What’s it all about?
As humans, it’s fair to say we all produce waste – a lot of it. Everything we buy seems to come in a bag, a box, a bottle. When it’s our food it’s sometimes in bulk, not as tasty as we thought, perhaps a bit bruised, and who eats THAT part of the plant anyway? So ‘stuff’ ends up in the bin.
Do you know how much of this waste is perfectly edible food?
This class will offer a brief introduction to the food waste problem, how it happens and some of the simple steps that can be taken to reduce it.
What will we cover?
In Australia alone, each household wastes enough food each week that you may as well place one of your five grocery bags in the bin before you even get home from shopping. Households contribute 4.5 million tonnes of food waste to landfill every year in Australia. 4.5 million tonnes of wasted money, resources, energy and not to mention the huge environmental impacts!
In the class we will:
- Learn about the shocking size of food waste both globally and here in Australia, especially when we consider the number of people who go hungry;
- Understand the social, environmental and financial problem of food waste;
- Bust some myths surrounding what is actually considered food waste when it’s still perfectly edible;
- Identify how food waste is generated; and
- Learn tips and tricks to reduce food waste and measure your own food waste.
Who will be teaching?
Dianne McGrath is an advocate for healthy, sustainable living and your local food waste expert. She is currently completing Higher Degree by Research at RMIT University focusing on food waste in the Commercial & Industrial sector, and sits on the board for 3 not-for-profit entities involved with food security and availability. This year has also seen Dianne give up buying any ‘new plastic’, making food purchase and storage with zero-waste all the more interesting, but do-able!