• Reducing the amount of meat you eat, and increasing the amount of fruit and veg you eat, can significantly reduce your carbon footprint.
• It takes 100 kg of CO2 equivalent emissions to produce 1 kg of beef, but only 0.5 kg CO2 to produce 1 kg of potatoes.
• Data supplied by OneWorldInData.org and is based on global averages, and so will vary from country to country and from farm to farm
• Over 75% of the world’s farmland is used to raise animals—yet it gives us less than 20% of our calories. Going vegan could free up land the size of North America.

Globally, 25–30% of total food produced is lost or wasted.

Food waste is estimated to contribute 8-10% of total man-made greenhouse gas emissions.

• Use shopping lists so you only buy what you need.
• Create a weekly Menu Plan.
• Use leftovers in another meal, or freeze them.
• Compost uncooked fruit and veg waste.
• For more information visit wrap.org.uk

Greenhouse gasses associated with transport, packaging and storage of food and drink are drastically reduced if they only travel a short distance.

• Use local farm shops and markets where you can.
• Check labels on Supermarket packaging to see where the item originated – if it is not from the UK, then seriously think about returning it to the shelf.

• Hard cheese—If you are buying a big block of hard cheese to make the most of a store bargain, grate it first and freeze it to use later. This is good for cheese on toast, on top of baked beans, or in an omelet.
• Milk is ideal for freezing in smaller quantities. Big bottles take time to defrost and use up a lot of space in the freezer. Defrost in the fridge and use within 24 hours. Alternatively, freeze milk in ice cube trays for popping straight into your hot drink!
• Bread – you can freeze all varieties of bread. To make it easier to separate bread slices after freezing, bang your loaf gently on a work surface before you put it in the freezer. Slices from a frozen loaf can be defrosted as needed, or toasted straight from the freezer.

• Bananas – bananas can go brown quite quickly so if you see them start to go speckled, peel and freeze them to use later. Frozen bananas are great for smoothies, as well as banana bread or loaf. Blend frozen bananas in a food processor for a healthy alternative to ice cream, or bake them in the oven with a bit of honey on top for a nice dessert.
• Eggs – simply crack your eggs into a sealable container and freeze. You can separate yolks from whites first if you want to use them for different dishes.

For more information visit wrap.org.uk

Many items of food waste are completely safe to compost at home. Vegetable peelings, apple cores, banana skins, orange and lemon skins, egg shells, tea leaves and coffee grounds are all great for adding to you compost bin or heap along, with your garden waste, shredded paper and cardboard.

If you don’t yet do any composting at home, this is a great website to get you started: www.gardenorganic.org.uk/compost

‘Food miles’ are a key measure of the environmental impact of foods and their ingredients.

Growing your own food, particularly crops such as tomatoes, aubergines, and peppers, can dramatically cut the food miles of your meals, and therefore your carbon footprint.

Home-grown food is often much tastier and nutritious than shop-bought food, too.

1 in 10 people throw food away based on the date labeling alone

Use-by dates are extremely important for making sure food is safe to eat. They are applied to foods that go off quickly and could cause food poisoning if not used before the use-by date. However, such foods can be frozen right up to the use-by date.

Best-before dates act as a rough guide for quality, and food can still be consumed after this date, though the flavor and texture may not be so good. For any food that has gone past its best-before date, if it looks OK, and smells OK, it’s probably OK to eat!

Food bought in a restaurant has a bigger carbon footprint than food you cook and eat at home due to the higher emissions associated with heating, lighting, and cooking

Food purchased from Takeaways has additional packaging and transport emissions