Why and how should we reduce waste?

Hello everyone!

Today I'm joined by Zoe Morrison from Ecothriftyliving blog to talk about the importance of reducing waste and so she can share her tips with you all on how you can do your part!

I follow lots of Instagram accounts of people who live zero waste lifestyles and also wrote a post about Wonky drinks (a company who makes juices from produce that would otherwise be thrown in the garbage) so this topic is of great interest of mine! Hope you enjoy this post.

The Frugal Teen x

Why should you care about reducing your waste?

Before I had kids I was a bit concerned about environmental issues, but when I had children that concern reached new heights. What kind of a world were they going to grow up in and what kind of a world would their children be born into? Like all parents I want the best for my children and at the same time I was waking up to how much damage our daily habits were doing to the environment, I was realising that I didn’t want to juggle a career and young kids.

This was life changing for me. I decided to work out ways that I could be eco-friendly that would save me enough money so that I could afford to be a stay at home mum. I spent a lot of time learning how to waste less, because it is a win, win situation. You save money, you still get to do all the things you would usually and you help the environment all by no longer spending money on things that barely get used (if at all).

So what things can you do?

One of the ways I saved money was by avoiding food waste. 50% of food waste comes from households in the EU and the average family in the UK throws away £700 worth of food a year. The food gives off methane in landfill (a greenhouse gas) and often perfectly good food is being thrown away, which seems very wrong in the light of a massive rise in food poverty in the UK. We all really need to own up to our food waste, start changing our ways and doing something about it!

So how would you advise getting started?

Here’s my 4 top tips to get you going:

1. Don’t chuck chips!

If you ever have any leftover chips, you can use them up the next day in a Spanish tortilla. You basically make an omelette, but add the chopped up chips to the mix (and other ingredients that you feel like adding e.g. cooked veg or cheese) – it’s yummy!

2. Be careful about what you put on your plate

If there are always leftovers being scraped off your plate, then put less on it next time. Also in restaurants if you know you won’t eat the salad garnish or the bun or whatever bit of the meal it is you don’t like, ask for it without and save the waste!

3. Give away food

I would definitely advise this if that you bought food in error or know you won’t be able to eat it. There are online apps and Facebook groups for food sharing or you can offer it to friends, family and neighbours!

4. Don't be afraid to ask

If you have questions ask a friend or someone in this friendly and helpful Facebook group for people who want to reduce their food waste.

Apart from the future benefits, why else do you like reducing waste?

Reducing your food waste can be fun! It allows you to experiment with foods that perhaps would have gone in the bin before e.g. leftovers or potato peels. It also saves you money and it is good for the environment. As you have seen, it's easy to get started, you don’t have to do it all right away, just make one change at a time is good enough and go for it!

Last question, where can we find you for future tips?

I blog over at Ecothriftyliving and also run a friendly Facebook group for people who want to reduce their food waste. I'm also writing a book at the moment– The Ecothrifty Kitchen (how to save money and the environment by reducing waste in your kitchen)- so that's worth keeping an eye out for too!