Saving food is something that is important all year round – but as UK households end up wasting leftovers over Christmas and new year than at any other time, it is worth thinking about how you can have a more sustainable festive season this time round.
There are plenty of easy ways you can enjoy and indulge over Christmas without it having a detrimental impact on the environment.
Christmas dinners and seasonal parties mean that the most wonderful time of the year is often the worst when it comes throwing away leftovers. You can use your green food waste bin to recycle any leftover food to avoid it going into landfill with regular household rubbish.
Food waste that ends up in landfill breaks down and produces methane, a gas that contributes to global warming. However, recycled food scraps can be sent to a special processing plant where it is turned into electricity that is fed back into the national grid and used to power homes.
Food such as vegetable peelings, cheese, bread, rice, pasta, fruits, vegetables, tea bags and coffee granules can all be recycled.
Even taking just 10 minutes to plan ahead when considering your Christmas menu can help you prepare better and save more. Do not be tempted by offers on items you don’t need. When you are shopping for your Christmas food, choose things that are light on packaging or buy loose items.
Vegetable box services offer tailored Christmas boxes and farmers markets offer fresh produce with minimum packaging, which can help cut down on the plastic and card that might otherwise build up in your bins over Christmas.
Councillor Jasbir Anand, cabinet member for environment and highways said: “Nationally, we generate significantly more waste over Christmas – but the good news is that most of it can be recycled. You can make a real difference by ensuring that the extra food waste that piles up over the festive period is recycled properly, and this can be done by collecting your peelings and scraps in the kitchen and throwing them all in your green food waste bin outside, for your weekly collection.”
“In Ealing we’ve got a brilliant record on recycling. If everyone across the borough does their bit this Christmas with food waste and recycling their extra Christmas packaging – we could make this a truly Green Christmas.
“Like previous years, recycling collections will change over the Christmas and New Year bank holidays. Please check your revised schedule to ensure that your bins are collected over the festive season.”
- Keep up to date with information on rubbish and recycling collections
- The council will be collecting real Christmas trees for recycling in January – and there will also be drop-off points in local open spaces for you to take your old trees to.