by Michael Smith
According to the Waste & Resources Action Program (WRAP), a quasi-government operation in the UK, more than one third of all food that is bought by British households ends us as waste.
Often this is due because of people simply not understanding how to store this food, especially fresh produce, whether fruit or vegetables, including potatoes, carrots, etc. and also people seem to assume that a carrot must be thrown away when it has become a little black in places or a potato when it has developed shoots; neither of which is the case.
Another thing that people seem to assume is that the “best before” date means that if it a day or two or such “out of date” it means that the food can no longer be used for human consumption and hence has too be disposed off. In most case that too is a fallacy.
One way, maybe, of reducing the amount of food that we waste in our households would be to shop for food, especially for fresh produce, whether vegetables or fruit, on a daily basis and only to buy as much as we need on the day or the next day, rather than do a weekly shop as most of us do.
But, who has the time to do this, nowadays, where in most families both father and mother go out to work and where there are also many single person households where it is also not always possible to go shopping on a daily basis.
Those of us who have that possibility of getting our produce on a daily basis, whether from a greengrocers, a farmer's market or even the fresh produce section of a supermarket,, should consider themselves blessed in this way, as they really have a great way of cutting down on the food that they waste.
In addition to that, and we have talked about this before, there is the need for many to learn and relearn proper cooking as regards to what to do with leftovers and also to learn proper ways of storing produce.
Lakeland, as we have seen in another article, has developed some storage bags for a variety of produce and I am just, at this moment, putting the Potato Bag through its paces and the way things are looking after a week of having potatoes in them is that the bag is doing a great job.
On the other hand, while it is easy to buy such storage bags and such, when it comes to potato storage, and that of most root crops, all that is required is a frost-free dark place and the crops to be stored in a canvas or burlap sack. Much like the sacks that, in the olden days, potatoes came in.
There is a source of such sacks that often is free even and that are pet shops where some feed stuffs, such as nuts, come in burlap sacks or Hessian sacks and those will hold about 2-5kg of potatoes, depending on their size. Those sacks are very often thrown away by the storekeepers, so it is well worth inquiring as they can also be used for a variety of other tasks.
There is no need, if you have the time to inquire and a friendly store or two about, to buy any special storage bags but then again, at a retail price of a little over £5 for the Potato Bag from Lakeland that also is hardly an issue, especially when it comes to keeping food fresh.
The old-timers sure had their ways but some of those, obviously, are not suitable for the urbanites and suburbanites amongst us who do not have a garden where to grown and then put up potatoes for the winter in clamps. So, other storage methods need to be found and keeping potatoes in bags in the dark and away from frost is something that can be done, for starters. And this can be achieved buy purchasing such bags from vendors or to get some freebies and DIY.
The proper storage more often than not is the deciding factor as to how well food keeps at our homes and hence the factor as to how much food – and with it money – we waste.
Waste not, want not, I was told as a child and that has always stayed with me. Still as valid today as it was then in the 1960s.
© M Smith (Veshengro), February 2009
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Love Food, Hate Waste – Shopping
Britain's holiday waste smashes all records
Christmas packaging, millions of trees and up to a billion cards are heading to landfill – even though much of it could be recycled
by Michael Smith
Despite, it would appear, the credit crunch and probable very hard times ahead the Brits have been spending on Christmas on a huge scale.
As millions of households now wade through crumpled wrapping, plastic ties and discarded boxes, the sheer weight of refuse in coming days is expected to smash all records. Much of this waste is, obviously, from packaging in which all those toys came that were found under the tree, often very expensive presents. This is yet another sign that proves that this season has become nothing but one of shopping frenzy because the “little darlings” want all those things and we dare not disappoint them. The gods help us when the credit crunch turns into a depression, as it would appear that it just might.
Waste watchdogs warned that rubbish from the estimated 100 million toys unwrapped on Christmas is likely to burn big holes in the ozone layer as well as in parents' pockets.
The Waste and Resources Action Program (Wrap) said toy manufacturers are not putting enough information about recycling on their packaging and, as a result, most of it will be sent needlessly to landfill. Over Christmas 2008 alone, this will lead to more than 400 extra tonnes of harmful C02. The news is a blow to the Government's 2007 Waste Strategy, which aims to see 40 per cent of all household waste recycled by 2010.
The fact is that much of this waste could be recycled and much more of the packaging, if properly designed, could even be reused.
A survey by Recycle Now has shown that while 89 per cent of British parents with children under the age of 12 would like to recycle toy packaging, 53 per cent found it difficult to know what was suitable for recycling.
"A large proportion of the packaging material from toys is actually recyclable because it is made from paper or cardboard," said Andy Dawe, Wrap's head of retail. "It is helpful for consumers to have labeling on the types of material that make up the packaging and which of these can be recycled. It also makes a real difference if different materials can be separated. For example, where a box includes cardboard with a plastic window, it should be made as simple as possible to remove the window."
While that may be so and also quite easy as far as the little or not so little “cellophane” - for it is not real cellophane now it it – to remove it, many of the toys seem to, nowadays, also come in those “lovely” blister packs which are a combination of card and plastic, often laminated together. Great for recycling – NOT!
The government-funded agency is now calling on toy manufacturers to improve recycling instructions on their products, and on consumers to redouble their recycling efforts.
The truth is that it is often not possible to recycle certain materials, whatever the claim may be. They are laminated together and are hard or impossible to separate and I know that councils and recycling centers do not want to know that kind of material.
We need to get back to the simple cardboard box, please, and ideally on that is designed to be another product by means of a little DIY. It can be done for it has been done before.
Let me call, yet again, on the design community to get their thinking caps on and do something on this level. It is hardly rocket science. A child can do it.
Now, coming to think of it... children indeed could do it and they might come up with better ideas than many of the experts who have tunnel vision.
The British Toy & Hobby Association (BTHA) said through their spokesperson Natasha Crookes that it is for manufacturers, government-led organizations and consumers themselves to do this as, as she said, 70% of toy packaging is now recyclable. So, she said, it is really about getting people to recycle, especially at Christmas when everyone is busy unwrapping their presents.”
Industry and industry associations must get away from always putting the emphasis on the consumer and everyone else bar the industry. Packaging manufactures especially must do their part here as far as toy and other packaging is concerned. Designers can help by designing packaging to be reusable and re-purposable, as this is way more important and far better than recycling in the first place. But before all there must be a reduction in packaging.
In 2007, the UK recycled 9.7 million tonnes of household waste, an increase of 10 per cent on the previous year. However, some fear that the current economic downturn may lead to companies prioritizing profits over their environmental obligations.
"It is vitally important that we carry on recycling," Andy Dawe said. "If we stop, all materials will go to landfill – and that is the worst possible outcome."
While, however, everyone talks recycling, recycling and recycling, and while a few retailers and outlets, such as Boots and Amazon.com have already begun reducing packaging, it is that that is most important. The first “R” needs to be considered before the last of the three, namely “recycling”. After reducing it must be reusing and here, as said, the challenge is also on the designers and the manufacturers of packaging.
Honestly, we are not talking rocket science here now, are we.
© M Smith (Veshengro), December 2008
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