NOW CLOSED Share your views on food waste for CarrieMumsnet and Unilever UK and you could win £100 cash

[KatieBMumsnet]

CarrieMumsnet is talking about the issue of food waste at an event hosted by Unilever UK soon and she'd love to get your views on the topic.

Here's what Unilever UK says about food waste:
"At Unilever, thinking sustainably is at the heart of everything we do. Now we're working hard with WRAP (Waste and Resource Action Programme) and other organisations across the UK to help people to reduce the amount of food they dispose of. After all, throwing away food wastes money and it's bad for the environment too.
"According to recent research we've commissioned with the Fabian Society, the most trusted source of information about reducing food waste is our friends and family. People listed food going off too quickly, throwing away leftovers and cooking too much food in the first place as the key reasons why they waste food. We'd love to get your thoughts."

On 1st November, our Mumsnet co-founder, Carrie Longton, is going to be joining a number of influencers and experts in the world of sustainability to speak at a morning of debate and insight on the subject of food waste, hosted by Unilever UK.
Here are some questions to get you started - all views welcome:

• Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin?
• Does your local council offer a food waste collection service?
• What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away?
• Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food?
• If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum?
• How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin?
• Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food?
• Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food?
• Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home?

Everyone who adds their comments to this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will receive £100 cash.

Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin?

• I don't know if we throw away "much" - it depends what and who you compare us too. Hopefully we don't do too badly. Yes we have a kitchen caddy and we also have a compost pile in the garden.

• Does your local council offer a food waste collection service?

• yes

• What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away?

• we don't get round to eating it in time and it goes off/mouldy

• Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food?

• mostly uncooked, my husband takes anything cooked to work for his lunch or I recycle it for the children's lunch/supper/snacks etc

• If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum?

• see above - luckily my husband will eat more or less anything so he is our human dustbin! I also make sure to incorporate all leftovers into the next meal (or one of the next meals) and if, for example, we are having a chicken for lunch I will plan one or two meals for the next few days using leftover cold chicken. Another thing I do is have an area of the fridge (at the bottom so first place you see) that is specifically for food that needs eating quickly.

• How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin?

• I do google recipes to find ways to use up leftovers. We also very often eat food that is past it's "best by" date - as long as it isn't mouldy (or even if it is in some cases!) and smells OK I try and use it.

• Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food?

• see above, my place-in-the-fridge idea; a human dustbin for a husband; good meal planning.

• Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food?

• Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home?

• yes!

Stopping online shopping has reduced our waste... if something has a short shelf life I don't buy it, but in our online order lots of vegetables would turn up almost on the turn, impossible to use them all before something goes off.

• Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin?

I try not to thrown away too much as we are on a tight budget. Food waste goes in the council green bin or if it is uncooked fruit and veg it goes on my compost heap.

• Does your local council offer a food waste collection service?

Yes, they collect a green waste bin every fornight which you can put food waste into.

• What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away?

Mainly from going out of date or sometimes it goes off before the BBD. Waste from plates tends to go in the dog!!

• Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food?

Mainly uncooked food

• If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum?

I meal plan and keep my food buying to a minimum.

• How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin?

It has to be really rank for me to chuck it so I wouldn't do anything other than compost it or put it in the green bin.

• Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food?

Meal plan and stop buying so much of it.

• Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food?

Just buy less!

• Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home?

Yes.

• Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin? I think we throw away too much and hate waste. Some goes in the caddy, some goes to the pets and some (chicken carcass for example) gets taken on the dogs night walk and left in a field for the foxes.
• Does your local council offer a food waste collection service? Yes
• What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away? If it has gone off, peelings etc.
• Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food? Uncooked
• If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum? See above- pets, foxes, cooking less.
• How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin? I think I do what I can to reduce waste. DH just needs to stop buying so much bread.
• Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food? Blanche vegetables and freeze, feed wildlife (only in rural areas really), cook less in the first place.
• Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food? As above, less wasted food = less wasted money.
• Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home? I save teabags for the garden compost.

