Category: Quick & easy

How to use jam jars to freeze extra portions

three jam jars viewed from above containing dark brown and pale brown preserves on a wooden table with yellow marigolds to the left

Cooking from scratch is an important skill for living sustainably, but it takes a big chunk of time out of your day. It makes sense to cook more than you need, and then save the extra portions so you can have a quick meal another day.

You’ll need something to store the extra portions in. Jam jars are a perfect single portion size, infinitely reusable and store nicely in your freezer, but there are some important tips to do it safely.

How to freeze food in jam jars

  • Start saving your jam jars! Jars with wide necks are the easiest to fill and least likely to crack, but save all of them to begin with and replace them with better ones over time.
  • Jars with plastic, or plastic-coated, lids are better than metal ones, because frozen metal can hurt your fingers when you touch it. Protect your hand with a tea towel if you can’t avoid using a metal lid.
  • Soak the original label off the jar in warm soapy water. Some labels come off easier than others. If the label leaves a lot of glue behind and it won’t come off easily, it’s probably best to recycle the jar instead, as it will always stay sticky.
  • Make sure the jar is clean and dry. You might want to sterilise it in the oven or the dishwasher first, but we haven’t found this to be necessary.
  • Fill the jar with food. Leave approximately a 1-inch gap at the top of the jar to give the food room to expand as it freezes.
  • Write what’s in the jar, and the date, on a small sticky label or a reusable tag. Stick the label on the lid, or tie the reusable tag around the neck of the jar, so you know what’s in it later. Labels soak off lids better than they soak off glass jars, so stick the label to the lid to make your life easier later.
  • Liquids expand when they freeze, so put the lid on loosely to start with, otherwise the jar may crack as the food freezes and expands.
  • Now let the food cool down before putting it in the freezer, so your freezer doesn’t have to work so hard cooling it down.
  • Later, when the food is completely frozen, tighten the lid to stop air from getting to the food (you can do this when you next go in the freezer – you don’t have to set a timer).

How do I defrost food in jam jars?

  • Plan ahead when you want to use the food. Instead of defrosting it in the microwave, save energy by taking the jar out of the freezer the night before. Put it in the fridge and leave it to defrost overnight.
  • Heat the food in a saucepan or use it in a recipe. Make sure it’s completely warmed through.
  • If you have any leftovers after this meal, you’ll need to throw them away, because you shouldn’t freeze the food a second time.
  • After use, soak the label off by leaving the lid in a small amount of water for a few minutes. If you put the jar in the dishwasher without removing the label, you will get bits of paper stuck to all your crockery and in the filter.
  • Use the dishwasher to clean the jar and the lid, then store it with the lid on, ready to use it again.

Image credit: photo by Tina Witherspoon on Unsplash

Categories: Food, In Lockdown, Quick & easy, Saves money, Waste

How to shop sustainably at a zero waste shop, supermarket or online

Loose fruit and vegetables on a market stall

However lovely it might be, we can’t always buy our food direct from a local organic farmer. So how can you make the best choices from what’s available?

How to buy sustainably at the zero waste shop

dry goods bins at a zero waste shop

What does a typical zero waste shop stock?

A typical zero waste shop will stock:

  • Dry goods (flour, muesli, pasta & spices)
  • Washing and cleaning products (dispense-it-yourself clothes washing liquid, washing up liquid, vinegar, soap bars & laundry sheets)
  • Personal hygiene products (razors, sanitary towels, menstrual cups, shampoo bars, toothbrushes & tooth tablets)
  • Tins (vegan soup, beans, tofu & seitan)
  • Treats (sustainably sourced chocolate, vegan chocolate nibs, dried fruit & coated peanuts)
  • Household products (compostable bags & scrubbing brushes)
  • Sustainable gifts and cards
  • Plant based milks and nut butters, often made from scratch in the shop

What’s it like shopping at a zero waste shop?

Zero waste shops are usually run by passionately green people. They’re likely to be very knowledgeable about environmental issues and keen to encourage you, so it’s a great place to feel part of a “tribe”. You’ll be able to get advice on all sorts of green issues, from how to clean the interior workings of your washing machine, to which vegan chocolate is best.

