There's nothing complicated about planning you or your family’s meals for the week.
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 continues to spiral this one little mindset shift could mean an extra £60 a month in your budget. But that’s not the only benefit of planning what to eat and sticking to it.
Read more: Campaign 'Reach For Zero' will help you make changes to tackle climate crisis
Binned food creates greenhouse gases and that, on top of the emissions created growing, packing and transporting it, are why preventing food waste is one of the biggest single things households can do to help Northern Ireland ‘Reach for Zero’.
According to DAERA’s head of food waste policy, Rachael Hook, homes across the region sent 250,319 tonnes of food waste for composting in 2020/21 but it's estimated that a quarter of what's ending up in black bins is also wasted food which then ends up in landfill creating tens of thousands of tonnes of harmful greenhouse gases like methane.
"For me there are easy ways to prevent food waste and to save yourself money," said Ms Hook.
"I would always advise people to visit the WRAP website for example - you'll find loads of helpful hints and tips on how you can reduce food waste, use up your leftovers.
"One of the great ideas I use myself is taking a picture of the inside of your fridge before you go shopping so you know what you have and don't have so you're not buying too much or duplicating items. Meal planning is always a great one for people to take on, being organised and being prepared when you do your shopping.
"We know from research that the biggest problem is in households - 70% of all food wasted is at household level," added Ms Hook.
"Businesses know that wasting food is wasting money so they are going to try to do what they can to not waste food, particularly in production and manufacturing. Hospitality is slightly different because what's left on plates is already paid for so there's not as much impetus there to do something about it."
While there is no detailed NI data for the food wasted here in primary production, the supply chain, in supermarkets or even the hospitality sector, the "best estimate of the amounts of post-farm gate food waste generated by businesses in Northern Ireland would be around 115,000 tonnes worth £210 million a year" Ms Hook says, with large businesses responsible for around two thirds of it.
She says DAERA has signed 18 companies up to the voluntary Food Waste Reduction Roadmap in a bid to reduce food wasted by companies by 20,000 tonnes by 2030, with 11 more in discussion.
In a bid to educate consumers about how their food waste is impacting the planet, Northern Ireland took part in the first ever UK-wide Food Waste Action Week from March 1-7.
"When we waste food, we are also wasting a huge amount of energy and associated carbon emissions from growing, transporting, refrigerating and packing the food. Sending this waste to landfill causes even more harmful emissions," Economy Minister Lyons said at the time.
According to international statistics 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. While over a quarter of all food produced worldwide 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.
But with a few small changes, families, businesses, food producers and retailers across Northern Ireland can be the solution instead of adding to the climate crisis through what they throw away.
This week we will also show you how food apps like OLIO are helping people make savings while helping reduce retail food waste and how deals with groups like FoodCloud and Fareshare make sure surplus produce from Lidl, Tesco and more finds its way to charities.
Northern Ireland is also signed up to a UN sustainable development goal aimed at cutting food waste in half by 2030 to support our transition to a more sustainable future while reducing emissions from food we throw in the bin.
It’s one of the key steps we can take to save money and help combat climate change, according to Climate and Environment chiefs.
Follow us in the coming weeks as we set out solutions to the climate crisis through our Reach For Zero campaign on the website here or on Twitter @BelfastLive, Facebook @BelfastLiveOnline, Instagram @belfastlive and TikTok @belfastlive.
If you have a story you'd like to share as part of this campaign please contact our environment correspondent at shauna.corr@reachplc.com or @ShaunaReports
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