Reduce food waste, save money

Food waste is an important issue for many households. For people on a low income wasted food can have a significant impact on the household budget. The Australia Institute estimates that Australians throw $5.2 billion worth of food away each year. Per household this averages out to $616 each year of money spent on food that is never eaten. I'm sure all of us could think of many ways that we would prefer to spend our money instead!

From an environmental perspective food waste also has serious impacts. Food production uses large amounts of water, and the entire process of food production, processing, packaging and transport releases significant amounts of greenhouse gases. If you consider all the resources that have gone into getting food to us you realise that much more is being wasted than just the physical piece of food you're throwing out.

From a social justice perspective this amount of food wastage is significant too – the Australia Institute points out that the $5.2 billion that Australians waste on uneaten food is enough to meet the shortfall in the United Nations Emergency Relief Fund.

For these reasons many people would like to cut down on the amount of food that they're wasting, but sometimes it's hard to know how.

Read our series of articles on cutting down on food waste for some tips and ideas or attend a Green Renters Love Leftovers, Reduce Food Waste workshop.

Photo from couponshoebox.com/tips/10-tips-for-eliminating-food-waste