40% of the food we buy gets binned

Written 30th April 2025

I've just watched a Netflix documentary about global warming. It was presented by Bill Gates so I'm fairly confident the information is credible.

Apart from the situation with our planet being in a terrible state to leave our descendants with overall, one thing I took away from the program was the fact that 40% of the food we buy gets binned and mostly ends up in a landfill.

40%

That's a phenomenal amount of waste.

For one second think about the energy used to grow that food, the fuel, the fertiliser and pesticides, the cost to the supermarket, stacking the shelves, keeping it cool and then to you to buy it. Forget the impact to the environment (though that's a travesty), just imagine your weekly food bill is £100 but you're binning 40% of it. That's £40 a week, or roughly £2000 a year. Every year!

Stop!

Buy less, make menu's and stick to it. Store things properly to keep fresher for longer. Save leftovers for a bubble and squeak, or make soup. Put things in sealed bags, or plastic containers. Use the freezer. Rotate the food in your cupboards so you use the oldest up first. Buy seasonal produce. Just buy enough. Don't over buy perishables. We're all getting bigger and don't need half the food we buy (obviously based on the above stats).

If your kids regularly leave food, serve them less.

If you want to make your money go further, food waste and over buying is an area many of us can easily reduce our expenses. And you'll be reducing methane, carbon dioxide, and a range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) being released from landfill and a plethora of chemicals being released from the whole transportation and production processes. You and all of us can make a difference to our planet.

Peace, love and kindness always.

LF

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