How to eliminate food waste at home

With global food waste topping the charts at a staggering 1.3 billion tonnes last year, the blame is aimed at households as the main culprits. Scraping heaps of uneaten food into the bin, losing track of best-before dates, buying more than we need: it all adds up. This year, The Red Carnation Hotel Collection is focusing on drastically reducing food waste at our residences and we want to encourage households to do the same. Follow these practical tips to eliminate food waste at home.

Be organised

To get started, pull out your good, old-fashioned reusable containers and a labelling kit to organise, date and store leftovers. Keeping track of everything that’s in the fridge and freezer ensures it will be used up. Adopt a ‘first in first out’ policy and keep everything well organised and easy to find.

Shop smart

Never go food shopping on an empty stomach. Get behind a trolley when feeling peckish, and it’s likely that all manner of impulse buys will end up in your shop. Write a list before hitting the supermarket and stick to it. A weekly meal-planning app is a helpful tool.

Picking vegetables that are slightly misshapen or odd-looking is a great way to eliminate food waste – these are often left on the shelves and, consequently, tossed out. There’s no difference in taste once they’ve been chopped up and cooked.