What We Learnt About Being Less Wasteful In Lockdown

Cast your mind back, if it’s okay for you, to March. As we went into the uncertainty of Lockdown, many of us changed how we shop and cook.

It’s not a massive surprise, with all the images of food shortages on shelves as supply chains adjusted to everyone being at home. Added to that, all our fave restaurants and eateries shut. Then we’re all at home in our own kitchens wondering what to do. The bigger shock would have been if nothing had changed.

So here’s our rundown of what’s changed and what you can do to keep it up and maybe even find some improvements if you’re already a waste-free super-star.

Recent surveys showed that in the height of lockdown, we were throwing away around 43% less food than before. In Blue Peter presenter terms, that’s the same as saving 14000 double-decker busses worth of nosh from landfill every year. Good work folks, give yourself a pat on the back.

A lot of people said they’d made some pretty simple but quite impactful behaviour changes:

• 47% reported checking cupboards and fridge more before a shop
• 27% said they used better organisation in cupboards and fridge
• 33% found they were cooking more creatively and saving leftovers

It sounds obvious right? But big change is what happens when you really take the time to do these things. Rather than always just meaning to get round to it like we were for years.

We all changed what we were putting in our baskets a fair bit:

• More fresh produce
• More long life – tins, pasta, dried food
• Less precut veg, salad packs and ready meals.Basically, we were all shopping and cooking a lot more like our grandparents.

The sad news is that as more of us have gone back to work, the latest surveys are showing that we have done some backsliding. We are now only wasting about 26% less than we were pre-lockdown. So what can we do to keep on top of waste as our lives busy up again?

Make sure your fridge is cold enough

Easy win. A fridge that’s 5ºC or lower will keep food fresh longer. Just turn that dial. Keep it cold too. Spending half an hour staring into the fridge deciding what to have for dinner will raise the temp and make your food go off faster.

If you can’t use it now. Freeze it. A really good set of food storage containers will definitely help you out here. Treat yourself to our Tefal Masterseal range and never worry about leaks again.

Use those leftovers

Cooked a bit over? Put it aside for lunch tomorrow. Don’t let going back to work phase you. Our Masterseal Micro range has a clever little valve. No need to take off the lid and risk a full-scale-microwave-splattering-all staff-email-lunch-disaster, just pop the valve and bung it in until it dings.

No need to brush off your tinder profile. But being aware of dates and how and when you can use stuff is a game-changer. You can get a marker pen and write a day on your pack so you can easily see when you need to use stuff, rather than having to find a tiny date every time to check. Also knowing that you don’t have to freeze straight away. It’s okay to put a chicken breast in the freezer right up until its use-by date. Then it’ll keep for months.

Good luck!

If there’s one thing we’ve learnt as we’ve tried to be better, it’s that a little goes a long way. So don’t be put off by thinking you can’t do enough, keep at it. Keep on top of it, and know that we’ll be struggling along too, trying to do our best to be good and save the planet.

Sources

https://wrap.org.uk/sites/files/wrap/Citizen_responses_to_the_Covid-19_lockdown_0.pdf

https://wrap.org.uk/sites/files/wrap/Food-waste-and-Covid-9-Survey-2-Lockdown-easing.pdf

https://wrap.org.uk/sites/files/wrap/Food_%20surplus_and_waste_in_the_UK_key_facts_Jan_2020.pdf