BBC Good Food - 04.2020

122 bbcgoodfood.com APRIL 2020

KITCHEN

GREENER

7 ways to make your

From energy use to freezing food and scrapping unneeded

plastic, there are many small ways to improve your space

#gogreenwithbbcgf

Renewable sources of energy

that generate power but do

not contribute to global

warming. ‘Clean’ or ‘green’

sources include wind, solar,

wave, biomass and hydro.

DEFINITION

When you’re making a cuppa, only boil as much water

as you need. The Energy Saving Trust says overilled

kettles cost UK households £68million a year in

energy bills. Switch to an eco kettle, too – they use

20 per cent less energy than conventional electric.

We throw away 7.1 million tonnes of

food every year, and almost 70 per

cent of that is perfectly good food

that could have been eaten. This

food waste is associated with

19 million tonnes of CO2, so

eating your leftovers can cut your

carbon footprint and food costs.

FILLING YOUR KETTLE

DON’T BIN

YOUR DINNE R

Making sure both your fridge and

freezer are operating well will save

energy and cut down on food waste.

XLook for WRAP’s Little Blue

Fridge icon on packaging – it’s

used to indicate that the item can

be refrigerated to prolong shelf life,

especially if you keep your fridge at

below 5C. A snowlake icon shows

that freezing will prolong life. As

20 million slices of bread go to

waste in the UK daily, 79 per cent

of bread products now carry the

snowlake icon. Freeze food up to

the use-by date, then defrost fully

in the fridge before using.

USE YOUR

FRIDGE AND

FREEZER

EFFICIENTLY

Use

up what

you have

already,

then invest in

reusable items.

The more times

you use an item,

the better its

value becomes,

so even though

a wax wrap

might be pricier,

it’s probably

a better

investment

• you can use it
  in more ways.

STOP BUYING

SINGLEUSE PLASTIC

&

In terms of food

waste, we’re

trying hard at

Good Food.

What isn’t used

up during recipe

testing (we test

100+ recipes

per month!),

we eat. No one

can resist a

#FridgeRaidFriday

challenge – see

our creations on

social media

@bbcgoodfood.

We also give

food away in

the oice. New

products that

are sent in for

reviews are

shared. It’s rare

that something

isn’t eaten up,

but a challenging

ish-lavoured

macaronwas

slow to shift...

XInstead of

using clingilm

to wrap food

for storage,

you can

use beeswax

(or vegan) food

wraps, reusable

storage boxes

(make sure they

it the food

tightly so it

doesn’t dry

out), reusable

food bags or

recyclable foil.

XYou can also

ind alternatives

for covering

plates or bowls

of food. Again,

beeswax (or

vegan) food

wraps will do, or

transfer food to

jars or boxes if

you’re planning

to transport it.

You can also

ind reusable

plastic bowl

covers. Or, try

sticking a plate

on top.

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Words PAUL ALLEN, LULU GRIMES