Monday 25 January 2010

The Rubbish Diet Challenge: Week 3, Waste Not Want Not



Welcome to Week 3 of The Rubbish Diet Challenge, where this week I am taking you into the kitchen to find out how much food gets thrown in your bin.

Managing food waste is one of the most important areas of waste reduction. Not only has it huge potential for slimming your bin, but by reducing what you throw away can save you money and provide environmental rewards too.

According to WRAP's LoveFoodHateWaste campaign if we all stop wasting food we could have eaten, the CO2 impact is the equivalent of taking 1 in 4 cars off the road. That's a startling statistic and when I first heard it, it really made my jaw drop in surprise.

So in Week 3, I will be revealing what type of food waster I was, in the hope that even the least careful of folk will see that there is light at the end of the tunnel. And I've included tricks for using up leftovers as well as advice about portions and ways of dealing with waste if you just can't simply eat any more.

And if you're a stranger to the kitchen with the exception of visiting the microwave, I hope to inspire you to grab your apron, or lab coat and start experimenting with food. There's so much more to being a rubbish cook, than simply being rubbish in the kitchen. You never know, you may even be tempted to have a go at making pasta or bread as an alternative way to cut down on packaging.

So if you're ready to crack on with Week 3 of the Rubbish Diet Challenge, find out what you're in for at:

http://tinyurl.com/TheRubbishDietWeek3

Oh and I almost forgot, I did a spot of reminiscing today and if you didn't catch it at the time, here's one of the recordings I did for BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour a couple of years ago.



STOP PRESS

iPhone users
- there's an exciting new app available from www.wasteawarelovefood.org.uk, which will help you plan your meals from your phone with a recipe finder and portion planner. You can download it directly from the itunes store.

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10 comments:

PippaD said...

I am so proud of me, having read what you have said this week I am one step ahead lol! I know that I have said it before but Thank you for inspiring me to slim my bin!

Almost Mrs Average said...

Hoooray - Pippa that's brilliant news. I can't wait to see the results of your next weigh-in! I'll be popping over to see you soon. :-)

Strawberry Jam Anne said...

Portion control is part of the answer Karen but I often make a quick vegetable soup and add any veg leftovers from the fridge. Last week I made a "leftovers from Sunday lunch pie" and used meat, veg and gravy. Bought the pastry, used only half so the other half is in the freezer ready for next time. It was very quick to do and delicious. A x

Anonymous said...

It's great what you suggest. We don't waste too much food as most of the unwanted stuff goes to the hens (and the dogs if it's passable dog food).

CJ xx

lunarossa said...

I find this part especially useful, Karen, so many hints and tips. Will you produce a brochure (maybe to download so we save paper) at the end? I can think it could be make a good presents for some of my friends who think that recycling, reducing waste etc. is just something that the Government should tackle and not the single citizen! Thank you very much again for all your help. Ciao. A.

Almost Mrs Average said...

Hi Anne - That sounds delicious. mmm Leftovers from Sunday lunch pie...I'm now feeling hungry. Better go and have lunch in a mo myself :-)

Hi CJ - LOL, yep hens are an amazing way of using up leftovers. Ours love pasta. It's just a shame our cats are so fussy. Maybe we should consider dogs :-)

Hi Antonella - Thank you. I'm glad that you're finding it so useful. Yes, I'm planning to cobble it all together when it's finished so that you can download in one piece. So it's great to know that the demand is there before I even get to that point. I'll let you know when it's all there ready to download and you can share it with as many folk as you like :-)

Maisie said...

Hi Karen,

my blog address has changed it is is now

www.ourpathtolivinggreener.blogspot.com

Almost Mrs Average said...

Hi Maisie - thank you. I remember giving it a mention in the linked document, but forgot to change it in my blogroll. Will change it straight away, thank you :-)

william said...

We've been inspired to slim our bin too! Over the summer we created a compost heap and this summer we plan to use it on our new vegetable patch. We also use our dog as a leftovers hoover. Now we thow out less than half what we used to but there is still some way to go. Thanks for the inspiring stories!

Almost Mrs Average said...

Hi William - thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. It sounds like you've got some great plans. Good luck with the veg patch and I love the way you've described you dog as a "leftovers hoover". Good luck with reducing even more :-)

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