Goodbye Waste,
Hello Healthy Living

Australians throw away around 7.6 million tonnes of food every year — that’s about 312 kg per person. It adds up to an average cost of $2,500 per household annually. Most of this comes from homes, not businesses.

Fresh produce tops the list — especially bread, fruit, vegetables, bagged salad, and dairy. Often it’s food that wasn’t eaten in time or wasn’t stored properly.

Start small:

• Use up what you have before buying more.
• Eat older items first (finish the open salad pack before the new one).
• Plan meals loosely so you can adapt if food is ripening.
• Serve smaller portions — you can always go back for seconds.

• Store food in airtight containers, label them with the date, and put them where you’ll see them in the fridge.
• Freeze what you won’t eat soon.
• Keep herbs in a glass of water in the fridge to make them last longer.

Yes! Slightly soft apples are great in smoothies or muffins, brown bananas make the best banana bread, and wrinkly carrots work perfectly in soups or stocks. If it’s not mouldy or rotten, it’s still useful.

Not all. Carrot tops, beet greens, broccoli stems and fennel fronds are edible and nutritious. But avoid leaves from nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, aubergine), pumpkin plants, and legumes — these can be toxic.

• Thermocook turns scraps into soups, sauces, and stocks.
• Blenders rescue overripe fruit for smoothies, ice lollies, and nice cream.
• Juicers give pulp a second life in crackers or muffins.
• Air Fryers crisp up veggie peels into snacks.
• Food Processors help batch prep so food is used up before it spoils.

• Freeze herbs or stock in ice cube trays.
• Dry orange or lemon peels for tea or cleaning.
• Turn stale bread into croutons or breadcrumbs.
• Save veggie scraps for homemade stock.
• Keep a “use me first” box in your fridge.

• Use by means the food should not be eaten after this date for safety reasons.
• Best before means the food is still safe to eat, but may lose some taste or texture. Often products are still perfectly fine days or weeks after the best before date.

Make it fun! Ask them to help plan meals, weigh or count leftovers, or play games like “Food Rescue Heroes” with scraps. Activities such as colouring pages, scrap art, or helping to cook with overripe fruit are easy ways to teach zero-waste habits early.

Don’t throw it away! Nut milk pulp is rich in fibre and flavour. Mix it into cookie or biscuit dough, add it to muffins, or stir it into porridge or smoothies for extra nutrition.