Food Waste Action Week: Let’s Bin Bad Attitudes for Good!

It’s March 10^th, a Friday night. The workday dragged – your colleague, Karen (in HR), asks if you fancy popping to a local restaurant after five for an evening meal. You agree, you’ve had little to do in the winter months, and the thrill of an evening out, even if with Karen (from HR), is the most exhilarating prospect you’ve had since that cheeky glass of vino you sipped sadly by yourself last Saturday night in front of ‘Love Island’.

The restaurant is sub-par. You’ve seen better table setting. The food arrives; a burger the size of a baby cow and a mountain of salt and pepper chips. ‘Oh my,’ you think, ‘how ever am I going to finish this?’. You look at Karen’s order; carbonara, a side of mozzarella sticks, chicken wings and garlic bread. Karen doesn’t get out much, so when she does she really likes to indulge herself.

You both tuck in. 45 minutes later, the belt buckles are open, and the bellies are out under the table. You look at Karen’s multitude of plates; every plate is half-full of scraps. You look down at your half baby cow and the 5 chips you’ve arranged in the shape of a smiley face. “Karen, what are we going to do with all this food?”

“STOP RIGHT THERE!”, a stranger appears as though from nowhere – bursting up from a cloud of smoke. “That food will not be going to waste today, it’s Food Waste Action Week!”

You look up in awe at the stranger.

“That’s right. We need to change our dining behaviour. Karen –“ he looks down at Karen; garlic-y residue and carbonara sauce smeared around her lips, “why did you order so many side plates? You didn’t need so much food. This restaurant now offers mixed plates so you can have a little bit of everything you please!” Karen gasps in shock.

“And you,” he turns to you, “did you know this restaurant offers doggy bag options? Take the rest home and have it for dinner tomorrow! This restaurant follows excellent food waste management practices; they avoid over preparing foods, remove unpopular menu items, and donate their leftovers! IT’S TIME TO MINIMISE FOOD WASTE FOR GOOD!”

You gawk at the stranger, “Who are you?”

He points to his name tag, “Oh, I’m just the manager here – but I’m really enthusiastic about food waste. POW!” he throws some glitter in the air and disappears in a puff of sparkly dust.

Karen turns to you.

You sigh, “That better be biodegradable glitter.”

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It’s Food Waste Action Week! You might be wondering what your restaurant could do this year to help out. Why not start with a food waste log! If you didn’t know already, one of the many wonderful benefits of working with Waste Source is that we track food weight data to help you monitor your food bin use. This helps us to track whether the food bins on site are being properly used. If not, you could be paying unnecessary additional fees for general waste overweights!

A third of food produced worldwide is wasted, accounting for 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions. 45% of food waste is generated due to poor preparation practices, 34% due to customer leftovers and 21% from spoilage. We can help to reduce these figures by improving food storage practices. Do you use FIFO (First-In/First-Out)? Making sure that foods are being used consciously based on their expiry date can help to reduce waste, and correct storage will maximise shelf life. In the long-term this can save money, as foods last longer and are being used more efficiently. Not to mention, having a positive attitude towards environmental action can improve your reputation and reduce carbon footprint.

As always, attitude is key – so encourage the team to engage and take responsibility for your food waste management practices!

Food Waste Action Week: March 6^th – March 12^th. Don’t be a Karen.