Tips for reducing food waste, for consumers and businesses

As a consumer, easy ways to reduce and re-use your food waste are:

• Plan your meals and portion sizes and make a list of only the things you need (make sure you also check your pantry and fridge first). This not only helps you save time and money when in a supermarket, but also means you’re less likely to buy excess food you won’t eat
• Try not to buy pre-packaged fruit and vegetables if loose stock is on offer. Again, this will reduce any excess packaging on your fresh produce, but also means you only buy what you need
• Freeze any leftovers or any excess produce you may have and get creative with using them
• Always try and take any leftovers home when eating out
• Always check your food’s ‘Use By’ date and plan accordingly. Remember ‘Best Before’ dates simply mean this food is at its best during this time but can still be eaten after this date if it has been stored correctly
• Start a worm farm to turn any leftovers into compost for the garden

When organic waste decomposes in landfills, it produces a gas which consists of about 55% methane. Methane is a type of greenhouse gas which is much more damaging than carbon dioxide (CO2). It's also foul-smelling and highly flammable.

In Australia we waste more than 30% of the food we purchase – this costs the economy around $20 billion each year and equates to Australian consumers throwing away around 3.1 million tonnes of food each year.

This is the equivalent to throwing out 300kg per person, or one in five bags of groceries. Overall food waste costs Australian households between $2,200 to $3,800 a year and accounts for more than five per cent of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Food waste also wastes other precious resources. Twenty five per cent of water used in agriculture is used to grow food that is ultimately wasted. Therefore, throwing away one burger wastes the same amount of water as a 90-minute shower.