Last week, there was a disturbing report about how UK households are dumping a third of all the food they buy. Incredible isn’t it?

In light of all the problems we face today such as global warming, scare resources, pollution, simply by cutting out our food wastage we can all make a huge impact on our world.

Remember that most wasted food ends up on landfill sites. So imagine just how much land we need to shove the 6.7 million tons of food wasted in the UK alone.

I would imagine that the food wastage figure in countries like the USA is even higher than a third.

Now this food that goes into landfill sites breaks down and cause greenhouse gases. At the same time, the UK is rapidly running out of landfill sites.

The same report last week also suggested that people were in a state of denial about the amount of food they were wasting.

Ok, granted that some of the wastage is things like used teabags but it still means that we all have a huge scope to make savings in our food bills and also impact the world around us.

For instance, if the country needed to produce around 20% less foodstuffs, than there would be a corresponding reduction in the depletion of our resources, transport costs, pollution, packaging and so on.

(Talking about reducing food packaging, do take steps to put an end to evil packaging.)

Also, apparently one fifth of all our carbon emissions are related to the production, processing, transport and storage of food. So by taking some simple steps to cut out food wastage, the positive repercussions on global warming are significant.

So here my simple tips for cutting out food wastage:-

1. Check what you already have in your fridge and cupboards before going shopping. So for instance, if you already have some fresh vegetables, then use these up first before buying any further vegetables.

2. Ignore the evil advertising carried out by supermarkets to tempt us all to buy more and buy in bulk. Remember that the 30% food you waste is helping them make huge profits at your expense.

3. If you carry out a weekly shopping trip, then plan your food menu for the week and only buy accordingly. Resist any special offers etc.

4. Avoid going food shopping with children!

5. Talking of children, one of the greatest gifts you can give them is to teach them to eat healthy from a young age. So encourage them to eat sensibly and not to waste food.

6. Ensure that the temperature thermostat in your fridge is set correctly so that fresh product does not go off.

7. If you buy ready meals then make sure they are the right size for you and nothing will be wasted afterwards.

8. Make sure to use up all ready meals etc and not change your mind about eating them once they are in your kitchen.

9. On an ongoing basis, keep an eye on what is being wasted in your kitchen and what you can do to cut it out completely.

10. Eat more healthy foods – and you will find you eat less anyway 🙂

So what will you do from today onwards to eat well and save the earth?

Please also share your own tips below.