Fact – Food waste makes up over 40% of the contents of the garbage bin.

Food waste costs the average household $3,800 each year. Some of this food waste is unavoidable. Things like fruit and vegetable peels, pips and stones, teabags, coffee grinds, bones and eggshells can.  But some food waste is avoidable. It usually happens when we buy too much, cook too much or don’t store food correctly.

Here are a few simple changes we can make at home to reduce food waste, eat well and save money:

• Only buy what you need and make sure you use up what you buy.
• Plan your meals.
• Prepare a shopping list and stick to it.
• Check what is in the fridge, freezer, pantry or garden - and don’t overfill your fridge and pantry. Keep items visible to avoid buying something you already have. After you buy new groceries, move the older products to the front so you use them first.
• Check ‘Use-by’ and ‘Best before’ dates - ‘Use-by’ date tells us when food is safe to eat while ‘Best before’ means it may still be okay to eat after that date, depending on how it’s been stored, whether it has been opened.
• Buy local seasonal food from your local farmer’s market. Fruit and vegetables bought in season taste better, cost less and last longer, which means less waste.
• Store food in the right place to make sure it lasts longer. 
• Reduce waste by serving the correct food portions.
• Enjoy your leftovers or use them in other dishes! Use reusable containers and label them so you can keep track of how long they’ve been in your fridge or freezer and ensure you use them in your normal routine eg for lunch the next day.
• Download 'What's for dinner?', a book of food waste tips and information for families with children.

Here are a few ideas for the food waste we can’t avoid:

• Reduce food waste by setting up a worm farm and make natural fertiliser for your garden.
• Consider ShareWaste, the website connecting people who wish to recycle their kitchen scraps with nearby community members who are already composting, worm-farming or keep chickens.
• Remember, food waste can’t be placed in the (green-lidded or brown-lidded in some cases) green waste bins.

For more information visit NSW EPA’s Love Food Hate Waste which aims to raise awareness about the impact of food waste in NSW and reduce how much 'good' food we waste.

Fact - Garden waste, together with food waste, can make up over 50% of waste generated at home.

Consider composting your green waste – it’s an inexpensive and easy way to reduce organic waste and convert it into a natural fertiliser for your garden soil.

There are different types of composting systems including compost bin, tumbler, compost heap or in bays - the compost bin being the most popular, available at hardware stores and garden centres. You can even reuse materials to make a new compost system:

To set up or maintain your own compost system, check out the Composting factsheet.

You may find that you no longer need the green waste bin anymore. If so, contact Council to have the green waste bin removed and your rates will be adjusted accordingly.

Planet Ark’s Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) provides easy to understand recycling information about what packaging can be recycled and tells you where to put each bit of the packaging. It removes confusion, saves you time and reduces waste going to landfill. Look out for an increasing number of products with the ARL.