This month it emerged that in the UK, a staggering eight billion pounds worth of food goes to waste, which equates to 6.7 million tonnes or a third of our total purchases. Those are scary stats that are echoed in many other countries around the world. This effects us two ways. Firstly, with food prices rising dramatically at the moment, it’s a very good idea to start looking at whether we can be more efficient with what we eat, thus wasting less and saving money. Secondly, all that wasted food typically ends up on landfills thus producing the greenhouse gas methane, on top of all the damage the excess packaging and transporting causes. It’s with all this in mind that I’ve compiled an introductory list of habits you can develop in your life that will help you to stop wasting food so as to save money and be environmentally friendly.
- Eat out less
Eating out can be great but there are so many issues. Firstly, there is the quality. If you want good, healthy food it will cost you more but if you want cheap and cheerful then you are sacrificing your health. Also you rarely have any real choice on portion sizes so you tend to come away from a meal having wasted a lot. If you eat at home you have control over what exactly you get and how much of it you eat. Just because wasted food isn’t going in your bin doesn’t mean you’re not responsible for it. - Don’t go shopping on an empty stomach
Imagine going into a shop full of food when you haven’t eaten. Not a good combination. All those temptations, all that tasty food. You may find yourself buying loads only to get home, fill yourself up and have lots left over. Make it easier on yourself by eating beforehand. - Write a shopping list
If you go into a supermarket without a clear plan of what you want to buy then you often end up randomly browsing around picking up food you wouldn’t necessarily want/need. Do your research beforehand so you know what’s missing from your fridge, how much bread and milk you really have, what supplies you need for your lunch, etc. - Shop more often and buy less
Due to time constraints and the chore of going to the market, most of us do our shopping once or twice a week and buy as much food as we think we will need. The problem is you don’t really know what you are going to be doing or how you are going to be feeling in several days time. Often I will buy something with the intention of eating it later on in the week and then my schedule changes and it gets wasted. Ideally, you want to go daily and buy just the food you need for your meals that day. - Buy only what you will definitely eat
This might seem obvious but you’d be surprised how often people buy food and then never bother to eat it despite it being right in front of them in the fridge. You know what your eating habits are, you know what you really like and don’t like. As part of my health drive I used to buy salad like lettuce and cucumber but when it mattered I simply did not bother preparing it so it inevitably went to waste. It did not fit my eating habits. - Use your freezer
Almost any food can be frozen so take advantage of that fact. Food can arguably be stored in a freezer indefinitely with negligible loss in taste or quality, so If you think you not going to eat something before it runs out of date freeze it! Just be sure to regularly review what you have in there because it’s very easy to forget what is stored in it. - Set a budget
If you set out how much money you are going to spend per week you are more likely to buy stuff you need and will definitely eat. You don’t want to buy any food without a plan or a budget and find that by Friday you’ve no money left to buy your dinner. The best approach is to take out some money beforehand and then leave your card at home. This forces you to carefully weigh up the price of everything you buy.
译文:
停止浪费食物同时又保护环境的七条途径
本月在英国高达八十亿镑的食品被浪费，这一数量相当于六百七十万吨或者我们全部采购的三分之一。这些惊人的统计在全球的许多其他国家引起反响。这给予我们两方面的影响。第一，在目前食品价格急剧上涨的形势下，最好仔细考虑一下我们是否可以更有效的利用我们吃的东西，这样可以减少浪费、节约金钱。第二，所有被浪费掉的食物最后运到垃圾场由此产生的温室气体甲烷，高居过度包装和运输所释放的“温室效应”气体之上。除了这些，我还整理了一些引导性的条目，帮助你在生活中养成停止浪费食物、节约金钱、保持环境友好的习惯。
· 少吃一点
在外面吃饭很好，但是要有这么多的注意事项。首先是质量，如果你要吃好的健康的食品会花掉你许多钱，如果你要吃得便宜吃得痛快会牺牲健康。同时你很少在远离大量浪费的食物份量上做出真正的选择。如你在家里吃，你就对你拥有食物量和你吃掉的食物量做出精确控制，别因为浪费的食物没有进入你的垃圾桶，你就没有责任。
· 别空着肚子去购物
想象一些，当你没吃饭的时候进入一家满是食品的商店。不是一个好组合所有这些诱惑，所有的甜美食物。你会想办法让自己买一些回家填饱肚子，然后回剩下许多。因此要事先吃饭后再从容地去购物。
· 写一个购物列表
进入一家超级市场，如果你对所要购买的东西没有一个清晰的计划，最后你就会随便地看，然后挑选一些你不想要或者不需要的食品。事先做好你的调查，这样你就会知道你的冰箱里缺少什么，你究竟有多少面包和牛奶，做午饭需要什么等等。
· 购物要少量多次
由于时间的限制和对逛商场的厌烦，我们大多数人每周购物一次或者两次，并且按照我们认为需要的量去购买。问题是你不能确切知道在未来的几天内你将要做什么和你的身体感觉如何。通常我买食品都是想着在这一周把它吃完，可是后来我的计划改变了，这些食品就浪费掉的。最理想的做法是，每天都去市场买食品，每次只购买当天做饭够用的数量。
· 只购买你确定吃的东西
这看起来可能是很明显，但是你会感到惊讶的是人们经常是买了食品就根本不去吃它，即使它就在冰箱里面。只有你自己知道你的饮食习惯，你喜欢什么和不喜欢什么。作为促进健康的一部分，我经常购买莴苣色拉和黄瓜色拉，但是当遇到重要事情我就根本不去调制它，那它必然要坏掉了。它不符合我的饮食习惯。
· 利用你的冰箱
几乎任何食物都可以冷冻，因此要利用好这一事实。按理说，食物可以无限期地存放在冰箱里味道和质量基本不变。因此如果你不想在过期之前吃掉一些食品，那就把它们冷冻起来！确定定期检查冰箱里有什么，因为很容易忘了里面存有什么东西。
· 做一个预算
如果你规划出每一周用多少钱，你会更倾向于购买需要的东西并确定会吃掉它，你不想在没有计划或预算的情况下购买任何食品，然后到了星期五你会发现没有买完饭的钱了。最佳的途径是预先规划出一些钱，同时购物时要把卡放在家里。这就会迫使你仔细掂量一下你购买的每一件食品的价钱。