Week three of the Food Waste Challenge!

1. WEEK 3

2. PLANNING
&
SHOPPING
MORE EFFICIENTLY

3. This weeks challenge is to learn how to
prevent your food from becoming waste by
planning your meals and shopping with a
list.

4. This challenge is about forming new habits.

5. By now you should have a good idea about
how much food you throw away and you
should be thinking about what you can use
in your fridge, freezer and pantry before
buying more food.

6. Food waste at home actually starts with
what you put in your trolley. Often we buy
more than we need. This week really think
about what you are putting in your trolley,
stick to your menu plan.

7. Login to myBCEC
for your free editable and/or printable:
• Menu Planner
• Shopping List

8. MENU PLANNING

9. Write a menu plan based around ingredients
that you already have. Put the plan on the
fridge to keep you on track.

10. WRITE A
SHOPPING LIST

11. List all the ingredients, including the amount
you need to make the meals on your
menu plan.

12. Add ingredients to your shopping list as you
finish them, or after you have checked they
are not in your cupboard.

13. GO SHOPPING

14. Be strong and stick to your list. Avoid
impulse buys, as even if your impulse buy
gets eaten, it might mean something else is
wasted in its place. You’re also likely to save
money too by sticking to your shopping list!

15. ORGANISE

16. Organise your fridge as you restock it. Move
items that are close to their expiry date to
an ‘eat me first’ section of your fridge.

17. FOLLOW YOUR
MEAL PLAN

18. If you find it difficult to stick to your meal
plan, choose meals with shorter cooking or
preparation times. If a meal doesn’t whet
your appetite on the day it is planned for,
switch to something else you’d
planned to eat.

19. Resist the temptation to go and buy more
food. If you find you’re cooking for more
people than expected, see what ingredients
you have to make the meal go further. You
could do some garlic bread, roast
vegetables or pasta.

20. MEAL
PLANNING TIPS

21. • Plan ahead, but not too far ahead. Think
about when you’re most likely to go
shopping again and plan for one meal
beyond that date.
• Plan to use perishable salad ingredients
first.
• Make the first meal of your menu plan, the
simplest meal. Start easy.

22. • Plan meals around your busy lifestyle. Plan
quick, easy meals for busy nights.
• Don’t plan a meal for every night of your
menu plan period. Leave one night free to
eat leftovers or make a ‘freestyle’ meal with
ingredients that need to be used.

23. • Plan to use leftovers as lunches or snack.
• Ask everyone in your household to be
involved in the menu planning process.
• Plan multiple meals using similar
ingredients. Think about how leftovers
from one meal contributes to another meal.

24. SHOPPING TIPS
TO
REDUCE WASTE

25. • If you struggle to stick to your shopping list
in store, try shopping online. You’ll be able
to see how much you’re spending as you go
and won’t be tempted by in-store displays
and markdowns.

26. • Don’t shop on an empty stomach! Research
shows that hungry shoppers make more
impulse purchases than those who have
just eaten.
• Choose loose fruit and vegetable instead of
pre-packaged items to ensure you don’t
end up with more than you need. Plus you
are leaving the plastic behind on the shelf
too!

27. • Shopping more frequently allows you to
buy smaller quantities of fresh ingredients
and gives you more flexibility if your plans
change and you have more or less people to
feed than you planned for.

28. • Avoid two-for-one specials or discounted
fresh produce unless those ingredients are
already on your shopping list.
• Buy your meat and cheeses at the
delicatessen so you buy the exact amount
that you need.
• Buy nuts and dried fruit from the bulk bins
so you can purchase smaller quantities than
packaged products.

29. • Remember that buying in bulk saves you
money if you eat the food before it spoils.
• Be aware of upsizing offers. For example a
larger block of cheese might only be an
extra dollar but if you are not able to eat it
all before the use by date, you haven’t
saved any money at all.

30. PERISHABLE
FOOD
ORGANISATION
TIPS

31. • Implement a system for your crisper. For
example, move all the older fruit and
vegetables to the left and store the new
produce on the right. Make sure everyone
in your household knows about your
system.
• Place ripe fruit in the fridge.

32. • Store bread in the freezer and use it as you
need it. Brisbane’s subtropical climates
means mould can grow quickly, making
bread one of our top food waste items.
• Freeze meat that you don’t plan to eat
immediately.

33. Share with us what you have been doing, how
you have been doing it and what you have
learned so far!
Email your photos to sam@bcec.com.au
We will then put a presentation together of
what we/households/families have all learned
and taken from this challenge

34. Don’t forget to see your Manager to take
home so of Herbie’s dehydrated organic
waste for your garden.