According to the Love Food Hate Waste campaign (run by WRAP) we throw away 7.2 million tonnes of food from our homes every year in the UK. It's not just about good food going to waste either; this waste costs the average family with children around £680 a year, or £50 a month, and has serious environmental implications too. If we all stop wasting food that could have been eaten, the CO2 impact would be the equivalent of taking 1 in 5 cars off the road.
 

During our Zero Waste Week in November I decided to focus on using up things in my kitchen – things that have been sat at the back of the cupboard/fridge/freezer for a long time. Things like lentils, half used peanut butter, sundried tomatoes, a jar of Thai green curry paste. I decided to set myself a challenge to use up all this stuff rather than buying new items.

I started out by getting everything out on the worktop and creating my very own leftovers meal planner. You might be surprised to hear that peanut butter and marmalade are excellent ingredients for a stir-fry. Dried coconut compliments stewed apple excellently. The juice from tuna and salmon (MSC certified of course) shouldn’t be wasted because it works really well in pasta sauce or as stock for a fish stew. And very old, soft digestive biscuits make for a delicious apple crumble topping.

Some of my leftover creations were more successful than others but by and large its been a few weeks of inspired and delicious cooking - it just goes to show that all you need to be sustainable is creativity.

Visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com for leftover recipe ideas...

Tags: Rachel Huxley | Zero Waste Peterborough | Love Food Hate Waste

 

Along with everyone else here at PECT I've been participating in Zero Waste week. We've all pledged to do one thing at work and one at home to reduce our waste. It's the kind of thing we get excited about - which makes me mildly concerned and very proud at the same time!
 

Now as you'd expect I'm not a profligate waster so I had to think hard about what further action I could take. At work my weakness is definitely printing, I like to see things on paper. However, there is no actual reason, except habit and a slightly old school tendancy, for why I can't do the vast majority of it on screen. Zero Waste Week is the perfect vehicle to help snap me out of this outdated rut I'm in. 

For this week I have pledged not to print anything, and whilst this may be extreme, it is what I need to set me on the right path to only printing things when I really, really, really need to.  I've had to adjust my routine and get used to taking the laptop with me to meetings and to working more on screen. So far this hasn't exactly been problematic, the few hitches you'd expect with anything that involves IT, but as the week has gone on I've gotten into a pattern that works just as well as the old one. So I'm pleased to say its going well so far and is a new habit I intend to keep!

For anyone who wants to do the same I can recommend the Super 4 workshop tomorrow where Anne Corder will be explaining how they have gone completely paperless http://www.iie.uk.com/latest-news

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I've just had the good fortune to spend a long weekend in Berlin.  Apart from a great holiday, I enjoyed the journey...

Weekend breaks in Europe usually mean a cheap Ryan Air or Easy Jet flight.  Given that I've decided I won't fly if there is a viable alternative I need to be a bit more imaginative about my travel arrangements.  The non-flying is of course an environmental decision.  If unsustainability is needless consumption of resources then surely flying is high on that agenda.  But I do still want my weekend in Europe and my little luxuries in life and the good news is I can have my environmental cake and eat it. 

The solution is the fantastic European train network.  Take Eurostar to Paris (£59 return), another short walk from Gare du Nord to Gare de l'Est and then hop onto the overnight sleeper to Berlin (return couchettes from 78 Euros).  Grub and wine on the Eurostar and then hop into bed in the sleeper and wake up in Berlin ready to go sight seeing.

I've been using the trains for the last few years now and am thoroughly converted.  I find it much more civilised than the hassel of air travel and I genuinely enjoy the adventure of travelling.

Reasons to go by train

1) Carbon cost of flights 0.19 tonnes.  Carbon cost of train 0.04 tonnes.
2) Comfortable couchettes
3) You can stop over in Paris for a few hours if you fancy a coffee and croissant
4) You get to sleep off the excess of a weekend away on the trip home
5) No horrible check in (I got through Eurostar in 10 minutes)

How to do it

www.seat61.com - this is the best place to start and they'll direct you to other sites as required.
If it's your first european train trip then give yourself a bit of time to plan and try out options.
Try to book in advance; you get the best deals this way.
Take a pack lunch, bottle of wine and a good book...

Bon Voyage!

Tags: Climate change | Do your bit for the environment