We have a kitchen waste bin which is collected by the council. It's excellent - it collects stuff we can't possibly use like bones from chicken, peelings etc. yes, in theory these could be used for stock but there will always be some inedible food waste.

My main reason for wasting food is buying something at the start of the week and plans change and we don't get a chance to eat it. I hate it web that happens.

Also, I'm not sure about food storage and safety rules (like freezing / defrosting chicken more than once - freezing when raw and then cooked for example) so I err on the side of caution with these things. That information is hard to find and I'd like to be more certain about what is safe.

• Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin?
  We throw away a greater amount than I am happy with! This tends to be my fault - I am never sure how much the children are going to eat, so tend to cook slightly more incase they would like seconds! Also, despite my best efforts with meal planning, we tend to throw out a lot of fresh food which has past it's best. We do have a kitchen caddy.

• Does your local council offer a food waste collection service?
  Yes, they collect every week. They provide a kitchen caddy and a supply of bags for this (I think they provide a 6 monthly supply but you can request more from the bin men) and they also provide a larger garden bin (like a bigger kitchen caddy) so that the small bags can be put into this regularly.

• What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away?
  See above! That'll teach me to read the questions before waffling on!

• Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food?
  A mixture of both.

• If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum?
  Sticking to the meals I have planned. Also, instead of ordering fruit and veg with my weekly online shop, going to our local greengrocers and buying these as and when they are needed would help.

• How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin?
  Use leftovers for soup.

• Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food?
  Stick to meal planning!

• Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food?
  Buy less, cook less, use leftovers in other meals, freeze things!

• Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home?
  Yes.

We waste very little because we have hens! The council provides biodegradable bags and a brown bin and collects weekly, and yes I put tea bags in. The hens eat left over salad,veg, pasta, crusts, fruit cores and skins, peelings. We don't waste much food, just crusts that have dried up, or out of date pots of hummous/salad which haven't been finished by the end of the use by date. With 3 teens most food gets eaten. I tend to make breadcrumbs and freeze it, or freeze anything that's getting near its use by date. Excess fruit/veg from the garden I usually blanche and freeze too.

Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin?
We try to not throw food away at all. However, if something's gone off, then of course it ends up in the bin, but this is a rare occurrence. We don't have a kitchen caddy or compost bin.

Does your local council offer a food waste collection service?
No, but I think it's in the pipeline.

What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away?
If it's gone off, otherwise nothing gets thrown out.

Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food?
Uncooked.

If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum?
That's quite tricky at the moment, as we have 2 little ones in nappies. We recycle as much as possible to reduce landfill though.

How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin?
Make sure I don't buy too much food such that some might go off before it's eaten. As I say though, rarely does this happen.

Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food?
Plan a menu for the week before you do the shop, that way, you know exactly how much food you need.

Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food?
Buy things on offer and then freeze them for another day. We often do this with meat, so if a nice cut of beef is on offer, then we buy a big quantity, divide it up into meal portion sizes and then freeze it.

Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home?
Yes.

* Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food?

Ignore best before dates and use your eyes and ears and nose instead.

I?m proud to say that we throw no food away. This is mostly due to my DW being amazingly organised/crazy. She makes a meal plan on a Saturday for our weekly Sunday shop. If it?s not on the list before we go in the store it?s not allowed in the trolley. This method has helped us to buy only the food we know we can eat plus some treats which usually have a long shelf life. Green waste goes in the compost as our council has no food collection I?m aware of. Off cuts of meat go in the cat and we then cut back her food (saves money on whiskers).

My best tip though is to never buy the ?ripen in the fruit bowl? stuff. I see this and read ?goes mouldy before it?s ready to eat?.

• Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin? >> Very little gets thrown out other than the odd scrap or scraping from a saucepan.

• Does your local council offer a food waste collection service? >> No

• What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away? >> Only scrapings from cooking are thrown out usually. Occasionally the end of something will go off.

• Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food? >> cooked

• If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum? >> Any fruit which is about to go soft is made into a pudding or frozen for future use. I only cook the amount I think will be eaten for each meal. I don't buy things which I don't know will definitely be eaten.

