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Home, Travel and Food: together they make up more than 60% of the average UK resident's carbon footprint. Here you'll find the latest news, research and ideas to help you cut their impact.

Waste not, want notPrint

It’s estimated that UK households throw away 8.3 million tonnes of food and drink every year. Here are some ideas to cut your waste.

"£12 billion worth of food and drink is thrown out every year in UKhomes," says a spokesperson for the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP). "By stopping this food waste, we could save around £50 per month." Just think, that could add up to a few visits to the cinema, a relaxing massage, or even a bottle or two of champagne.

Food waste accounts for 3 per cent of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions and 6 per cent of our water requirements

According to the report found, the amount of water needed to produce food which is then wasted equals 6.2 billion cubic meters - the equivalent of six percent of theUK's water needs; the 5.3 million tons of food wasted byUKhouseholds each year represents three percent of theUK's total domestic greenhouse gas emissions.

Sending food waste to one of the more than 1,500 landfills in the UK could be making matters worse. Within landfills, the anaerobic breakdown of waste by bacteria creates methane - a greenhouse gas even more potent than CO2.

Taking steps to reduce the amount thrown away is important. Harmful emissions need to be cut, and the burden on our overcrowded waste sites reduced too.

Could wasting less help remove cars from the road?

Ok, not literally, but WRAP estimates that if the UK stopped wasting food and drink that could have been eaten, the CO2 impact would be equivalent to taking one in four cars off the road.

According to WRAP, every year we spend £12 billion buying and then throwing away good food.Bad habits can feel hard to break - but with just a couple of tweaks, we can all throw away less of our food (and our money).

Almost one million tonnes of food is thrown out unopened

Smarter shopping habits and better planning could help reduce the amount of food we get rid of. Much of it isn't even mouldy. In fact, WRAP estimates that almost one million tonnes of food is thrown out before it's even taken out of its packaging, contributing to an estimated 8% of food which is discarded while still in date.

Are big businesses doing their bit?

Asda, Mars and Waitrose signed up in March 2010 to new food waste and packaging targets including a 4% reduction in household food waste by 2012.

Supermarket chain Morrisons has launched a new Great Taste, Less Waste campaign showing shoppers the best ways to store food at home as well as inspiring recipes to make the most of our leftovers.

There's still more to be done

Launched in November 2007, WRAP's Love Food Hate Waste campaign encourages households to make changes.

So far, according to WRAP, more than two million people have made changes to the way they shop, prepare, store and use food. WRAP estimates that 670,000 tonnes of food waste has been prevented, with an estimated value of £1.5 billion. WRAP estimates that producing this amount of food would result in 2.8 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.

However, there is still some way to go. The latest figures from WRAP show that 860,000 tonnes of fresh vegetables and salads are still being thrown away. The organisation argues that a 50% reduction in edible household waste over the next ten years could save 27 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, amounting to 232 million tonnes cumulatively by 2050.

WRAP recommends simple changes such as better portioning and storage. Planning menus that raid the back of the cupboard or fridge helps too.

Key facts

  • In the UKwe throw away 8.3 million tonnes of food and drink every year. 
  • Wasting food costs the average family with children £680 a year
  • If we all stop wasting food that could have been eaten, the CO2 impact would be the equivalent of taking 1 in 4 cars off the road.

Quick links:

Love Food Hate Waste: http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/

The Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment: http://www.incpen.org/

 
Five ways to waste less

  1. Plan ahead and write a list before you go shopping
  2. Get creative with leftovers and make two meals out of one
  3. Regularly check the dates on perishable items
  4. Take the guess work out of portion size by weighing rice and pasta
  5. Store as much food as you can in your freezer  

Sources

[1] Cheese is a good example - feeding and milking the cows, cooling and transporting the milk, processing it in to cheese, packing it, getting it to the shops, keeping it at the right temperature all the time. If it then gets thrown away it will most likely end up in a landfill site, where, rather than harmlessly decomposing as many people think,it rots and actually releases methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.'
Information Source: Love Food Hate Waste Why does cutting food waste matter?
 
[2] WRAP estimates that if the UK stopped wasting food and drink that could have been eaten, the CO2impact would be equivalent to taking one in four cars off the road.
Information Source: Love Food Hate Waste,Why does cutting food waste matter?
 
[3] All this wasted food is costly; in the UK we spend £12 billion every year buying and then throwing away good food
Information Source: WRAP, Household Food Waste
 
[4] Nearly 1 million tonnes of food is thrown away whole or unopened
Information Source:  WRAP, The Food We Waste (Page 4)
 
[5] At least 8% of all avoidable food waste is in date at the point of disposal
Information Source: WRAP, The Food We Waste (Page 5)
 
[6] Cumulatively food waste savings amount to 670,000 tonnes, with a value of over £1.5 billion and carbon dioxide emissions of 2.8 million tonnes.
Information Source: WRAP Newsletter, Packaging: Do householders have the full picture?

[7] 860,000 tonnes of fresh vegetables and salads are still being thrown away
Information Source: WRAP, Household Food and Drink Waste in the UK

Team Green Britain and London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Ltd (LOCOG) do not endorse any of the products, companies, organisations, opinions or websites that have been mentioned in this article. The content of this article has merely been provided as background to, or discussion on, various topical issues relating to the environment and it is not necessarily representative of the views of Team Green Britain and LOCOG. Further, any figures and calculations noted in this article are estimates (unless otherwise specified), and may vary in light of numerous factors and readers are advised to undertake their own research in relation to the facts and figures applicable to their particular circumstance. Certain facts and figures shown have been sourced from third parties. Team Green Britain has not verified information sourced from third parties and Team Green Britain cannot take responsibility for the accuracy of these facts and figures.

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