Eco Church Tips This Month - Food waste
During and for a time after World War II, food was rationed and in short supply. People never threw food away. Since then we have seen intensive agriculture and the rise of “The Supermarket”, and with higher incomes came excess and waste. Things have turned full circle. Now where there is excess, the supermarkets send it to food banks, hostels, community groups, etc. instead of landfill. This just leaves household food waste, which unfortunately is vast. One of the things about the economic crisis, is that people can’t afford to throw food away. Recently, supermarkets are doing away with “Best Before” dates on items, to help prevent food waste.
What can we all do? When you go shopping:
· Look and see what is left in your fridge/freezer and use it up first. Get a set of useful recipes that use up leftovers – soups, casseroles, stir-frys, etc.
· Make a shopping list and only buy what you actually need. No impulse buys!
· Stock up your store cupboard with essentials, it saves an extra trip to the store and the temptation to buy something you don’t really need. Think of all the waste we could save from landfill and help the environment! And all the money you can save too.
ECO CHURCH NEWS The garden is slowly taking shape. A small bug hotel has been installed and water dishes to. Although the leaves are filling them up at the moment. Hopefully, I can get a bird bath too, from the salvage shop in Malvern. Just a question of visiting regularly until they have a suitable one.
We do have a donated nut feeder to put up, but I think the resident squirrel may eat them, so may have to put something different up later on