• How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin? >> I can't think of anything I could do with the scrapings from saucepans.

• Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food? >> When I batch bake I freeze most of it so it is only defrosted when wanted and doesn't go stale.

• Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food? >> Only cook the amount you think will be eaten - if people are still hungry give them a yoghurt or some fruit.

• Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home? Yes - we compost all peelings and teabags etc.

Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin?

We try not to throw away too much as it's such a waste of money. Food waste goes in with normal rubbish though. We live in a tenement flat on the top floor with little space for multiple bins, no garden for compost, and neighbours who regularly trash/misuse the existing recycling bins.

Does your local council offer a food waste collection service?

Not in our area (almost exclusively flats). I suspect they may do in more affluent areas.

What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away?

If it goes off/mouldy. I'm very tolerant of best before/use-by dates and generally rely on smell/look etc rather than what the packaging says. I've also been known to cut the visible mould off things . We try to freeze anything that's not going to be used within a couple of days and therefore risks being forgotten about and going off.

Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food?

Mainly uncooked - bread, salad are the worst culprits.

If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum?

We shop weekly and meal plan which wastes less than when we did a less frequent shop and bought a lot of what we just fancied eating at some unspecified time.

How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin?

Making sure that food that's at risk of going off is visible, not shoved at the back of the fridge. Cooking and freezing rather than leaving fresh food that will go off soon. Freezing bread.

Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home?

Yes I did!

I am borderline obsessive about food waste and throw away almost nothing. The biggest difference to me was buying a large freezer and freezing everything in small portions, then defrosting only what I need. If I cook too much, then the excess goes in the freezer or is made into soup for lunch (then frozen). I only buy the minimum of non-freezable food. I also grow almost all my own veg so there is rarely any vegetable waste, other than peelings etc, and these go in the compost (along with teabags!) Courgette season can result in a fair amount of waste as they all ripen at once but the surplus just go straight back onto the compost heap as well.

My council offers very poor recycling facilities so if I didn't have the compost heap then the peelings etc would have to go in the bin.

We have a kitchen caddy and a big brown outside bin that we use when throwing away any food. We give a some stuff that is still useable to the guinea pigs. I had a bad habit of polishing off uneaten food from my DS because I hate waste but it was making me fat so I do put more in the recycling than before.

Our local council collects the brown bins once a fortnight that we can put food in.

The main reason I throw food away is because it is inedible ie mouldy and can't be used for anything else.

I think the food I throw away is both cooked and uncooked. I try and eat any extra food made at dinners for lunches etc.

To try and reduce waste I am now trying to do a few smaller food shops a week rather than one big one as I find I tend to use food up this way rather than recycling it because it's gone off. I think this is my best idea for wasting less food.

If I had space for composting I could make the most of the food I throw away.

I always put tea bags in my brown bin. I drink a lot of tea so always have loads, again if I had more room at home I would try composting them.

• Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin?

Very little, mostly peelings etc, though now dd is eating food there's a lot that she's chucked on the floor or not eaten.
Cheese, meat, fish, greasy food waste has to go in the bin; the rest goes in a caddy and then in my compost bin.

• Does your local council offer a food waste collection service?
  They are piloting it, but my street isnt included yet,

• What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away?
  Food has gone off or been on the floor, or it's peelings etc you dont eat.

• Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food?
  95% uncooked.

• If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum?
  I chuck stuff in the freezer if it's not going to be eaten soon. Leftovers are the next day's lunch, or get chucked in a stirfry or stew. Best before dates are ignored, and 'use-by' dates I give a few days leeway for ready meals, more for veg, eggs etc. Cheese and smoked fish and yoghurt are all ways to preserve food and get a month or more. I grew up before dates on food were common, and my mum said when they started that they were mainly a tax on stupid people...

• How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin?
  Freezer and stewpot.

• Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food?
  Eat leftovers. i dont really meal plan but do fridge plan - if there's food in the fridge it needs to be eaten!

• Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food?
  Eat your leftovers. Ignore best-before dates and sell-by dates; use use-by dates as a guide, not gospel.

• Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home?
  Yes, I do, daily!

As someone brought up by war baby (and therefore used to rationing) parents I am totally waste averse. Cannot abide wasted food in any form but particularly when the DCs ask for extra portions and then don't eat the food - AAARGH.

Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin?

Yes, we have a kitchen caddy supplied by the Council. We only collect about one small bag of food waste every couple of weeks but that's too much. We have been composting vegetable matter, coffee grounds, egg shells, tea bags for years..... What gets thrown away is usually bits of bread/toast crusts/chicken carcasses and leftover food from plates at the end of meals...

• Does your local council offer a food waste collection service?

Yes and has done for about two years now. Have to say though it's just another thing to have to do and our kitchen is very small so the food waste caddy sits out in the conservatory along with the mini-destined for the compost bin caddy....

• What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away?

Usually capricious and fussy daughter saying she wants toast or something and then deciding she doesn't - GRRRR. Sometimes the children leave a bit of food on their plates too but not often.

• Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food?

I would say it's usually bread or cereal products rather than home cooked food

• If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum?

We freeze leftovers or use them in other meals.

Making sure we actually empty the fridge of food before doing another food shop!

• How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin?

Don't think we would be that desperate to use toast crusts etc.... DW has started turning stale bread into breadcrumbs to freeze a la Nigella though!

• Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food?

Yes freezing leftovers or making it habit to eat leftovers for lunch/snacks rather than making something different!

DW always eats leftovers for lunch rather than making herself sandwiches etc....

• Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food?

Turn spare veggies into soups and once a week make a make-do meal that uses ingredients entirely from fridge/store cupboard to use them up!

• Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home?

Yes always do and coffee grounds are good for the borders to stop slugs and snails in their tracks!

• Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin? Hardly any at all. We have both a kitchen caddy - tends to be literally scraps that go in it and stuff we filter from waste sink water so as not to block our drains - that only fills a caddy in about two-three weeks if we were to actually leave it. We do have a compost bin and that is where all noncooked food goes and yes, teabags too!

• Does your local council offer a food waste collection service? Yes even though the bins are done fortnightly our food waste is collected weekly. Our household believes if more people used their lockable brown bins instead of throwing away food waste in the wheely bins, we would have much less of a rat problem in our area and possibly flies would be kept to more of a minimum.

• What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away? Mainly bread gone off (grrs at cheap bread) or fat being cut off of meat - I can't remember the last time I threw actual food away.

• Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food? It is so little - it must be cooked I suppose. We buy what we need - even scrawny old veg can work perfectly well in a casserole or stew.

• If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum? We buy what we need. I know what I want to cook (sort of meal plan) and write the list around that. We buy in shops so instead of say, getting a bag of onions, I buy the three that I need. And obviously because I buy in-shop, I am able to pick the freshest looking of the lot and not rely on the supermarket to do that for me.

• How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin? Stews, casseroles, spag bol etc will take all the manky veg perfectly. If I buy whoopsie meat it goes straight in the freezer and I only defrost as I need. Any left-overs from meals (not a lot as I cook what we need) I'll have for lunch the next day.

• Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food? Apart from meal-plan, buying yourself so you are able to test for freshness before you get it home is about it really.

• Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food? Grow your own veg, then you pick as you need and the veg left in the garden goes on growing.

• Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home? Oh yes, mine are always put on the compost bin ... you just have to riddle like crazy to get rid of the actual bags cause they never seem to rot down and will block plants from growing in your garden!!

Oh and I forgot, I trust my own senses and not necessarily the labels - if a piece of cheese, for example, looks perfectly fine, smells perfectly fine, I am going to eat it. I won't throw away good food just because the label says it's out of date.

