News
Give a little thought for food over Christmas
This feature was added on 10th December 2009
With the amount of food wasted rising by about 80 per cent at Christmas time, at a cost of at least £50 per household, WasteAware (Hertfordshire's Waste Partnership) is backing a campaign to encourage local residents to cut back on the amount they throw out.
The Love Food Hate Waste campaign, run by the environmental campaign group WRAP, aims to raise awareness among local people about how they can save money and help the environment by reducing unnecessary food waste.
As well as homing in on the environmental and financial cost of all this waste, the campaign is also promoting a new range of “Glamour from nothing” recipes for entertaining over the festive season. These clever nibbles create the perfect festive party at home, without the need to go shopping for special ingredients, helping us make best use of the food we have in stock.
“With most people now well into their Christmas shopping itinerary, we really want to encourage them to think more about making the best use of what they have in their fridges and cupboards over the holiday period,” said Derrick Ashley, Chair of the Hertfordshire Waste Partnership and Executive Member for Waste. “The amount of food thrown away increases significantly over Christmas so we're pleased to be on board with this imaginative Christmas campaign which provides all sorts of recipes designed to help create a nice spread for friends and family with simple and straightforward ingredients.”
Love Food Hate Waste also has some brand new recipe suggestions for those leftover ingredients in the freezer - meaning none of us have to trek out to the shops when it's cold outside. And if there is still food left over, Love Food Hate Waste has a number of great tips to help avoid unnecessary waste and save money at the same time. Just go to www.lovefoodhatewaste.com for inspiration.
Food Waste Facts from the Love Food Hate Waste campaign:
- £12 billion worth of food is thrown out every year in UK homes. Hertfordshire householders are throwing out on average £480 a year. This increases to £680 a year for families with children - or £50 per month.
- 5.3 million tonnes of good food is thrown out every year in the UK - like cheese, meat and fish, fruit and vegetables and bread. This figure does not include anything we wouldn't normally eat, like peelings, bones, or crusts.
- Wasting food has a huge environmental impact - if we stopped throwing food away, it would save the equivalent of at least 20 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. That's like taking 1 in every 4 cars off our roads.
- Food is thrown out for two main reasons - we let food go off, either completely untouched, or opened and started but not finished, costing £6.7 billion per year, or we prepare too much, costing us £4.8 billion per year
- Food waste is damaging to the environment because producing, storing and getting the food to our homes uses a lot of energy and resources - all of which are wasted when food gets binned. And most of this food reaches landfill sites where it emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
- Since the Love Food Hate Waste campaign launched, 2 million homes are feeling the benefits of cutting back on the food they waste, saving £400 million overall - or around £200 each every year. For more green Christmas tips, and to find our recipe for a delicious 'Boxing Day pie', view our leaflet here.