Fact – Food waste makes up over 40% of the contents of the garbage bin.

Food waste costs the average household $2,500 each year. Some of this food waste is unavoidable. Things like fruit and vegetable peels, pips and stones, teabags, coffee grinds, bones and eggshells can.  But some food waste is avoidable. It usually happens when we buy too much, cook too much or don’t store food correctly.

Join The Great Unwaste for tips, tricks and food saving recipes! Here are seven simple changes we can make at home to reduce food waste, eat well and save money:

1. Pack it. Stack it. Chill it.
   Proper storage and labelling are easy secret weapons to longer-lasting food and fewer “what’s that smell?” surprises. Treat your food right, and it’ll stick around long enough to reach your plate. Learn more about food storage
2. Flexi meal plan
   Life’s busy, we get it! You never know how the week will go – who might drop by, invite you over for dinner or call you up for lunch? And after a tough day, who can resist a takeaway? But by planning for the unexpected, we can unwaste food and be better prepared for whatever comes our way. Learn more about flexible meal planning
3. Join the leftovers revolution
   Don’t let last night’s dinner sulk in the fridge! Leftovers are a quick and easy way to save time, money, and give your taste buds a second helping of something delicious. Learn more about leftovers
4. First in, first out
   Before grabbing that brand-new bag of salad, remember the opened one patiently waiting its turn. Eating older items first keeps your food rotation fresh and prevents hard-earned groceries from getting thrown in the bin. Learn more about eating older items first
5. Stick to your list
   Buying too much at the supermarket is easily done, particularly when those specials and multi-buys are so tempting. But by sticking to a list, you can keep your kitchen stocked with just the right amount and avoid that unnecessary ‘just in case’ loaf of bread. Learn more about shopping lists
6. Cook just right
   Do you often cook too much rice, pasta, or mashed potatoes? Don’t worry, we’ve all been there! By checking how many people are eating, how hungry they are and recommended serving sizes, there are easy ways to prepare just the right amount. Learn more about cooking the right amount
7. Save room for seconds
   We all put a little too much on our plates from time to time. So, why not start things off with smaller servings? After all, you can always go back for seconds or save it for leftovers tomorrow. Learn more about serving sizes

Here are a few ideas for the food waste we can’t avoid:

• Reduce food waste by setting up a worm farm and make natural fertiliser for your garden.
• Consider Peels, the free platform connecting people with food scraps to those who compost. 
• Remember, food waste can’t be placed in the (green-lidded or brown-lidded in some cases) garden organics bins.

Other tips and resources:

• Buy local seasonal food from your local farmer’s market. Fruit and vegetables bought in season taste better, cost less and last longer, which means less waste.
• Download 'What's for dinner?', a book of food waste tips and information for families with children.
• Visit NSW EPA’s Love Food Hate Waste to get started on your Love Food Challenge!

Fact - Garden waste, together with food waste, can make up over 50% of waste generated at home.

Consider composting your green waste – it’s an inexpensive and easy way to reduce organic waste and convert it into a natural fertiliser for your garden soil.

There are different types of composting systems including compost bin, tumbler, compost heap or in bays - the compost bin being the most popular, available at hardware stores and garden centres. You can even reuse materials to make a new compost system:

To set up or maintain your own compost system, check out the Composting factsheet.

You may find that you no longer need the green waste bin anymore. If so, contact Council to have the green waste bin removed and your rates will be adjusted accordingly.

Planet Ark’s Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) provides easy to understand recycling information about what packaging can be recycled and tells you where to put each bit of the packaging. It removes confusion, saves you time and reduces waste going to landfill. Look out for an increasing number of products with the ARL.

The search feature in the ReSmart (fomerly RecycleSmart) app is a comprehensive  database, listing what can be accepted via the ReSmart service 

Recycle Mate’s national recycling education app provides multiple ways to search for information – via text, barcode, QR code, or AI image scan –  of over 7,500 searchable items.

Visit Recycle Mate to download the app today.