Did you know that food waste makes up a staggering 40% of the average household general waste bin in West Sussex! Wasting less food saves you money and reduces emissions at landfill, as well as conserving energy and resources.
We are currently working with other West Sussex councils to develop a strategy for dealing with food waste. This is in line with the Government's commitment in its recent Environment Bill to roll out separate household food waste collection across the country by 2023.
Top 10 Tips for reducing food waste at home
- Shop smart by planning meals, making a shopping list and buying seasonal produce.
- Before throwing food out consider whether it can be frozen to be used another day.
- Think about how any leftovers can be used to form the basis of another meal, such as soups, sauces or sandwiches.
- Compost any peelings and eggshells.
- Batch cook, and freeze the rest.
- For tips on batch cooking, using leftovers, and creating shopping lists, check out Love Food Hate Waste.
- If you have excess or leftover food you can find details on ways to share it and avoid your food going to waste by visiting the Food Rescue campaign.
- There is also composting information online, which includes details of our subsidised compost bins for West Sussex residents.
- Check out OLIO, the food waste app. This clever app connects neighbours with each other and with local businesses so surplus food can be shared, not thrown away. This could be food nearing its sell-by date in local stores, spare home-grown vegetables, bread from your baker, or the groceries in your fridge when you go away.
Find out about Horsham's Community Fridge at the Sussex Green Hub which offers excess food from local businesses, supermarkets and allotments that would otherwise be wasted and makes it available to everyone in the community.
The Hub is being launched on Saturday 25 September at 10am – 4pm at the United Reformed Church in Horsham as part of the Great Big Green Week's nationwide celebration of action on climate change.