Save money and the environment

A third of all collected rubbish is made up of food waste

BBC Shropshire has joined forces with Shropshire Waste Partnership and Telford and Wrekin Council to declare war on waste.

The aim is to cut down on the amount of food that goes into landfill sites.

Every year £10bn worth of food is thrown away in the UK, that means an average family wastes £50 worth of food each month.

The Love Food Hate Waste campaign hopes to persuade people to change their shopping and eating habits.

Love Food Hate Waste week launched 22 June and hopes to convince people to make better use of their food by checking sell-by dates and exercising portion control.

Love Food Hate Waste

An estimated 6.7 tonnes of household food waste is produced each year in Britain, most of which could have been eaten. This is a waste of food, costs us money and is bad for the environment.

The advice is to check the fridge. If the food in there is nearing its sell-by date, either use it or freeze it.

The campaign also urges people to use up left overs and keep store cupboards well stocked with canned foods that can often help create improvised recipes.

The Love Food Hate Waste website includes a recipe calculator that can be customised depending on what foodstuff you need to use up, and also features top tips on storing food.

Portion control is also an important part of cutting down on waste. One piece of advice offered is to keep a loaf of bread for toast in the freezer and use it one slice at a time.

The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is also backing Love Food Hate Waste week.

WRAP, which is government funded, is dedicated to reducing the amount that's sent to landfill by promoting home composting and cutting down carbon emissions.