You might be surprised to find that many items are cheaper at the zero waste shop, compared to the supermarket. That’s because you’re not paying for the packaging and branding. Spices and dried goods are likely to be very good value compared to what you’re used to.

How does shopping in a zero waste shop actually work?

  • Zero waste shops usually stock their dry goods in hygienic gravity-fed hoppers (so there’s no fear that someone else has sneezed on the food or rummaged around with dirty fingers).
  • On your first visit, you can either take your own containers or buy them from the store. Then you can re-use those containers on subsequent visits.
  • You buy your dry goods produce by weight, but they will deduct the weight of the container from the total so you don’t pay for that as well.
  • You’ll need to weigh your container before you fill it. There will be a set of scales in the shop or on the counter. You’ll probably need to write the weight on the bottom of your container with a Sharpie, and they should have one for you to use.
  • If you’re bringing your own containers, check out the size of the dispensing holes on the hoppers first, and bring a container with a suitably wide mouth (to avoid spilling food on the floor).
  • If you’re buying a large amount of dry goods (e.g. flour), use a paper bag to keep the weight down. The shop will probably have clean paper bags for that purpose.
  • The shop staff will be happy to show you how to dispense the produce.
  • They will also have towels to mop up when you inevitably dispense washing-up liquid onto the floor.
  • Go there last on your shopping trip, because washing liquid, muesli and flour get heavy really quickly.
  • Take several reusable bags so you can spread the weight across your shoulders and hands.
  • If you are lucky, they might even offer an online delivery service.

How to buy sustainably at the supermarket

loose kale and radishes on a supermarket shelf above vegetables packed in plastic

You can buy a lot from a zero waste shop, but there will inevitably be things you need from a conventional shop too. If you go to the supermarket and fill your own trolley, you have an advantage over online shoppers because you can see exactly what you’re buying.

  • Write a shopping list and stick to it, to avoid impulse buys or buying duplicates of things you already have.
  • Bring your reusable bags with you. Their critics say you have to use them hundreds of times before they’ve covered the cost of the water and energy used in their manufacture, but if you’re going to use them weekly for years, you’ve got that covered, no problem.
  • As you leave the house, put your shopping list inside your reusable bag. This makes it much harder to accidentally leave your reusable bags in the car.
  • If you’re buying food that you’re going to eat soon, or freeze, choose short-dated produce. This reduces the amount of food the shop throws away.
  • You can bring your own produce bags for loose fruit and vegetables (they don’t have to be fancy – a net bag or a reused clear plastic bag is fine).
  • If you eat cheese or meat, buy them from the deli counter to avoid unnecessary packaging.
  • If you can’t buy it loose, choose produce that’s packed in compostable or paper wrappers, cardboard trays instead of plastic trays, or glass jars instead of plastic containers.

How to buy sustainably online

close up of person wearing black gloves holding a red crate full of vegetables

If you buy your shopping online, you’ll have to rely on the descriptions on the website and learn as you go. But, it’s much easier to check the ingredients and see reviews from other shoppers.

  • Use an ethical online superstore to find products that tick all the sustainability boxes, but aren’t available in mainstream stores. Ethical Superstore has a great range of household goods, cleaning products and beauty products.
  • If buying online from a mainstream supermarket, choose one that delivers direct from your local store (e.g. Waitrose, Sainsburys or Tesco), or one that uses a local delivery driver who plans their route (like Riverford). That means your groceries aren’t being delivered from a central warehouse that could be hundreds of miles away (like Ocado) – an unforgivable waste of fuel and tyre wear.
  • If you’re buying an unfamiliar product, check the product description to see what it’s packaged in, and choose one that can be recycled. The photos can be misleading. Where possible, avoid plastic packaging, which can be recycled but often isn’t.
  • You can filter your search results so you only see vegan or vegetarian items.
  • Buying online from a list of favourites makes it easy to avoid impulse buys.
  • Choose a “green” delivery slot to minimise delivery mileage. (A green delivery slot means someone else who lives nearby has already booked a delivery in the same time window.)

