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Should National release the report into the bullying accusations against Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell?
Posted: 11:15am Wednesday 31 Aug, 2022
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This September, the 5+ A Day Charitable Trust will join forces with New Zealand’s first ever Zero Food Waste Challenge to promote a rethink of how we manage our food, how we view food waste and how a few small changes can make a big difference to our household budgets.
Zero Food Waste New Zealand founder Veronica Shale says food waste is a problem and an opportunity for nearly every household in the country.
“It’s no secret that Kiwis waste too much food. Recent studies show the average Kiwi household throws away at least $1500 worth of groceries every year – that’s a huge amount of money to lose in the bin. We’re encouraging every New Zealander to save money and help save the planet with a week of conversation and action to change those habits for good.
“Food that is left to rot buried in landfills accounts for 10 per cent of man-made greenhouse gas emissions globally. In fact, if food waste was a country, it would be the 3rd biggest emitter of carbon emissions behind the US and China! Collectively our habits are not only damaging our precious environment, but they’re also costing us a heap of money,” she says.
The Challenge is a week-long event encouraging households and companies to have a go at putting as little as possible of their weekly food shop in the bin.
It’s free to sign up, registrations opened on August 24 at www.zerofoodwastechallenge.com and the event takes place from September 19 to 25 with participants set to receive daily online content packed with tips, tricks, inspiration and advice along with major prizes and product offers and the opportunity to share your journey to a Zero Food Waste lifestyle.
5+ A Day Project Manager, Carmel Ireland says the Zero Food Waste Challenge initiative is aligned to the Trust’s commitment to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
“Nearly one third of the food that we throw out is vegetables or fruit. Selecting, storing and carefully using your fresh produce means you can maximise both the nutritional content and the value of your weekly fruit and vegetable shop,” she says.
“The Challenge is a great chance for us to show you how to make the most of your produce from skin to stem with some delicious recipes and tips. Together we can all do our bit to reduce waste and contribute to a healthier planet,” says Ireland.
Countdown, supporter of the 5+ A Day Charitable Trust, is also backing the inaugural 2022 Challenge, which Shale hopes will become an enduring platform to promote awareness and action around tackling food waste as well as highlighting the important role that local food rescue charities across Aotearoa play in feeding the 1 in 5 New Zealanders who experience food insecurity.
“New Zealand’s goal is to halve food waste by 2030, in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. That’s going to take a behaviour shift from each and every one of us, and we want this change to happen in an atmosphere that’s positive, generous and community driven,” says Shale.
In addition to supporting the health of the planet and easing the weekly budget, Shale says the Challenge offers participants a boost to their own wellbeing.
“Joining this movement offers a renewed sense of wellbeing for whānau who are fatigued and isolated from the community. Taking action, big or small, offers a sense of achievement, belonging and along with that, improved mental health,” says Shale.
Food Waste Fast Facts*
· A third of all food produced goes uneaten.
· Food in landfills creates 10 percent of the methane emissions warming the planet.
· The average Kiwi family throws out about $1520 of food per year
· Nationally, Kiwi homes waste enough food to feed Hamilton for a year.
· Eco-anxiety is a real issue amongst our tamariki.
· 1 in 5 New Zealanders face food insecurity.
*Sources:
United Nations Environment Programme, Food Index Report 2021
Love Food Hate Waste Scotland 2021
Kore Haikai – Zero Hunger Collective Aotearoa, NZ 2021
Rabobank/KiwiHarvest Food Waste Survey April 2022
Posted on 03-09-2022 15:53 | By morepork
I was surprised by these figures. There are SO many ways you can use leftovers and make an attractive new meal out of them, that I am amazed so many people chuck stuff away. I did some checking and figuring, and the average food waste in my house is between 0 and $5 per week. (That is not counting fat trimmed from meat before cooking.) I don’t peel ANY vegetables because I know the best nutrition is just under the skin, and I do eat meat, fruit, vegetables/grains, and fish. I use egg noodles, eggs, filo pastry, and wraps to make new and interesting dishes from leftovers. It isn’t from being a tree-hugger; it is because I simply can’t afford to waste food.
Posted on 02-09-2022 19:24 | By Kancho
Fifty percent of the sewage treatment energy requirements met by mirrlees engines converted to biogas to run generators. Also by reducing plant load during peak national grid load the plant exported power into the grid as an extra earner, all from biogas. So yes methane harvested and used as a bi product of organic matter that also helps breakdown inorganic waste. So no dream but maybe a dream machine using methane lol
Posted on 02-09-2022 12:47 | By Kancho
Organic material either from vegetables or from humans is organic material and that’s how sewage treatment works by natural breakdown in digestor tanks and any methane from the process is used to power the plant. Without organic material none of the process works . Aerobic and anaerobic processing is required. The problem with treatment is inorganic materials and chemicals. So not in dreamland but with knowledge that clearly you don’t have having spent many years working at a sewage treatment plant.
Posted on 01-09-2022 09:02 | By This Guy
Professor, I think the billions and billions of tons of C02 we’ve been pumping into the atmosphere since the start of the industrial revolution has a bigger effect then you think…
Posted on 31-08-2022 15:42 | By AJSommerville
Kancho you are in a dream land if you think peels “assist sewage treatment as it’s organic and methane collected at this process is harvested and used”. It is a massively energy intensive process and lots of the by-product ends up in landfill and is hard on your pipes, better option is to just throw it in bin if you do not compost or use food bin.
Posted on 31-08-2022 13:24 | By The Professor
…….at the end of the day, this will not stop our huge planet from tilting on its axis, which is the real reason we have climate change. Pure nature and physics….simple as. Interesting though, climate change has accelerated over the past 20 or so years…..since we started tinkering with the chemical balance of the planet…..introduction of unleaded fuel started the acceleration.
Posted on 31-08-2022 11:40 | By Kancho
Parents who went through first and second world war in Europe and the depression in-between with three kids and rationing into the mid fifties so believe me we wasted nothing at all. I still waste pretty much nothing and always have. As for waste food at the dump most of vegetable peel goes down the waste disposer and assists sewage treatment as it’s organic and methane collected at this process is harvested and used. So the dump gets the odd bone that’s all.
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