Sustainability

5 hacks to avoid food waste!

By SustainabilityTeam 16 Aug 2022

Sustainability starts at home

Did you know…

70% of all food waste comes from households. Food waste contributes to 8% of emissions, and preventing food going to waste is key to tackling climate change (WRAP, 2018)

These five food waste hacks are easy ways to reduce your personal food waste, but also will save you money as you aren’t throwing food you’ve bought — a win win!

1) The first, and most important tip to stop food waste is … organisation! 🤓 🖊️

Get up notes on your phone, think about what you plan to cook/eat in the coming days, and only buy exactly what you need for the meals and snacks you have planned.

It’s sounds simple, and it is! Food waste often is a result of buying more food than you need, and then not being able to eat in time before it goes off.

2) Make the most of your freezer space 🧊 ❄️

Have you got leftovers from a big meal you made and not going to have time to eat it? Freeze it! Most meals are freezable (Google if unsure about a certain dish).

Ice cube trays could be your food waste friend!

Leftover herbs? Often bags of herbs come in larger packs than are needed for meals and are commonly wasted. But you can easily save them for later — chop up leftovers, portion out into an ice cube tray and pour in olive oil to coat. Next time you are cooking a meal using those herbs, you can pop a cube into your frying pan.

Leftover mint? You could freeze in water and add it to any drink (mojito anyone?)

Other common food items that often end up wasted include:

Spinach/leafy greens — blanche any leftover leaves, and then freeze in balls, ready to be added to any meal like a curry or stir fry!
Lemons/cucumbers etc. — slice these up and put in a freezer bag – they can easily then be added as a drink garnish.
Bananas — roughly slice bananas that are going soft and freeze. Overripe bananas are great to use to make banana pancakes or banana bread.

3) Make a stock with your food scraps! 🧅 🥔

Did you know that all the food scraps that you cut and peel off when preparing your vegetables are actually full of nutrition and flavour? Think onion skins, roots, wilted greens, carrot ends, etc.

4) Carrots in water 🥕

You can keep your carrots fresh by placing them in a container submerged in cold water. They last days longer!

5) Bread! 🍞

Bread is one of the highest food waste categories — but is one of the easiest things to save from the bin!

If you know aren’t going to finish bread before it goes off, then put it in the freezer (pre-sliced), and then you can defrost it whenever you need it.

If your bread has already gone a bit stale, you can upcycle into delicious croutons for salads, soups etc.!

Sustainability is something we take very seriously at LSE and it's up to all of us to make a difference. So implement these tips into your routine to help cut down on food waste.