Cut down on your food waste

Why this pledge is so important

The average Australian family throws away $1,036 of food a year. Plus Australia has the highest food waste generation per capita, according to the Food Sustainability Index. 

Over 5 million tonnes of food is wasted a year in Australia, that’s about 140kg per person, and enough to fill 9,000 Olympic swimming pools! 

Eliminating global food waste would save 4.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, the equivalent of taking one in four cars off the road. Globally, less than 3% of food waste is recycled, which means food waste takes up more than 20% of our landfill.

If wasted food were a country, it would be the third largest producer of carbon dioxide in the world, after the United States and China.

7 tips to reduce food waste

1. Plan meals 
   • Write a shopping list and stick to it. Don’t be tempted by supermarket offers, it’s their sneaky way to get you to buy more than you need. 
2. Eat leftovers
   • It’ll save you time, money and help the planet out too. 
3. Buy loose fruit and veg
   • You can choose how many pieces you actually need, and reduce plastic waste.
4. Ditch the takeaways
   • When you have food to eat in the fridge.
5. Don’t shop hungry 
   • Otherwise we tend to buy more than we need. Have a snack before you set off to the shops so you’re not tempted. 
6. Compost your food scraps 
   • To prevent food waste going to landfill. When food rots in landfill it produces methane, a greenhouse gas which is 25% more potent that CO2.
   • Contact your council and ask for a food waste bin, if they don’t offer this service pester them until they do.
7. Use your compost to grow your own food
   • Compost is full of nitrogen which plants need to grow and build protein.
   • By returning food waste to compost, not sending it to landfill in a plastic bag, you are helping to contribute to a healthy environment to grow more food!