How To Make Your Dinner Greener With Smart Storage & Lovely Leftovers

Are you already dreaming of your humungous Christmas turkey? If you’re looking forward to mountainous heaps of roast potatoes, pigs-in-blankets, stuffing and sprouts, you may not have considered the environmental impact of all your festive gluttony….

Christmas is the time of year when Green considerations go out of the window. From disposing of wrapping paper to dealing with all that plastic packaging, we’re not very good at being eco-friendly once Santa Claus comes to town.

It’s time for a change. We’ve put together some top tips to make Christmas dinner Greener; from investing in an energy efficient freezer to getting the most out of your leftovers.

Smart Storage & Learning to Love Leftovers

According to the Environmental Agency, we’re going to be throwing away 160,000 tonnes of food waste this Christmas. That’s an extra bin bag of uneaten food for every UK family. The first step is to think more carefully about what you buy and how much you really need. This will help cut down on leftovers later.

Some leftovers are inevitable though. To ensure nothing goes to waste, consider investing in better cold storage. The more room you have in your fridge and the more efficiently it functions the more food you can keep and the less you have to throw away. If you are going to invest in more fridge space, make sure you’re buying an energy efficient fridge freezer to ensure you’re as Green as possible.

Now your leftovers are safely stored, it’s time to make the most of them. There are tonnes of online recipes for Christmas leftovers out there to ensure you’re not living on bubble and squeak for a week. Goose risotto or turkey curry, anyone?

Buy Locally

Think about all of those road miles it takes to get your Christmas dinner to your table. This year, choose to buy locally from producers in your area. This isn’t just good for the planet; it’s also great for your area’s economy. Forget the mad dash around the supermarket, instead use local shops and farmers’ markets. It may even work out cheaper and you’ll enjoy much more seasonal cheer!

Forget the Turkey

A vegetarian Christmas may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it does make your Christmas dinner much Greener. The meat industry is one of the biggest baddies when it comes to environmental friendliness, contributing more of the world’s greenhouse gas than cars!

Quick Tips

• Compost  – If you simply can’t make use of your leftovers, stick them on the compost heap to do some good for your garden, don’t just throw them away.
• Reuse foil – 3,000 tonnes of aluminium foil are thought to be needlessly thrown away every Christmas. That’s a lot of trussed up turkeys. Make sure you save and reuse your foil.
• Ban bags – Don’t use plastic bags when buying Christmas veg – pick them up loose instead. Meanwhile, make sure you remember your ‘bags for life’ on every festive shopping trip!