Obviously if its green and smells baaaaaaaaaad, then I shan't

We hate waste, although don't go to quite the same lengths as some (my MiL) who once took home (200 miles) a totally picked clean carcass that had lived for 3 days in our porch as we had not managed to buy a fridge in time for Christmas. She also lives on stale bread and rotten (not bruised, actually rotten) fruit, as well as very questionable leftovers. We eat absolutely everything and throw away only scraps from plates such as bits of fat or gristle or the odd unwanted bit. My DH is known as Daddy dustbin and eats anything left on plates so that helps. We have a large freezer and often have a night when all 4 of us have a different plate of leftovers from the previous week. We also make, and consume, a lot of soup and makecoutvown bread, meaning we are much less inclined to throw it away or make more than we need.

Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin?
We waste almost nothing. We have a caddy and two compost bins and a thriving number of fruit trees, fed from the compost.
Does your local council offer a food waste collection service?
No
What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away?
Bits on the side of plates. Bagged salads going slimy in the packet - but that gets composted, so not really totally wasted.
Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food?
cooked
If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum?
Food is frozen, put in the fridge for packed lunches or made into something else. We try to buy only what we need and will eat.
How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin?
We make a lot of soup, recycle food (ie roast chicken becomes curry, roast pork becomes a stew etc). We use it for lunches or freeze it in portions.
Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food?
It is not always cheaper to buy in bulk. Buy only what you will eat and plan ahead.
Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food?
Buy very fresh fruit and veg from a market, not pre-packaged, so you only buy what you want. Buy in season. You are unlikely to want to make a stew in summer so don't buy things for stew, change your diet accordingly.
Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home?
Yes, and we compost coffee grounds and human hair. At certain times of year our compost smells of oranges!

*Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin? Yes to compost bin.

• Does your local council offer a food waste collection service? Cornwall council doesn't offer this sadly.
• What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away? My disorganisation mainly and that I forget I am only cooking for 3 not 4. And I hate kale which comes in my veg box and I mean to cook it, I really do but find it in the fridge weeks later.
• Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food? A mix.
• If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum?
• How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin? meal plan, be just a bit more organised, eat the kale.
• Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food? eat local, fresher produce.
• Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food?
• Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home? yes i religiously compost tea bags. In my student days we used to hop over the wall at our local supermarket. The waste was epic and I bet that not much has changed.

• Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin?
  Kitchen caddy and usually have compost but tempporarily not. Throw away approx one kitchen caddy full a week as we are putting compost in. Usually much much less.

• Does your local council offer a food waste collection service?
  Weekly food waste collection

• What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away?
  Inedible stuff

• Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food?
  Mostly cooked bones but sometimes raw chicken skin etc and peelings at the moment. Toast crusts and the odd bit of kids' leftovers

• If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum? Good planning and a husband with a cast iron stomach.

• How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin?
  We are pretty good at using leftovers to make extra meals

• Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food?
  Plan meals and don't be afraid to make strange new meals from leftovers. Keep the fridge tidy so you don't lose stuff.

• Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food?
  As above. We do things like fishcakes with spare mash, treacle tart with bread crusts, risotto with leftover chicken, pie with leftover anything, crumble with old soft fruit, cakes with brown bananas

• Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home? Yes

• Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin? throw away very little, have a compost bin for peelings, no kitchen caddy
• Does your local council offer a food waste collection service? no
• What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away? Peelings, leftovers...
• Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food? cooked, very rarely throw things that are out of date
• If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum? Menu planning and keeping an eye on what is in the fridge. Get very annoyed with myself if things go out of date !
• How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin? Reuse leftovers, but to be honest don't get very many !
• Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food? Menu plan and shop carefully - no impulse buys
• Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food? See above !!
• Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home? Yes, but to be honest I don't bother

Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin?

Yes have caddy/compost bin but still throw away more than we would like

• Does your local council offer a food waste collection service?
  Yes

• What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away?
  Gone off/bad - saved leftovers that were forgotten/ didn't fancy

• Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food?
  Higher proportion of cooked v uncooked

• If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum?

• How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin?

• Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food?

Buy less - no point buying a special offer if you end up chucking it out! (bitter voice of experience)

• Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food?

• Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home?
  Yes, put coffee grounds in as well - but have previously had maggots (boak) as food bin is only collected every fortnight, so use compostable bags -worry that we're probably not meant to, but I am NOT dealing with maggots again.