We are all guilty of it, a bag of lettuce, the end of a block of cheese or a few slices of bread, when it goes a bit past its best it ends up in the bin. This all contributes to the 4.5 million tonnes of waste every year that households across the UK produce, that’s the equivalent to the average of £355 per household each year. There are some simple and easy things we can all do to help us shop smarter and more sustainably.

Organise the freezer

Freezing food makes it last much longer, it applies to a lot more items than you might think. Cheese can easily be frozen ready to add to sauces or the top of shepherds pie or freeze leftover herbs in ice cube trays ready to add some zing to your next dish.

You should always check first, but once you start freezing you’ll be surprised by how much it will work towards saving things from the bin.

Understand sell by and use by dates

Sell by is for manufacturers and retailers to know when an item needs to be sold by or removed from the shelves. Use by is a guidance to tell you when something should be consumed by, but this is just guidance. While it’s ideal to have eaten the item by the use by date it’s only a guidance, learn to trust yourself; smell and appearance can tell you what you need to know. If it looks and smells like a perfectly edible tomato then it’s more than likely a perfectly edible tomato, plus if it’s started to go a bit soft, it’s probably still ok to cook with. We don’t encourage taking risks with items like meat and dairy but with a little practice you will learn to recognise when something really needs throwing away without relying on the use by date.

Get planning

It’s so simple, a list and a plan will help you avoid over buying and choosing items that will only end up in the bin. If you are buying a lettuce because you have the intention of eating it, think what meal is it part of and do you have the ingredients to make that meal or will it end up in the bin in a few days. Don’t buy a bag of potatoes if you only need two or three, do you have a plan for the rest of the bag or will it end up in the bin? Fresh ingredients are more likely to go to waste than dry cupboard items so make sure you have some essentials in to help convert any fresh ingredients that might otherwise end up forgotten, into something tasty. Tinned items are lifesavers in the kitchen, leftover veggies can be chopped up and added to a tin of tomatoes for a simple sauce or those last few rashers of bacon can be added to a tin of chickpeas for an easy side dish.

Organise your storage

This extends beyond your fridge and freezer, although they are important you should also keep all other food storage areas tidy. This avoids things being pushed to the back and forgotten, remember when you would find a tin of peaches from 1999 in the back of your Grandma’s cupboard, that’s what we want to avoid. Rotating your storage in the same way a supermarket does helps remind you what you have and what needs using, so we don’t end up with any old potatoes at the bottom of the basket.

Love leftovers

Unless you are giving batch cooking a go it’s best to only cook what you need. However, if you do have a bit of spare sauce or a few more roasties than you need, put them to one side and think it through. Can you freeze it? Can you include it in tomorrow’s dinner? Try not to waste anything and even consider one night a week when you make sure all leftovers are used up, the best way to remember your leftovers is to store them in a clear container so you don’t forget they are there.

Compost

If all else fails or you are still finding your feet with reducing waste don’t worry you can still be sustainable. Many of your raw food items can be added to the compost, it’s not just for garden trimmings. Your eggshells or forgotten lettuce leaves could soon be nourishing next year’s tomato plants. Don’t forget if you get into your composting, you can add raw kitchen waste such as fruit and vegetable leftovers, garden trimmings and uncoated cardboard, all of this helps reduce waste and makes a more sustainable way of living. Simply get a compost container for your kitchen and a compost bin for your garden and your set to go!

Bountiful boxes

If you have half a carrot or three raspberries left it’s tempting to throw them away, surely you don’t have any recipe that just calls for three raspberries. Start a smoothie box, a box in your freezer with all the little bits of fruit and veg that will be delicious in a smoothie but otherwise are too sad to be used elsewhere. This can also work for the ends of cheese, when you have a scrap of cheese left, add it to the freezer box and when you have enough add them to a sauce or topping. Once they are melted you’ll have a delicious cheesy sauce and can just keep adding to the box as and when.

Wasting food is easy to do but is also one of the simplest changes you can make to becoming more sustainable. When you throw away food, think of it like putting money directly into the bin, you just wouldn’t do it. A bit of forward planning and stock rotation will make all the difference and become second nature in no time.