Reduce food waste advent calendar

This reduce food waste advent calendar is a great way to try new ways to reduce waste in your kitchen. It was put together by dietitians and sustainability officers at South Warwickshire Foundation Trust to help the environment. (reproduced with permission).

Advent calendar links and more information on sustainable living. 

Here are some links to further information about the topics in the advent calendar.    

1. Using leftovers: https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/recipes and lunch recipes https://www.nhs.uk/change4life/recipes/healthier-lunchboxes  

2. Finding local food https://www.cpre.org.uk/discover/how-to-find-the-best-local-food-near-you/  

3. Mindful eating: https://www.headspace.com/mindfulness/mindful-eating  

4. Find out more about plant-based diets here: https://www.bda.uk.com/resource/vegetarian-vegan-plant-based-diet.html  

5. Seasonal fruit and vegetables: https://www.lovebritishfood.co.uk/whats-in-season-when  

6. Red Tractor is one indicator of ethical farming. https://redtractor.org.uk/   

7. Portion control is key to reducing food waste and food costs. It is estimated that the UK’s annual food waste in 2018 was around 6.6 million tonnes, 70% of which was intended to be consumed by people (30% being the ‘inedible parts’). Over £13 billion a year is associated with more than 17 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. 

8. The internet requires energy-hungry data centres that could account for up to 14% of carbon emissions by 2040. A Google search requires the same energy as turning on a 60-watt light bulb for 17 seconds. That might not sound like much, but it all adds up to 79,009 searches per second. (Ref: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/alternative-search-engines-social-good/338817/#close ). Many web hosts now specialize in providing eco-friendly and carbon-neutral hosting. Below is an overview of some of them:  

Ecosia: promises to use 80% of profits to plant trees. You can check it here: https://www.ecosia.org/      

Every Click: offers to pay out affiliate commissions to charities acting as another fundraising tool for them. You can find out more here:  https://www.everyclick.com/   

Rapusia: donates half of its advertising income to social & environmental projects around the world. Every search entered earns users a heart, which they can spend on their charities of choice.  You can check it out here: https://rapusia.org/   

Give Water aims to solve the issue of poor-quality water and ineffective sanitation across the developing world. When a user searches and clicks on a paid search ad, the site generates revenue, which is used to fund better water and sanitation facilities. Find out more  here: https://www.givewater.com/about-givewater/  

You can find many ideas for search engines with green credentials – search for green search engines and pick the one that’s right for you.   https://readwrite.com/2008/04/22/15_of_the_best_green_search_engines/ .   

9. Overnight oats.  There are loads of recipes online – simple and exotic.  https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/overnight-oats-recipes 

10. Sustainable fish: https://www.msc.org/uk  and  https://www.mcsuk.org/goodfishguide/  

Do you need help reducing food waste and need some inspiration with leftovers?

Would you like to learn more about plant-based cooking?

At Get Cooking! I teach how to make the most of fresh ingredients, store them effectively and make the most of cooked food to avoid food waste. I have many years of experience working in cost-sector catering establishments and providing value from basic ingredients.

I have an Environmental Degree and spent a year at Gleneagles Hotel introducing reducing waste initiatives and finding ways to engage staff in reducing energy wastage and its impact on the environment. They were the first hotel in the UK to have an Environmental Policy Statement and introduce ways to lower its impact on the environment without affecting customer experience.

Get in touch for more information. I can help you cook more sustainably with little effort in the kitchen. Take a look at some of the other blogs below:

https://get-cooking.co.uk/reduce-kitchen-carbon-footprint-simple-ideas/

https://get-cooking.co.uk/21-top-tips-to-reduce-food-waste-in-the-home/

https://get-cooking.co.uk/reduce-food-waste-at-christmas/