6 Ways to Waste (and Spend) Less at Home

How much food gets thrown away at your house?

Key points

• Australians waste around 2.4 million tonnes of food every year, the equivalent of approximately 7.7 million meals every single day
• “The cost of living is quite the crisis and so we want to make the most of every dollar that we’re spending on food,” Mandy said
• Listen to the full conversation in the player above.

According to a new study, it’s probably more than you realise.

Apparently, the average Australian household wastes more than twice as much food every week than they think they do.

In fact, Australians waste around 2.4 million tonnes of food every year, the equivalent of approximately 7.7 million meals every single day, according to new research by the End Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre.

So, they’ve launched The Great Unwaste, a nationwide campaign on a mission to reduce household food waste by approximately 20% by 2030.

Mandy Hall from The Great Unwaste Australia caught up with salt 106.5’s Jordana to chat about some of the simple things we can all do, to cut down on household waste.

Australians waste around 2.4 million tonnes of food every year, the equivalent of approximately 7.7 million meals every single day

“Australians have no intention to waste food,” she said.

“We’re a country full of amazing people, but we do know that the majority of food waste in Australia, the majority of that 7.6 million tonnes that happens across the whole supply chain every year in Australia, a third of that comes from households completely unintended.

“What we don’t think about with food waste is its impact on the environment.

“So the greenhouse gases that come from food rotting and landfill are astronomical.”

“The cost of living is quite the crisis and so we want to make the most of every dollar that we’re spending on food.”

As well as being better for the environment, cutting down on food waste is also good for our budgets.

“Australians are doing it really tough at the moment,” Mandy said.

“The cost of living is quite the crisis and so we want to make the most of every dollar that we’re spending on food.”

So, what can we do about it?

1. Eat your leftovers

Some people love them, others hate them. But making a habit of properly storing – and eating – our leftovers makes a huge difference to the amount of food we’re wasting.

“Leftovers are amazing,” Mandy said.

“Use them, take them to work the next day for a free lunch, or package them up for when you don’t want to cook dinner.”

Eating leftovers is also a great way to maximise every dollar spent on groceries.

2. Plan your meals

By planning your meals, you’re already shopping smarter and saving money (and reducing food waste).

“Meal planning can be something really simple, scribbled on the back of a piece of paper,” Mandy said.

Effective meal planning is a cornerstone for minimizing food waste.

And by allocating a couple of flexible meals throughout the week, you’re leaving space for leftovers to be eaten.

3. Stick to your shopping list

“Stick to a shopping list is really, really helpful,” Mandy said.

“Sounds so basic, but so many people don’t.”

Yep, it sounds simple, but by sticking to your shopping list, based on your week’s meal plan, you’ll not only reduce waste, but you’ll drastically cut your spending too.

“Every little thing Australians do would help,” Mandy said.

4. First in, first out

Another way to reduce cost and waste, is by adopting the FIFO strategy.

“First in, first out,” is a great way to make sure older items are used before newer items.

“When you do your shopping, bring the oldest items to the front of the fridge and put the newest items behind them,” Mandy said.

This simple rotational system significantly diminishes the risk of food spoilage in households.

5. Store food properly

Storage is the unsung hero of food preservation, Mandy believes.

Proper storage reduces both waste and frequent trips to the supermarket, contributing to a sustainable loop of consumption.

This also reduces the environmental toll from the agricultural processes, like excessive water usage and energy expenditure, necessary to replace wasted food.

And this includes checking your fridge is doing its job.

“Make sure your fridge is at the right temperature,” Mandy said.

Three to four degrees is probably perfect, but that makes a huge difference to how the perishable nature of food.”

6. Keep an eye on the fruit bowl

Simple things like separating bananas from other fruits to prevent accelerated ripening, can prevent unnecessary waste.

“We know that fruit bowls are, you know, notorious for creating enormous amounts of food waste because things like bananas give off particular gases that will make the rest of the fruit go off,” Mandy said.

“If you store apples in the fridge, they’ll last at least five times longer.”

Australians are inherently passionate about their food and capable of enacting change with the right tools and knowledge. As Mandy says, “Together we can turn food waste around.”

Listen to the full conversation in the player above.

Feature image: Photo by CanvaPro