greenhouse gases are produced. This is why you should really think of ways to reduce your food waste. This can save you money as well as reduce your carbon footprint.

Compost your food waste

Here are some types of composters you can buy to reduce emissions from throwing away food that ends up on landfill:

A hot composter

A hot composter is a good option if you are concerned about the smell and the flies that can come with composting. A hot composter comes with a lid and built-in carbon filter to absorb the smell. It turns food waste into compost quickly because it uses heat to fasten the pace of decomposition. One thing to look out for when buying a hot composter is whether you have to pre-mix waste.

A wooden composter

A wooden composter tends to be cheaper than a hot composter, but there may be more problems with the smell and flies. Depending on the brand, some wooden composters are faster at turning food waste into compost.

A wormery

Wormeries are designed for small-scale kitchen waste. Tiger worms are used to break down food waste instead of decay. The problem with wormeries is that it cannot break down all types of waste and you will still need a compost bin to get rid of all your food waste.

Reduce what you need to throw away

Giving food away to food banks

There are increasing amount of food banks in the country, so donate to them if you can. There are also apps like Olio, where you can post food online that you want to give away in your local area.

Put food in the freezer

Food lasts longer and stays fresher when it is put in the freezer. If you are worried that you have bought too much food, you can freeze almost everything.

Ignore best before end dates

To some extent, you can ignore best before end dates on food. Best before end dates mean the food is at its freshest until that date but is fine after that too. You can also put food in the freezer to extend the freshness of food.

Choose ‘uglier’ fruit and vegetables

Odd-shaped fruit and vegetables tend to be left behind in supermarkets and end up on landfill. Buying these will help to reduce food waste. You can also sign up to Oddbox, a company which delivers odd-shaped fruit and vegetables to fight food waste.

Ignore offers such as ‘buy one get one free’

These offers make us buy more than we need. Given how much food we end up throwing away, we end up just wasting our money.