LIFESTYLE NEWS - There are various easy methods to reduce food waste in households. One such a method is to reduce the waste of food before it ends up in kitchen bins or at the municipal landfill sites.
When planning to purchase food, create a list of what is needed before purchasing any items.
This will ensure that what is bought is absolutely necessary.
Avoid clutter in your fridge, pantry or freezer by moving older products to the front as a reminder to consume them first.
When preparing a meal, there are usually some leftovers. Incorporate these into your daily/weekly routine by taking some to work. Remember to store these and other foodstuffs at the correct temperatures to ensure that it lasts as long as possible. Proposing waste minimisation actions at work can also be a step towards changing the habits of those around you. It is also a great gesture to donate food to food banks. Food scraps or spoilt food can be donated to pig farms. Altogether, fruits and vegetables can be used for composting purposes.
Change habits
According to one of GRDM’s Bitou-based Municipal Health Officials, Maxwelline Fatuse, there is an informal settlement named Bossiesgif in Bitou, which manages food waste in a different, but clever way.
This community made a collective and positive change to daily habits. People use re-usable 10 litre waste bins or paint bins, hang them outside on fencing poles, which are then filled with food scraps from their kitchens.
The waste bins are picked up twice a week and used to feed six pig farms situated near the community.
A community member of Bossiesgif, Mr Mqalo said: “Our community initiative has been conscious of waste minimisation for years and this community drive helps us to reduce the municipal bins from filling up too quickly. It also helps feed the pigs of farmers and in turn, reduces the waste that would usually be dumped at landfill sites.”
Mqalu explained that community members know to only discard food scraps like vegetable and potato peels and cabbage (organic waste) in the bins.
“There has not been a single report of pigs getting sick due to this approach of discarding household scrap food,” Mqalu confirmed.
Surrounding areas that include New Horizon, KwaNokutula, Pinetrees and Xolweni, have also adopted this method of discarding food waste. This initiative proves that when communities work collectively to change societal habits for the better, it can move mountains – in this case, mountains of waste.
One might assume that vegetable or fruit scraps can only be used for composting, but there are more ways.
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