Household food waste—the invisible scandal

Rubbish audit reveals significant waste of edible food by New Zealand households.

UPPER HUTT, Wellington NZ, 18 MAR 2015—It looks like perfectly edible food straight from the supermarket. Instead, it's perfectly edible food straight out of household rubbish bins.

A recent study reveals that every year, the average family in the Wellington region throws away more than $599 worth of edible food. The food wastage was discovered when an audit of council rubbish bins was undertaken to try and find out exactly what foods New Zealanders were throwing away and why.

Upper Hutt City Council has been part of a nationwide project which surveyed 1,365 people and investigated 1,402 rubbish bins, to find out why food is being wasted and what can be done about it. The results found that 27% of households admit to being large food wasters and throw out more than $21 per week of edible food, whilst 38% of households admit to wasting $8 per week.

“Surprisingly only 10% of households declared they waste nothing at all,” says Upper Hutt Mayor, Wayne Guppy.

“This audit however, has revealed a staggering amount of edible food is thrown away every week. We have known for some time that over 28% of the rubbish placed into kerbside collections is food waste, but what came as such a surprise was the amount of food that's being thrown away which is still edible. Whole loaves of bread, unopened yoghurts, and uneaten apples are just some of the foods that have been found in audits across the country,” says Mayor Guppy.

There are some quick and easy things that can be done to reduce food waste and keep hold of those dollars longer.

• Store your bread in the freezer instead of on the counter to stop it going mouldy or drying out

• Stew up any excess fruit you have that might be going soft or blend it up into a smoothie

• Check your fridge before you go shopping to see what needs using up

• Turn your leftover vegetables into a frittata, or make some fried rice

For more information on how to reduce your food waste go to facebook.com/lovefoodhatewastenz

For more information on the Love Food Hate Waste Campaign please contact info@lovefoodhatewaste.c

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