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How to cut down your food waste

Cutting down your food waste is one of the easiest ways to help tackle the climate emergency, whilst also saving you money at the same time. Using leftover food in better ways, such as donating it, can also help others who may appreciate extra food. Find information on:

Did you know?

  • if food waste was a country, it would be the third biggest producer of greenhouse gas emissions in the world after China and the USA
  • the average Southwark household wastes almost £500 per year on food that never gets eaten
  • in London, 70% of food waste happens in the home
  • in the UK, we waste enough food each year to make 15 billion meals; that's enough to feed the whole country for 11 weeks
  • 67% of the food we waste in London is edible; yet less than 1% of this edible food gets shared or re-used
Find help to access food if you're struggling financially

Reduce food waste at home

  1. Use your shopping list to make sure you buy just what you need and avoid wasting food. You can try adopting simple food habits to remove a lot of the stress around food and save you time and money.
  2. Store your food smartly to make it last longer and avoid needing to throw it away. Keeping your apples in the fridge could mean giving them an extra month! There is simple advice for nearly every type of food, to tell you if it is suitable for home freezing and how long it will last in the fridge.
  3. Make better use of your leftovers. You might be surprised by the tasty meals you can make with your leftover veg. There are lots of fantastic ideas on the Love Food Hate Waste website for recipes you can make with your leftovers.

Some food waste might still be unavoidable. See how you can recycle your food waste if you're unable to re-use it. 

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How to donate or share good quality leftover food

  1. Download the Olio app to your phone to share good quality unwanted food with neighbours for free. You can also use Olio to enjoy good food from your neighbours that would otherwise go to waste.
  2. Use your nearest Community Fridge. Community Fridges are a place for neighbours and local food businesses to come together to stop good, fresh food from going to waste. Anyone can give. Anyone can take. We have five fridges running in different community spaces in Southwark, with more on their way.
  3. Download the Too Good To Go app to your phone and purchase leftover food from shops, cafes and restaurants for a fraction of the normal price.

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Tips to reduce waste for your business

  1. Sign up to become a “Guardian of Grub”. Use the calculator to see how much money your business is losing through food waste and take a free online course to learn how to save money and reduce food waste.
  2. Create a direct relationship with a charity or local cause where free, fresh, healthy surplus food would be welcomed. Southwark Food Action Alliance may be able to help with matchmaking for your business and a local cause.
  3. Sign up to the apps Olio and Too Good To Go to pass on unwanted food to the public either for a lower price or for free.
  4. Make an arrangement to donate food to one of our Southwark community fridges.

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Page last updated: 03 July 2024

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