FOOD WASTE
Reduce your waste-line
■
Only buy what you need – and
thereby cut down on leftovers
■
Freeze leftovers or use
them in the next
day’s meals
■
Use the green
bin to dispose of
food, including
cooked food. You
can order one at
www.ealing.gov.uk/reportit
■
Compost your vegetable
peelings. You can order a
discounted composter or wormery
at www.ealing.getcomposting.com
■
Download the Love Food
Hate Waste app for tips and
recipes.
Visit
.uk /
ling.gov
w w w.ea
g
recyclin
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o food
for more
waste
having it thrown in landfill and are also
encouraging scavengers, vermin and
pests to rip into those bags, leaving
your rubbish strewn across the street.
“Because good food is a central part
of most people’s Christmases, we find
that the amount thrown away increases
even more at this time of year. This is
bad for the environment and for our
pockets, but there are some really simple
changes that people can make.”
FOOD CAN POWER FAIRY LIGHTS
Cooked and uncooked food can be
put in your food waste bin (including
the communal bins for flats). This
means that turkey bones, Christmas
pudding, vegetable peelings and
half-eaten mince pies can all be put
in there together and they will be
collected by the council each week.
When the council moves to alternative
weekly collections and wheelie bins
in the spring, the weekly food waste
collection using the green bins will stay
the same as it is now.
Once food waste is collected, it is
sent to a special recycling plant where
it is turned into fertiliser which can be
used on farms to grow the food for
next year’s Christmas dinner – and this
process also generates energy for the
National Grid, which will help power
the fairy lights.
The science: why is it
bad to throw food away?
When old food starts to
decompose in landfill sites, it
has two harmful side effects: It
produces methane which is a
greenhouse gas that is 20 times
more potent than CO2 and a
liquid called leachate (bin juice)
which can poison water supplies.
However, when food waste
is collected in green bins and
treated in the proper way it is
turned into clean, renewable
energy and fertiliser.
And vegetable matter that goes
to compost is also good for the
environment. Because it is not
buried in landfill, it does not produce
the same harmful gas and liquid that
food waste in landfill does and, over
time, it becomes a nutrient-rich, free
source of compost for your plant
pots and gardens.
around ealing
Winter 2015/16
15