Waste No More

According to a research conducted by The Australia Institute, Australia is wasting more than $5.2 billion in food alone in a year. Furthermore, the chart was able to show how much the result works out per person and household for each state. The survey was carried out through 1603 main grocery buyers in October 2009.

The survey resulted to a staggering amount – $616 wasted on food from each household. If you try to do a little calculation and pretend the $616 wasted, instead,  goes to your savings, you will find out that in time,  it actually piles up to a lot of money. If you manage to put the same amount into your savings account, assuming that it will earn 5 percent annually, brace yourself because before you know it, in 40 years, you’d already have $82,469.93.

Another possible scenario can be, say you’d choose to salary-sacrifice the same amount into your superannuation fund instead of putting it in your savings account, the tax on income earned would be cut to 15 percent. Not only that, an additional 10 years of putting the same amount would actually give you $142,470 for your retirement.

In reality though, these scenarios do not actually happen. Instead, Australia throws out $1.1 billion worth of fruits and vegetables in a years’ time. Well, the world’s population just hit 7 billion, meaning to say, the starving kids in Africa and other Third World countries also doubled in number. What’s sad to know is the fact that just a quarter of the food wasted by developed countries is already enough to feed the hundreds of starving people from Third World countries.

As we all know, the Earth’s resources is getting scarce each day. This is in contrast to the world’s rising population which, according to the United Nations’ State of World Population 2011, just hit 7 billion. The present population of the world is twice as much as it was in 1959 and seven times more if compared to the number of people back in 1804. Global population is fast rising while global resources do not increase in the same rate.

Given the figures above, it is not surprising that at some point and possibly very soon, the world might reach its breaking point. So it is just timely to say that each of us should work out smart ways to save, grow things and consume in a sustainable way.

When it comes to saving on food, keep in mind that fruits and vegetables top the list of wasted products. So it is about high time everybody learns the trick of shopping smart when it comes to perishable produce. Always shop with a list and make a meal plan. By doing so, you are actually saving a lot. Shopping with a list minimises the tendency to pick random things that you actually do not need. Making a meal plan, on the other hand, gives you a clear picture of what you need to shop for instead of buying at random and thinking of what to do about it once you get home.

Another thing to keep in mind is the fact that there is actually a correlation between our income and how much we waste. Those earning $40,000 or less waste at least $518 a year whilst those who earn $80,000 or more are wasting $803 annually. These figures prove that no matter what income bracket a family/individual belongs to, the tendency to waste too much is a reality.

Needless to say, the most successful motivator to reducing food waste is the fact that it can turn into savings. Money wasted on food can be huge savings. After the above-mentioned survey was conducted, it was noted that the survey respondents who were motivated by the desire to save money started reducing their food waste, and wasted $100 less than those who didn’t.