Image credits:
Loose fruit and vegetables: photo by Jacopo Maia on Unsplash
Dry goods hoppers in a zero waste shop: photo by Benjamin Brunner on Unsplash
Vegetables on supermarket shelves: photo by Eduardo Soares on Unsplash
Delivery person holding a crate of food: photo by Liuba Bilyk on Unsplash

Categories: Food, Free, Quick & easy, Uncategorized

How to save energy – insulate your pipes and hot water tank

copper pipes with foam insulation

Why should I insulate my tank or pipes?

Insulating your hot water tank (cylinder) and pipes is probably the cheapest and easiest way to improve the insulation in your home.

Why should you bother? Well, an uninsulated cylinder or pipe constantly radiates heat, so it’s like having a big, unnecessary radiator in your cupboard, loft or basement. The more heat you lose, the more energy your boiler uses trying to keep the water up to temperature, so it costs you money for no good reason.

How do I insulate my pipes?

Insulating your hot water pipes is a genuinely simple DIY job:

  • Pipe insulation is a foam tube with a slit all the way along it. You can buy pipe insulation in any DIY store, or try this economy pipe insulation from Screwfix.
  • You’ll need a Stanley knife or a strong pair of scissors to cut it to length.
  • Then just pop it around the pipe, like in the picture above.
  • Corners are a bit more difficult, but you just need to cut a chunk out of the foam tube so it bends to match the pipe.
  • Then fix it in place with duct tape.
  • Even if you don’t do the tricky bits like the corners, you’ve still made a difference.

How do I insulate my hot water tank?

Insulating your hot water tank is pretty easy too:

  • A tank jacket is a very thick glass fibre “blanket” with a flame-retardant cover. You can buy tank jackets in any DIY store, or try this cheap, 80mm thick hot water cylinder jacket from Screwfix.
  • It’s easiest if you buy one that comes in several pieces, so there are gaps for all the pipes that come out of your hot water tank.
  • Look for one that’s 80mm thick so it’s really efficient.
  • Wrap the tank jacket around the tank.
  • Secure it with cable ties.
  • Tape up the gaps with duct tape.

Job done!

Image credit: Kate Spencer

Categories: Building, Cheap, Energy Use, Quick & easy, Saves money, Water

How to stop unnecessary flights – campaign for a frequent flyer tax

sad business people on plane

What is a frequent flyer tax?

A frequent flyer tax (also known as a frequent flyer levy) is an additional tax on people who take a lot of flights (or the businesses that make them take the flights). This makes the flights more expensive, which discourages unnecessary travel.

A frequent flier tax wouldn’t have any effect on people taking an occasional holiday or making infrequent trips to visit loved ones in other countries (although we would encourage you to think about taking more sustainable holidays instead of flying – see our travel page for ideas).

How would a frequent flyer tax help reduce emissions?

Flying is expected to be the biggest source of the UK’s emissions by 2050 [1], and just 15% of people are responsible for 70% of UK flights [2]. A frequent flyer tax could therefore significantly reduce emissions by discouraging a small-ish number of people (or the people who tell them what to do) from flying as often.

An important point is that the frequent flyer tax would need to be levied on businesses, not just individuals. That’s to prevent companies from avoiding the tax by sending a different person each time.

What can I do to help get a frequent flier tax introduced?

Lobby your political representative to introduce a frequent flyer tax. While one letter won’t change anything, trust that your letter will eventually be one of thousands, evidence of a change in public opinion that they can’t ignore.

Here are some useful facts from GreenWorld, the Green Party’s membership publication:

  • Introducing a frequent flyer tax would force frequent fliers to think more about their aerial carbon footprint and give them a financial incentive to lower it
  • Aviation contributes to about 2.5 per cent of global carbon emissions; this rises to 5% when all greenhouse gases, not just carbon, are taken into account
  • As more people reach the global middle class more people want to fly, so passenger numbers are expected to increase substantially in the coming decades
  • In the UK, just 15% of people take 70% of flights.
    1% of people in the UK are responsible for about 20% of flights!
    Meanwhile, more than half of the people in the UK don’t fly at all
  • The Green Party’s proposals would allow people to take one return flight a year, with no extra tax, so people could go on annual holidays and visit any family they may have abroad
  • Businesses and frequent fliers can and will have to adapt – trains can be used to get to Continental Europe instead of planes. Video conferencing can be done online. Longer stays at destinations can be arranged so multiple visits aren’t necessary
  • When properly explained, the public should be fully behind a frequent flyer tax because voters are keen on policies which follow well-established climate science but don’t make them change their own behaviour! 

