Shining a light on simple behaviours to reduce food waste.

To coincide with Food Waste Action Week 2023, we shared some tips on how to aim for zero-waste in your cooking and food purchasing habits. In the UK, we throw away 6.6 million tonnes of household food waste a year in the UK, almost three-quarters of which is edible food. 

We know “zero-waste” could sound a bit intimidating, but zero-waste is nothing more than trying to live less wastefully. Small actions and steps can have a great impact on our environment. 

At LSE Catering in Halls of residence, we are serious about sustainability and implemented our system and procedures to minimize our waste. 

Handy leftovers

• Garlic and onion peels are common trimmings that will end up in the bin. Instead, you can keep them and make your own spices. Place the skins in a flat baking tray and dry them in the oven. Later you just need to break them down using a grinder and you will have the perfect onion and garlic powder to season your food. 
• Carrot, potato and beetroot peelings. You don’t always have to peel these vegetables, just give them a good scrub under water and you can roast them with the skin on. The skin can add great texture and has lots of health benefits i.e. fibre. If you decide to peel them, keep the skins and roast them to create delicious chips. 
• The green ends of the carrots also do a great pesto for your pasta. Blend it with some pine nuts, olive oil, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese and enjoy!
• Use your herbs and leftover vegetables to do a nice vegetable broth, perfect to warm up cold days. You can also use it as stock for cooking. Keep vegetable scraps in a bag/container in the freezer until you have enough. Simply then add the vegetable leftovers to a pot, add water, salt and let it boil. You can then separate your vegetables from the water and prepare a nice mixed vegetable cream, add soft cheese, the vegetables and a bit of the broth to the blender and enjoy.    

We have submitted other leftover recipe ideas to the halls’ website, have a look!

Store your food the right way

Knowing how properly store your fruit and vegetables can also help you to reduce your waste and enjoy your food longer:

• Onions, garlic and shallots, keep them outside the fridge in a dry, cool area.
• Lettuce, wrap it in foil and put it in the fridge, it will be fresh for 30 days. 
• Potatoes, keep them outside the fridge, in a cool, dry area, they do better in a dark spot, you can cover them with a cloth.   
• Submerge the base of your stem vegetables into a cup with 1-2 inches of water and replace the water every couple of days (asparagus, kale, spring onions, celery), they could remind fresh for 10 to 14 days. 
• Wrap your herbs with a wet towel and store them in a sealed container so the moisture helps to preserve colour and flavour.
• Bananas, wrap the head in cling film and keep them outside the fridge. 
• Ginger and lemon do better in the fridge. 

More tips!

Other little actions that can help to implement a zero-waste kitchen are:

• Use reusable bags, almost nothing contributes more to the plastic problem than single-use plastic bags. 
• Try to buy items in bulk. Bulk food is anything not sold in plastic packaging. In London, there are many zero-waste shops that you can try.
• Store your food in zero-waste containers. Glass jars, silicon containers… Also, remember to use our reusable takeaway container if you would like to book your dinner outside the hall’s restaurant opening times. 
• Compost the leftover food you couldn’t use. All the kitchens in the halls have a green food waste bin, throw your unavoidable waste there and the local council will transform it into compost and electricity. Also, if your hall has a garden or terrace you can speak to your Front of House team about a project and grow your own herbs and vegetables, there you could use the food waste as compost. 
• Always use a reusable water bottle rather than single-use plastic bottles.

We hope you find these tips helpful and interesting. Let us know your own ways to save the planet @lsecatering. 

This year Win, don’t bin!

LSE Catering in Halls team