An email from a YOLOer focused my attention on FOOD WASTE when he wrote, “It seems that we generate quite a lot of food waste. We must be wasteful (there are four of us) because we filled up the two medium shells – to around 2/3 full per bin – quite quickly”.
By contrast, it takes me around 8 weeks to fill one small shell with kitchen organics from a three-person family (and we do not buy pre-packaged veggies).
Carrot tops, potato peelings, butternut skins, onion skins, banana peels are off-cuts that result from food preparation. These should go straight into your YOLO Compost Tumbler.
Food waste, on the other hand, is made up of those past-their-best fruits and vegetables that go straight from your fridge and into your compost without being eaten. Reduce food waste by critically considering how you shop and what you are buying, what you eat, how much you eat and what you really need.
Even if you are composting this food waste, which is better than tossing it in the bin, you are still wasting money at the till as you are buying too much food.
This article on the Stop Wasting Food website highlights food waste traps that should be avoided in your kitchen, at the supermarket and in restaurants. There are also hundreds of articles online that address ways to reduce food waste by better meal planning, using shopping lists (to avoid compulsive purchases) and by just buying less.