How to reduce food waste at home

2 min read

Most food that ends up in the bin didn't go off by bad luck: it was forgotten at the back of the fridge, bought twice or thrown away because of a misread label. The good news is that a few habits are enough.

1. Read the date properly: "use by" is not "best before"

In the UK and the EU, packaging uses two different labels:

• "Use by" is about safety, typically on meat, fish and fresh dairy. Don't eat the product after that day.
• "Best before" is about quality. Pasta, rice, biscuits and tins are often still fine afterwards if the packaging is intact and stored properly: look, smell, taste.

A lot of waste comes from treating the second like the first.

2. First in, first out

When you put the shopping away, move what you already have to the front and put the new items behind. This works for the cupboard, the fridge and the freezer. It sounds obvious, but it's the easiest way to avoid three open jars of the same sauce.

3. Check what you have before you go

Two minutes in front of the fridge and cupboards before shopping prevents duplicates. Even better if you keep an up-to-date list of what's at home: you don't have to remember, just check.

4. Buy for the next few days, not the next week

For fruit, vegetables and fresh food it's better to buy less, more often. Think about what you'll cook in the next 3-4 days and buy for that; long-life products cover the rest.

5. Freeze early, not late

Bread, meat, fish and leftovers freeze well if you do it before the date, not on the day they're about to expire. Split them into portions and write what it is and the date on the bag: without a label, after a month everything is "that brown thing".

6. A "use it up" night

One evening a week, cook with whatever is there: leftovers, slightly tired vegetables, the last piece of cheese. Omelettes, soups, savoury pies and risottos are made for this.

7. Keep track of what you throw away

Noting what goes in the bin, even for just a month, quickly shows the pattern: is it always the bagged salad? Always the weekend bread? Once you see the problem, the fix is almost always buying less of it.