Like it or not, most of us waste food one way or another. From unwanted leftovers, to unused shopping extras, it's such a shame to waste not only food that could be so needed elsewhere, but also wasting that excess packaging. We're literally putting money straight in the bin. Here's three super simple ways we can all reduce food waste in the family home with simply a little extra planning each week. We could save a few pounds along the way too.
Meal Plan
First and foremost, get meal planning. Roughly plan what you'll have for breakfasts, lunch, packed lunches and evening meals. Don't forget a few snacks too as well as drinks. Plan your meals for seven days, with maybe a couple of alternatives that are perhaps frozen or hold a longer shelf life, in case your tastes change during the week and you don't fancy one of your options on that day. Meal planning means you know what to buy when you go shopping, you'll not buy excess fresh goods that will go to waste and you won't need to pop out during the week to buy more supplies.
Write Shopping Lists/Order Online
When food shopping, arm yourself with a list of things you need. A shopping list sounds simple, but you'd be amazed how many people walk blindly round the aisles, picking up what they fancy instead of thinking in terms of meals and what goes together. This kind of shopping often results in excess food that goes to waste. Ordering online makes you even less likely to stumble upon bargains that you won't use, so this would be my top tip for saving money and waste from your food shop.
Cook what you need
Be realistic about portion sizes. Go by what is recommended or what you know yourself or a member of your family will eat to avoid over preparing food that could potentially go to waste. Cooking what you need stops storing leftovers that nine times out of ten go to waste as most of us don't really want the same meal two days in a row do we? It also stops us over eating which can never be a bad thing. If we don't cook it in excess, it has no chance of going to waste, simples!
Three simple steps that can save a whole heap of food waste as well as money from our weekly shop. If you have any more tips to save waste, pop a comment below and let me know.
Do you find much food goes to waste in your home?
