7th January 2026 Bulletin Eco-Corner

Our last Eco Corner talked about food packaging and minimising plastic waste – but what about food waste itself?  What can we do at home to reduce food waste (which is such a big problem throughout the UK)?

• The UK produces 9.5 million tonnes of food waste per year – 70% of this comes from households, adding up to almost £500 per household wasted per year.  Source: Food Hygiene Certificate –food waste statistics 2026.

As Eco Corner has mentioned before, the commandment Baal Taschit (Deuteronomy 20: 19 – 20) encourages us to minimise waste and make thoughtful use of resources.
 
You can:

• Plan your meals: Plan the meals you may want in the week, taking into account the number of people.
• Always check your fridge and freezer before going shopping to see what meals the contents can contribute to and what you need to add. 
• Cook meals based around what has been in the fridge for the longest, rather than just bought that day.
• Store food properly: keep fruit separately from each other as most fruits produce ethylene making them go off more quickly as they ripen.
• Know your dates: food is safe to eat before the ‘use-by’ date if stored and treated well.
• Store leftovers safely in the fridge or freezer in sealable containers. 
• Leftovers: look for imaginative ways to incorporate leftovers into your next meal (adding extra veg for example), or  eat as a snack.
• Freeze surplus: freeze surplus leftovers, or food getting near its use-by date, to use at a later date - as long as this is clearly safe to eat before freezing.
• Bread and milk can be safely frozen.
• Tinned food can be kept long after any date stamp, unless damaged
• Avoid impulse purchases – however tempting they may seem!