Each time you go shopping, try to plan your menu and check what you have left in the fridge before going to buy more.
Trying to avoid bulk buys of fresh food, as this food often spoils before we get a chance to eat it and only buying what you have actually planned to eat.
Some tips to help with this are try not to go shopping when you're hungry (always ends with more snacks than we need!) and shopping online can prevent unnecessary buys.
Also, shopping for produce that is in season will last longer which will give you more flexibility if your plans do change.
How to deal with leftovers
When there are leftovers try freezing them to avoid them getting pushed to the back of the fridge or get creative and repurpose your leftovers. For example, left over roast veggies might be used to make a frittata. Check out our delicious and healthy recipes for creative ways to use your leftovers.
It can also help to keep your older fruit and vegetables at the front of the fridge--either keep them in one side of the crisper drawers or put container at the front of the fridge labelled "to be used first" and these can be used to make an "if it's meal" at the end of the week. That means that if it's in the fridge, it gets added to the meal.
There are lots of ways to revitalise and love your leftovers.
Tips that will stop left over food going in the bin:
- Have them for lunch the next day - this is one that is common and should be encouraged in your workplace
- Make stock - vegetable scraps and peel can be placed in the freezer and when you have enough, make stock. See our recipes for different types of delicious stock
- Make soup - most left over steamed/boiled/roasted vegetables can be blended with some stock and turned into soup
- Freeze - freeze left over meals in individual serves so that each family member can choose their own dinner on "leftovers night"
- Store leftovers appropriately - leave leftovers at the front of the fridge so that you don't lose track of them. Once they go in the freezer, label them with the meal name and date it was frozen so that you know when it was frozen
- Repurpose - use portions of your meal in other ways, for example left over roast vegetables or pasta or rice can be baked into frittatas for lunches
- Have if it's meals - if it's in the fridge it can get used, this is a great way to get creative and use all the little bits and pieces that end up in the fridge by the end of the week. Check out our recipes for ideas.
Another idea to reduce your food waste is to learn about how to know the difference between best before and used by dates.
Planning meals to reduce food waste
Despite our best efforts, there are many reasons that food gets wasted at home, such as buying too much, not planning meals or plans changing last minute.
A key to reducing food waste in the home is to try and plan our meals. This can be in the form of weekly or fortnightly shopping, or even just planning for a few days in advance.
Regardless of the time frame, by planning a menu you're ensuring that you're buying all the ingredients needed to make your meals and this reduces wastage by reducing the amount of uneaten produce. However, it's inevitable that plans change. This can be from unexpected visitors, after work drinks, working late, school events running over time or just being far too tired and getting some takeaway!
Once you have bought the food, there are key things each of us can do to reduce the amount of food we waste. When we're cooking dinners, checking how many you're cooking for each night is especially important if you live in a share house or have teenage/adult kids coming and going. Often, we cook the same amount each day, no matter how many are planned to be home which results in leftovers that might not get eaten.
It can be challenging for some people to plan meals (or know where to start), but Eat Sustainably are here to help with resources, such as delicious recipes and low waste meal plans to your inbox.
Meal planning tips:
- Plan at least one weekly 'easy dinner'. This can be something as simple as baked beans on toast and will help on the days where you get home too late to cook or are too tired to be bothered.
- Leave flexibility in your plan - you'll notice Eat Sustainably meal plans are only 5 days per week, this is very intentional and allows for flexibility in the week.