In the UK food waste is a huge problem, but it doesn’t have to be. If you only buy what you need and eat up / freeze leftovers you shouldn’t have a problem. A lot of waste is caused by supermarkets, however, if unsold produce gets thrown away.
In this age of technology, there are Apps which can help with this enormous problem. I have looked at a few. Some are very straightforward and others seem too complicated to bother with as they need updating with what’s in your fridge and whether you’ve eaten it or not!! Also, some of these apps depend on you buying everything from a supermarket where it can be scanned, so if you buy from local shops such as greengrocers they don’t work properly.
Some also depend on lots of people in your local area using them too. There may be a case for identifying the most promising and promoting them, so that they do become efficient. Read on for details of seven of them and see what you think.
In the UK we throw away 10.2 million tonnes of food waste each year, thus creating more than 20 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions – equivalent to that of 3.5 million cars. This results in huge environmental consequences. 108 kg of the food we buy per person each year, is wasted at home and gets thrown away. The Grocer magazine highlights the problem of Supermarket food waste and urges supermarkets to help solve the problem, explaining how vast amounts of edible food “from the UK’s retail and food manufacturing sector is wasted – equivalent to 250 million meals going uneaten”.
Supermarket demands for visual perfection, plus sales of multi packs and free offers, contribute hugely to our food waste and landfill, with rejected ‘imperfect’ produce left at the farm.
We all have a carbon footprint. It’s the total amount of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, etc.) produced to directly or indirectly support everything we do. From what food we eat, to the houses we live in and what car we drive. The larger our footprint, the more we contribute to global warming and therefore climate change.
Here are some examples of activities that add 1kg of carbon to our personal footprint:
• Travel by bus for 7 miles
• Fly for 2.2 km
• Eat a third of a takeaway cheeseburger
• Operate a computer for 32 hours.
Knowing where to take unusual items can be a nightmare for the dedicated recyclist. If we can't find out, those unloved items eventually clutter up our garages, attics or personal living space. Even worse, they may end up in landfill.
Recycle Now is the answer to all these problems. You can find out where and whether an item can be recycled and use your postcode to see what can be recycled locally. A subsidiary of WRAP, Recycle Now aims to help people recycle more things, more often.
Read more: Who On Earth Takes This? - Recycling Opportunities.
Waste Savvy Staffs is a campaign run by the County Council to encourage residents to reduce, reuse and recycle more across Staffordshire. To reach as many people as possible they are looking for the help of volunteers to spread the message and encourage local communities to waste less.
Volunteers will be provided with free training on recycling, food waste reduction and composting in particular, but will also be made aware of other sustainable waste schemes like repair cafes. They will also be working towards setting up community fridges in the county to encourage the sharing of unwanted or surplus food and drink.
Totally Locally Online
We hardly need to remind our members of the value of local shopping when it comes to sustainable consumerism, especially since so many of our shops in Leek are doing their best to source sustainable and fair trade goods. The good news is that you can now shop on-line at many of them. For more details go to:
https://leek.totallylocally.shop/
The Carbon Footprint of Everything...