A4 Brochure (print) - Love Food Hate Waste

NSW householdsthrow away more than$2.5 billion worth ofedible food per year.Sad, isn’t it?Sadder still, most of it could have been eaten.Avoid food waste, save timeand money and reduce yourenvironmental impact by planningbetter, shopping smarter andstoring food effectively.Each year NSW households throw away more than $1000worth of edible food. This includes fresh food, leftovers,packaged and long life food, unfinished drinks, frozenfood and takeaways.Loving food is about wasting less every day – saving youtime and money, making a difference to our environmentand living more sustainably..What is food waste?Food waste can be ‘unavoidable’ or ‘avoidable’.‘Unavoidable’ food waste is food waste that cannotusually be eaten such as pineapple skins, teabags andvegetable peelings.‘Avoidable’ food waste is foodthat is wasted due to:• buying too much• cooking too much• saving and storing itincorrectly.It’s the food that wepurchased intending touse but then later fedto the pets,composted or put inthe bin.Love foodLove Food Hate Waste provides practical tips and toolsthat will make it simple for all of us to reduce food waste athome. By simply planning your meals and what you buy,preparing and cooking the correct serving size, and learninghow to best store food, you can reduce food waste.Buy itWhether you have a large family or household, live alone,or as a couple, planning your meals and shopping list inadvance will save you time and money.Menu planning provides an opportunity to use leftovers moreefficiently and makes it easier to stock your freezer.By sticking to your shopping list, you will only buy the itemsyou need, reducing the amount of food waste that ends upin your bin each week.Cook itOne of the most common reasons for wasting food is wecook too much. By getting serving sizes right, knowing how tomeasure and cook the right amount of food for the numberof people you’re cooking for, you will avoid food waste, savemoney, and reduce our impact on the environment.Save itThe way we store our food at home can affect itsfreshness and shelf-life.Love Food Hate Waste provides you withsimple tips on how to best store your food, frombreads, pastry and cakes to meat, dairy, cereals,and fruit and vegetables.Our top tips will help you to reduce the amountof food you throw away, save money, and makea positive contribution to our environment.

How much do we waste?• More than one third of the average householdgarbage bin is filled with wasted food each week.• NSW households throw away more than800,000 tonnes of food each year.• In NSW, more than $2.5 billion worth of ediblefood is thrown away each year.What do we waste?Each year in NSW we throw away and send to landfill:Food waste and our environmentMost of our food waste ends up in landfill. When food wastebreaks down it produces methane – a greenhouse gas 25times more damaging to the environment than carbondioxide.Wasting food wastes the energy, water and natural resourcesinvested by the food supply chain to grow, package andtransport that food to us.Top tips to avoid food waste• Plan your weekly menu and shop to a list• Check your fridge and cupboard before writing yourshopping listFresh foodLeftoversPackaged andlong life foods$694 million$372 million$848 million• Choose fruit and vegetables that will be ripe when you’reready to use them• Think carefully before buying specials and deals• Always look for the use-by and best-before dates• Measure your serving sizes• Store leftovers in the freezer for an easy weeknight dinner• Airtight containers help keep your food fresher for longer• Check food packaging for correct storage tipsDrinks$231 millionFrozen food$231 millionTakeaway/homedelivered food$180 million0 $200m $400m $600m $800mlovefoodhatewaste.nsw.gov.auWaste less food, save money and our environmentPublished by: Environment Protection Authority, 59–61 Goulburn Street, Sydney Phone (02) 9995 5000 (switchboard)Fax (02) 9995 5999 TTY (02) 9211 4723 Email info@lovefoodhatewaste.nsw.gov.au Website www.environment.nsw.gov.auOEH 2012/0436 June 2012