Food waste can cause just as much damage to the planet as plastic waste, but not everyone has, or can have, a food waste bin. Is yours going straight to landfill?
Keeping on with the latest Which? Magazine’s very sustainable theme, last week we published three food waste facts everyone needs to know.
I didn’t realise that of the 10.2m tonnes of food wasted in the UK, 7.1m of that figure comes from households, and a concerning 5m tonnes of it is actually edible.
Did you know that 17.7% of the food we buy gets thrown away?
In the UK, food waste creates more than 20m tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. That's the same as 3.5m cars 😱#WednesdayWisdom
— Which? (@WhichUK) June 26, 2019
I’ve shared a little anecdote on some of our recycling stories lately, including reverse vending machines most recently, so you’ll have to forgive me for indulging another – but I had a food bin for a while, or at least, I thought I did.
For some months, my block of flats had a council-provided food waste bin in the corner down in the bin room. I took my own mini food waste bin with me when I moved, so had been filling that up with a compostable bag before taking it downstairs.
But the communal food bin wasn’t getting taken away. After a while, it became full and, horribly, full of mice (or maybe rats, I didn’t hang about long after opening the lid to decide which).
It turned out that the food bin had been delivered by the council by mistake, and it was now refusing to remove it. Unfortunately my local authority doesn’t provide a food waste collection.
I’m pleased to say it was eventually removed and its unexpected tenants moved on, but now my food waste is ending up in with the general rubbish, which is definitely not ideal.
How much food do you throw away?
I wasn’t surprised to see bread on the list of items we throw away the most. Collectively, we throw away 20m slices of it every day.
I’m well aware that I’m disposing of too much of it after failing to get through a loaf most weeks – it’s something I’m making an effort to do something about, including freezing it when I know I’m not going to use it.
I wonder if refill stations, such as the ones currently on trial at Waitrose, could be a solution to things like this. Although we know that this could come with a host of hygiene-related concerns from your comments.
Do you think you’re throwing away too much food? And does your council currently provide a food waste collection service? Do you have a food bin at home? I’d be interested to see if anyone’s in a similar situation to me.