Food Waste Audit Diary May 2019

tighteningthebelt

Hmmm, an interesting day today...
just me breakfast and lunch, 3 for tea, tea drinking visitors in the afternoon.
40g avoidable fat from 3 pork loin steaks, scrapings from same grill pan, trimmings from spuds, couple of bits of yellowing edge of cabbage leaf
210g unavoidable trillions of teabags, eggshells and eggy pan scrapings, green bean stalks, mushroom end of stalks, apple core, plum stone, orange peel.

eggy pan scrapings came from overcooking scrambled eggs because i was faffing about saving 5 breadcrumbs from the bread bag into freezer.

tighteningthebelt

HelenPetersBeads wrote: »

Regarding scraps we feed to the cat/dog/son's new rats/birds in the garden.

Tea bags: are you weighing them wet or do you have the weight of a dry one on a post-it on the fridge and you just tick off each time you use one?

pets... haven't given it too much thought as i haven't got any, totally get your logic though.

teabags, i've been weighing them wet. I have given serious consideration to the question though. I reckon my waste weight would be about half without them or recorded them dry. i don't think there's a rule about it. I wanted to take the most defensible option through the trial and that sort of forced the choice.

trailingspouse

Unavoidable waste so far today - tea bag from early morning cuppa, another tea bag from breakfast cuppa, sliver of cheese that had gone mouldy, banana skin, onion skin, the leafy bits of a punnet of strawberries, the stalk of a bunch of grapes, another tea bag. And probably another tea bag later.
Uses for bread crusts - make into breadcrumbs, or make into croutons (fry in some oil with some garlic). You can keep the breadcrumbs in the freezer, and the croutons will keep in an airtight container for a few days. They also make good sturdy soldiers to go with boiled eggs.

tighteningthebelt

trailingspouse wrote: »

So, as it happens, I've been keeping track of my avoidable food waste since the end of February!

And I've started slicing my cucumbers a bit thicker, to make sure I get through a whole one before it goes off.

I've been thinking about how much water I waste as well.

I can feel that the whole 'avoiding waste' concept is becoming a bit of a thing for me!

february, you're way ahead of me there.

cucumbers... that is as sensible as the pineapple slicing idea. thanks. they always win the putrifaction race in the bottom of the fridge here.

water, yes of course, it's every bit as precious as food. I might have to get some "collection" systems going here. :think:

it's becoming a bit of a thing for me too. much to the amusement of my family. who think it is funny to suspend things over the wrong bin to make me squirm. glad when they come, glad when they go!!

seriously, i was contemplating peel weight while i was eating an orange earlier. I've tried really hard not to alter my behaviour while i've been counting so it's a true reflection, but its really hard not to change when you become more aware and precise with the measuring.

tighteningthebelt

you'll be pleased to hear I froze my leftover pesto in little blobs to prevent recurrence of the half a jar in the bin situation from last week. they're so oily though they didn't freeze rock solid, so i'll aim to use them soonish.

tighteningthebelt

Hi,
I seem to have a fair bit to declare today, but meals are prepped and set-aside for a couple of days in front so hopefully it'll all work out between now and wednesday.

2 for breakfast, 1 for lunch, 3 for tea.

25g avoidable - the usual carrot trims and potato trims
315g unavoidable - teabags still making up a good percentage, coffee grounds, fish skin, onion skins and trims, pear cores, spring greens stalk and the tough middle of leaf, mushroom stalk trim, green bean stalks, rhubarb tops and bottoms, 5 pepper stalks and seeds, and (in the spirit of full disclosure) a bran flake :rotfl:

HelenPetersBeads

OK, we NEED to know......

What happened to the branflake???? :rotfl:

p.s. I had the same issue last but one time I bought pesto. Last time I did the same as you but used the tiny pots that sauces come in when you get a takeaway, they're not full, just have a tablespoonful in them.

Crafty_Lisa_Hampshire

This is such a cool idea. I will be following this with interest.

gt568

I don't really see how "unavoidable" waste is really food waste. Surely it is only the edible which is food waste?

Linda32

May I ask of the unavoidable waste listed, would anybody consider a compost bin, or do you have one. Some of the waste can go in there.