Reducing your home waste can improve the quality of air around you.
With 6.6 million tonnes of food thrown away annually in the UK, £14 billion worth was binned while being completely edible. This comes out to around £60 per month for the average family, or the equivalent of eight wasted meals a week. This creates carbon emissions equivalent to those generated by one in five cars on UK roads.
Unfortunately we are no better when it comes to water. Overuse and leaks are both serious contributors to the waste of clean drinking water, where every single day more than three billion litres are wasted in the UK.
What Can You Do?
Addressing the issues of food and water waste at home is a crucial step to reducing our impact.
Reducing Food Waste
- Buy products with recyclable or minimal packaging
- Compost your food waste and recycle as much as possible
- Use durable and sustainable reusable bags when shopping – Keep them in convenient places so you never need to opt for single-use plastics
- Regularly organise and take stock of your fridge before making a shop
- Plan out meals and freeze food as much as possible
Reducing Water Waste
- Opt for low flow shower and faucet heads, and invest in water-efficient toilets, washing machines and dishwashers when making an appliance upgrade
- Check for leaks and repair dripping taps
- Avoid leaving water running when doing dishes and brushing your teeth
- Keep showers as short as possible
- Run only full loads of washing when doing laundry