How to know your food waste

To become more aware of the food you are wasting separate all your food waste for a week. Put a dedicated container near your bin and put any food waste into it. When it's full dispose of it as normal

Any container will do. Make sure it fits your space and has a tight fitting lid

Keep a note of what and how much you throw out. Make sure whatever you are going to use to record your food waste is close at hand

As food waste is generated make a note of it. Record the type of waste it is (prep, plate scrapings, leftover) and most importantly, the reason it became a waste (gone off, made too much, etc)

If you can, try and weigh your food waste. A kitchen scales will do fine. Take the weight of the container and food waste first

Then weigh the container, in this case a bowl, when empty. From these 2 weights you can get the weight of food waste

Keep a note of all your waste and don't forget liquids that go down the sink. At the end of the week add up your total and see how much you have thrown out. An average household throws out ~5kg a week

People are creatures of habit. So, while the weight of your food waste is useful, check out the main reasons you wasted food. These are the things you can change to help you reduce your food waste

For more on this and the different ways you can reduce your food waste visit www.stopfoodwaste.ie