Reducing Food Waste at Home

We all know that there are little changes we can make to help make Scotland a greener place. Whether it’s leaving the car at home, recycling our waste, or avoiding single-use plastics. 

But did you know that an estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted globally every year? Food waste accounts for only 18% of household waste by weight but it is responsible for 30% of household waste carbon impacts. This ranks food waste as a greater contributor to climate change than other well-known contributors such as plastics and energy. 

When we think about the impact our lifestyles have on the planet, we often think about plastic bottles and other disposable items that we use and then throw away.

However, wasting food is one of the worst things we can do in terms of climate change. 
While throwing away the odd portion or scrap can seem like small fry, when we waste food we’re not just disposing of one meal or ingredient – we’re wasting all the effort that went into producing it. 

Food generates large volumes of emissions at every stage, from growing, harvesting, processing and packaging it, to refrigerating it and then transporting it all over the world – and then cooking it in our homes. 

On a global scale the picture is bleak. A third of all food produced globally is thrown away, while food production and consumption accounts for around a third of global greenhouse gas emissions.

In Scotland we’re contributing to that – with 59% of our food waste coming from households. Therefore, making the most of our food can make a huge difference.

Tackling food waste is one of most impactful actions you can take to help protect the environment and reduce your climate impact. By doing so, it’s not just the planet that could benefit, but your budget too. 

In fact, the average Scottish household stands to save over £470 a year by reducing food waste – while a family of four could save around £700 a year!

But to help us all take action on food waste, we need to understand where we’re wasting food. Let’s explore that further on the next page.