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There’s nothing complicated about planning you or your family’s meals for the week.
But this one simple act will set you on course to become a climate champion while shaving an average of €700 on your annual food shopping as the cost of living spirals.
Binned food creates greenhouse gases and that, on top of the emissions created growing, packing and transporting it, are why preventing that waste is one of the biggest single things households can do to help Ireland ‘Reach for Zero’.
According to the most recent estimates of the Environmental Protection Agency, 1.1 Million tonnes of food are wasted annually in the country. On average, households waste around 150kg of this unused produce.
This waste alone is responsible to an estimated 3.6 Million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2eq2).
A small petrol car doing 10,000km a year creates around 2.8 tonnes of CO2 according to emissions calculator myclimate.org so the food we throw away across Ireland creates more greenhouse gases than over half (1.28m) of Ireland’s 2.2m cars, if they covered the same distance.
And according to the EPA “growing, processing and transporting food all use significant amounts of resources and food waste is estimated to contribute 8-10% of total anthropogenic GHG emissions” on a global scale.
Over 25% of all food is wasted.
UN chief Antonio Guterres described this loss and waste as “an ethical outrage” in a world where almost half the population can’t afford a healthy diet and 690 million go hungry.
“Food loss and waste also squanders natural resources – water, soil and energy, not to mention human labour and time. It worsens climate change, given the significant role of agriculture in generating greenhouse gas emissions,” he added.
His comments marked the world’s first International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste Reduction on September 29, 2020.
With a few minor changes, families, businesses and food producers across Ireland can help to solve the climate crisis.
Five tips to help you tackle the climate crisis and make money.
These five simple tips from EPA could help you keep your cash in check and fight climate change.
They are:
1. Plan your meals
2. Before you go to the store, make sure you check the fridge and cupboards.
3. Write a shopping cart
4. Freeze leftovers and food just before you eat them
5. Try out new ways to reduce waste
Over the next week we will also show you how food apps are helping people make savings while helping reduce retail food waste and how deals with groups like Dublin’s FoodCloud make sure surplus produce from Aldi, Lidl, Musgraves, and Tesco finds its way to charities.
StopFoodWaste.ie offers guidance and tips for preventing household food waste.
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