By Carol O’Driscoll, Digital Portal Officer, GM Business Growth Hub
In November I decided to take part in FareShare’s Zero Waste challenge, where for the whole month I would be a ‘Zero Hero’ and challenge myself to produce absolutely zero waste with regards to the food I ate.
Why would I want to possibly set myself such a difficult task I hear you ask as I happily cook my broccoli stems in a pan of vegetable stock dated October 2022. To be honest, the challenge enabled me to achieve many positive benefits such as conquering the notorious villain known as ‘Food Waste’, whilst also fighting hunger across the UK. So, buckle up your aprons and get ready for a rollercoaster ride of zero waste heroics.
I first became aware of the challenge through my colleagues on Team Green. If you’re not aware of Team Green yet, then where have you been? We’re the team that talks about all things green. Our aim is to support the GC and our colleagues to work towards becoming a net zero business by 2035. Good hey!
Anyway, as soon as I heard about the challenge, I signed up straight away. I regard myself as someone who is very conscious of waste and I love eating food, so for me this was going to be a relatively enjoyable and creative challenge. And on top of that donations to FareShare would see every £1 help them to deliver the equivalent of four meals to those in need.
Once November arrived the first thing I did was empty out my freezer. There was something rather satisfying about removing bread and other very outdated foods to make way for some much-needed freezer space. As the food defrosted I started to make plans on what creative concoctions I could make with them. As well as bread, I had chillies, ginger, vegetables, stock, pesto, and quite a large number of pizzas.
Having joined the FareShare Zero Heroes Facebook group I had the opportunity to share and receive meal tips, such as soups, pickles, jams, cakes and pasta dishes which could be made from using the whole of the food and not just the part we are used to eating.
Cakes Carol made using out of date ingredients
One of the other fun things about being a Zero Hero was turning food into something other than a meal. For example, I spent a lovely day with my daughter creating eye pillows using very out of date rice that I found in a random lonely tub at the back of the cupboard. You know what I’m talking about don’t you? The foods and spices that we store in the hard-to-reach spaces somewhere deep in the darkest depths of our cupboards, gathering dust and on the brink of extinction.
We scented the rice with some lavender oil by infusing some olive oil (yes that too was out of date) with some gorgeous lavender from our garden. We then stitched together some fabric squares that we had leftover in our craft box and voila, we had created two eye pillows. These were perfect to help us relax whilst engaging in some meditation later that evening.
Eye pillows Carol made using out of date rice and fabric squares
Throughout November I embraced the challenge by becoming a master at whipping up gourmet creations from the odds and ends of my fridge. I cooked plenty of meals using foods that were close to or past their sell-by-date, foods that were reduced at the supermarket, and some items were bought using the ‘Too Good to Go’ app. Thankfully, me being the food hoover that I am, there is always little waste on my plate and our pets (two rats and a cat), received peelings, any leftover scraps of meat, and anything else they could get their paws on.
There were two challenges along the way where I must admit to having failed miserably. The first was finding a bag of salad leaves that had reduced to a brown pulpy mush at the bottom of the fridge salad drawer. As a Zero Hero I can valiantly battle food waste in the kitchen, however there are times when I call on my much-needed sidekick ‘Compost Bin’ to deal with food that has no place in my stomach.
The other fail was when I found a jar of capers at the back of the fridge. I opened the lid and was hit with an almighty smell as the green mould surrounding each caper started to float to the top of the jar. The jar was so old that even the sell-by-date had disappeared. So once again, my much-needed sidekick was called upon. Hey, not all heroes wear capers you know! I have however learnt my lesson and will be doing more regular fridge checks in the future and ensuring that quick-to-go-off foods such as salad leaves are stored with more visibility.
With regards to fruit, vegetables and herbs, I’ve often regrown these from the seeds, pips and plants. I currently have an apple tree in my garden which came from an apple I ate four years ago. I simply planted the seed into some soil in my kitchen for around six months before transferring it as a small plant into my garden. With apple pips it’s a long slow process I might add, the tree is still relatively small and has not yet provided me with any fruit.
Chilli plant Carol has grown from seeds
However, if you want food fast then you can’t beat chilli seeds. These are by far the best and easiest plants to grow. I tend to plant about 10 seeds which become seedlings within a few weeks. Before long you are rewarded with a lush green plant that produces beautiful white flowers. Each of the flowers will produce a green chilli that eventually turns red. Don’t get too excited and take the chilli off too soon though, I’ve learnt that the longer you leave it on the plant, the hotter it becomes. You can grow these plants indoors and they will thrive well. Another useful tip is when you buy herbs try and get the ones in the pots of soil for around 70 pence. When you get home you can repot them into larger pots and they will continue to grow and provide you with herbs for months or years to come.
Food waste facts:
- The economic cost of food waste is substantial. It is estimated that the economic cost of food waste across the world amounts to £1 trillion annually.
- When food is wasted, it's not just the food itself that is lost. All the resources used to produce that food, including water, are also wasted. It's estimated that about 24% of all water used for agriculture is associated with the production of food that is ultimately lost or wasted.
- The energy used to produce, transport, and store food that is ultimately wasted is equivalent to about 4% of total global energy consumption.
- Food waste contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. When food decomposes in landfills, it produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas that is about 25 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.
- The production of food that is ultimately wasted also contributes to biodiversity loss. Agricultural practices associated with food production, such as deforestation and pesticide use, can harm ecosystems and wildlife.
- It's paradoxical that while a significant amount of food is wasted globally, millions of people still suffer from hunger and malnutrition. Addressing food waste can contribute to alleviating food insecurity.
In a world drowning in food waste, I've donned my imaginary cape and embraced the absurdity of being a Zero Hero. Through compost capers, leftover lunacy, and grocery store escapades, I've discovered that saving the planet can be extremely gratifying and I raised £160 in the process. So come and join the ride, together we can cook our way to a greener, cleaner tomorrow!
A low-waste Christmas
As Christmas approaches, I wanted to share with you some other zero waste tips. Between the copious gifts, cards, decorations, food and parties, Christmas waste is fifteen times the amount of any other celebration, with over 688,000 tonnes in food, plastic, cardboard and aluminium alone. According to Biffa, more than 100 million rubbish bags are sent to landfills over the Christmas period.
So, what can we do to minimise our impact during the festive season? Here are some of my favourite tips:
1. Buy reusable wrapping. Around four years ago I bought some gorgeous fabric bags from a small business on Etsy. I received a wide range of sizes and designs, tied together with a beautiful ribbon. Not only do these bags save me so much time when wrapping gifts. They look beautiful and can be used over and over again.
Reusable fabric gift bags Carol uses at Christmas
2. Avoid buying gifts with unnecessary plastic packaging and cards covered in glitter. These are things that cannot be recycled.
3. Only buy the food you need. I know it’s a lovely thought to fill your cupboards to the brim with foods that you wouldn’t normally eat. But think about it, the shops are only closed for two days, it’s not like you’re on the set of Walking Dead or anything.
4. Make bubble and squeak with your leftover Christmas dinner for your Boxing Day breakfast. Tastes lovely with HP.
5. Last year, just after Christmas my local supermarket had plenty of leftover Christmas vegetables that they were giving away for free in order to avoid waste. I picked up around 30 bags and took them home so we could make the biggest pan of soup. Once cooked (and it was absolutely delicious I might add), we dove into the abyss, armed with Tupperware and a fearless spirit, and presented the soup to around 20 of our neighbours. With a dash of creativity and a sprinkle of festive warmth, yesterday's vegetables became today's gourmet surprise and was very well received.
Soup made by Carol