It's very easy to ignore the fact that huge amounts of shopping during Christmas puts a big strain both on your pocket and the planet. Manufacturers not only double or triple their output but also utilize their non-renewable fuels. As much as recycling leftovers and employing strategies to reduce festive waste feels like nothing, it surely leaves a huge positive impact.
Australian families spend a whopping $10 billion on Christmas meals. Sadly, 35% of the food ends up being waste. To prevent the ugly statistics from rising, do the following:
Avoid supermarket deals
Most if not all supermarkets pull out major deals immediately after December sets in. Unfortunately, many of the deals aren't that valuable to both your pocket and the environment. Some of the deals encourage you to purchase food that you'll not even eat. Therefore, try as much as possible to resist purchasing unnecessary foods just because you can afford it. By buying only the food you need, you'll avoid wasting food.
Plan for Christmas meals
Many families buy excess food for Christmas dinner. The last thing people want is to run out of food during Christmas. However, failure to plan for your holiday meals can lead to excesses. To avoid such situations, take time to realistically think about the amount of food one person can eat. In the end, you'll notice festive estimations have a tendency of being off the mark.
Protect leftovers
A tough vacuum sealer is what you need to prevent your food leftovers from spoiling. The easy to use nifty devices are a great way of keeping things fresh. Put your ingredients (sausage rolls, ham, turkey etc.) in a suitable freezer or fridge bag. Next, insert them into the machine. By the mere click of a button, the vacuum cleaner sucks all oxygen from the bag. It then vacuum wraps your food similar to what a snack counter in a supermarket does. The fact that the device sucks oxygen from the bags containing your food means that bacteria can't thrive, so the food can't spoil.
Be creative with scraps
Plenty of creative ways exist to become sustainable this year. Things such as turkey bones, carrot tops, and potato peels are reusable. By combining such items in your stock for winter broth, you will have a sumptuous treat, which warms your stomach days after you clear your Christmas table. Do you detest the idea of preparing your meals with scraps? If yes, you can put them in your garden for birds.
By doing the above things, you can play your role in reducing food waste during the holidays. For more information, contact local waste service professionals.
Share15 December 2016
We have the worst possums in the world in my street. They are always trying to get into our garbage bin, but once they are in they don't eat much at all: They just drag rubbish around the yard looking for fruit scraps. It attracts flies and looks (and smells) terrible. I have tried nearly everything you can think of to try and discourage them, but the only thing that works is having air tight garbage bins that they can't lift the lids on. This blog has some tips on the best types of garbage bins for keeping possums and other wildlife out of your rubbish.
