Scotland is set to waste £90 million this Christmas by binning food.
According to figures from Zero Waste Scotland the equivalent of over 700,000 wheelie bins full of food is expected to be thrown away this month.
In December alone Scots are expected to throw away over
- 3.5 million mince pies
- more than 240,000 Christmas puddings
- and the equivalent of over 100,000 turkeys
For inspiration on cutting down food and drink waste this Christmas and saving money, see our top tips below:
Leftovers
· Keep your festive leftovers aside to make some quick and easy recipes - great for a head start on Boxing Day dinner.
· To use up any uneaten Christmas meal staples, curries, stews and soups are tasty and hassle-free to make. And who doesn't love a classic turkey sandwich with leftover cranberry sauce?
· To use up your Christmas pudding, create a really easy and delicious dessert of Christmas pudding ice cream. Just mix custard and whipped cream together then stir in the crumbled Christmas pudding, perhaps adding a little leftover rum, whisky or Baileys, and then freeze.
· Believe it or not, mince pies work really well as a base for another cake. Add in chocolate, orange or nuts, or use in trifle
Freezing and storing
· Freezing the food you have left from your Christmas feast could save you cash. Freeze as soon as you can - within two days - and eat within three months if possible.
· You can freeze just about anything. Cream (whip it a little beforehand) and cheeses like Stilton freeze really well, just put them in an airtight bag or container and store in the freezer.
· If you have leftover salad or lettuce leaves put a piece of kitchen roll in the bottom of a pot, add the leaves and then seal. This will keep them fresh for much longer than leaving them in the bag.
Click on the image below for more tips and recipes.