How can I contact my MP or political representative?

In the UK, you can find out who your MP is and how to contact them on They Work For You.

In the US, you can find out who your representative in Congress is here.

[1] BBC News. 2019. Introduce frequent flyer levy to fight emissions, government told. [online] Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49808258> [Accessed 7 February 2021].

[2] Full Fact. 2016. Do 15% of people take 70% of flights?. [online] Available at: <https://fullfact.org/economy/do-15-people-take-70-flights/> [Accessed 7 February 2021].

Photo credit:  Hanson Lu on Unsplash

Categories: Free, High impact, Influence, Quick & easy, Travel & commuting

The problem with bee-killing pesticides – and how to help

bee on a yellow canola / rapeseed flower

Why are pesticides a problem?

Bees and other insects are essential to pollinate around one-third of the food crops we rely on – but bee populations are in decline due to the use of pesticides called neonicotinoids (neonics), habitat loss and disease.

Neonics were banned by the EU in April 2018, but, according to Greenpeace, at least 67 different emergency authorisations have been granted since that date. Many of these authorisations were granted repeatedly, or without any evidence of an ‘emergency’ situation being provided [1]. Neonic use has also been approved in the UK after Brexit, in certain emergency situations (although it was for a non-flowering crop).

Unfortunately, the next generation of pesticides are also believed to harm bees[2]. Indeed it’s hard to see how any future pesticides will be safe for bees and beneficial insects, given their physiological similarity to the insects the pesticides are intended to kill.

Legislators are under relentless pressure to approve pesticides that are known to cause the collapse of bee populations. This pressure comes from agrochemical giants like Bayer and Monsanto, whose business models are based on creating a reliance on their patented, proprietary seeds and pesticides.

How can I help end the use of bee-killing pesticides?

How can I contact my MP or political representative?

In the UK, you can find out who your MP is and how to contact them on They Work For You.

In the US, you can find out who your representative in Congress is here.

[1] Unearthed – Greenpeace. 2020. Loophole Keeps Bee-Killing Pesticides In Widespread Use, Two Years After EU Ban. [online] Available at: <https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2020/07/08/bees-neonicotinoids-bayer-syngenta-eu-ban-loophole/> [Accessed 25 January 2021].

[2] BBC News. 2018. New Pesticides ‘May Have Risks For Bees’. [online] Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-45185261> [Accessed 25 January 2021].

Image credit: photo by Tsing Wang on Unsplash

Categories: Bees, insects & rewilding, Chemicals, Free, High impact, Influence, Quick & easy, Uncategorized

Make our roadsides better with bee-friendly wildflowers

poppies and blue wildflowers in a wildflower roadside verge

Why do we need bee-friendly roadside verges?

According to the wildlife charity Plantlife, 97% of the UK’s wildflower meadows have been lost since the 1930s[1]. This habitat loss is one of the reasons bees and other beneficial insects, which pollinate many of our crops, are in decline. The other reasons are pesticide use and disease.

Roadside verges are part of the solution. There are nearly 500,000 km (310,000 miles!) of roadside verges in the UK, and every year councils spend hundreds of thousands of pounds maintaining them[2].

New national guidance (developed by Plantlife together with national highways agencies, industry bodies, Natural England and other environmental groups) recommends that verges should only be cut twice a year, and never before July when most wildflowers are in bloom. Previously, verges were cut four or more times every year.

Less frequent cutting and avoiding pesticides allows verges to act as wildlife havens, helping to spread wildflowers, insects and invertebrates via a network of “corridors” across the country. If this recommendation was adopted throughout the UK, the grassland habitat created would be the same area as London, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff and Edinburgh added together![2]

Write to your council about wildflower verges

Fortunately, many councils are keen to follow the example set by Dorset County Council, which estimates it has reduced the cost of verge maintenance by £100,000 in 5 years.[2]

It’s definitely worth contacting your council to encourage them to adopt the new national guidance. Councils are starved of cash and may well jump at the chance to reduce their costs.

Plantlife has written a sample letter, which you can use or adapt to help you write to your council. They also have a tool to help you find out which council you should be writing to, because it isn’t always obvious. Follow the link and scroll down to find the tool and sample letter.

[1] Plantlife. 2021. Real Action Needed To Save Our Vanishing Meadows. [online] Available at: <https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/about-us/news/real-action-needed-to-save-our-vanishing-meadows> [Accessed 25 January 2021].

[2] Barkham, P., 2021. UK Roadsides On Verge Of Becoming Wildlife Corridors, Say Experts. [online] the Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/27/uk-roadsides-verge-wildlife-corridors-guidelines-wildflowers> [Accessed 25 January 2021].

Photo credit: Lucie Hošová on Unsplash

Categories: Bees, insects & rewilding, Free, High impact, Influence, Quick & easy

Find your tribe – how to join or create a green group

group of people talking laughing outside

When you see people buying fast fashion, or buying a diesel or petrol car, or voting for politicians who support fossil fuels, it can feel like you’re the only person who’s doing anything to fight climate change.

Finding a group of people who are on the same path can really help when your motivation gets low. Talking through problems and sharing solutions will help all of you make faster progress, and create a visible hub that people new to “going green” can join.

How can I find a green group or tribe?

  • Join groups that already exist, like your local Extinction Rebellion group, your school’s sustainability group, or a community garden
  • Visit or follow your local zero-waste shop and get to know the owners and regular customers
  • Search for green groups on your preferred social media platform
  • Set up a community group called “your neighbourhood/workplace green people” (or something along those lines). Invite anyone you know who’s got solar panels, an electric car, an allotment, or is known to be vegetarian or vegan. Share your ideas, support each other and watch your group grow
  • Put a box in your workplace break room and label it “food sharing”. Encourage people to share food they’re not going to get to, or food they bought to try, but don’t like
  • Start a sustainability group at work or school
  • Get a food buddy and share bulk purchases from online ethical or vegan stores, or take unwanted items off each other’s hands
  • Organise a new-to-you event and swap clothes, toys or household items
  • Set up a formal or informal Terracycle collection point at your work, school or place of worship
  • Set up or support a Community Fridge
  • Start or support a community garden
  • Start a Wombling group (a gathering to litter pick or clean up a specific area)
  • If you’ve got a specific community project in mind, set up a Facebook group to attract supporters/helpers, and advertise it in local community groups
  • Take a Zero-Carbon Britain course and connect with like-minded people

In addition to their stated aims, these groups also create the opportunity for conversations about green issues, which can help you find allies to promote even more green initiatives at work or in your neighbourhood.

Photo credit: Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

Categories: High impact, Quick & easy, Saves money, Waste

How to cut your food waste

loaf of bread with knife and wheat on a black background

We’ve been trained by supermarkets and cautious parents to only eat food that looks perfect, a habit which contributes to the 9.5 million tonnes of food the UK wastes, every year[1].

Once you change your way of thinking, you’ll be amazed at how much edible food you used to waste.

Make a plan and think ahead

Plan your meals in advance

Plan your meals for the week so you can:

  • use up anything you’ve got left over
  • plan something easy for busy days
  • batch cook on days when you’ve got more time
  • defrost tomorrow’s food overnight (chilled food cooks quicker, so it uses less energy than cooking from frozen)

Shop with a list

Shopping with a list helps you stick to a budget, avoid impulse buys that go to waste, and avoid buying accidental duplicates of things you already have.

Freeze food in portion sizes

Cut your garlic bread or pizza into portion sizes before you freeze it, then only defrost what you need (useful for everyone, but particularly if you’re cooking for one, or if you have small children who eat earlier than you do).

Use jam jars to freeze batch-cooked food

Each jar is the right size for one person, so you only defrost the quantity you need. This is particularly useful for families that have a mixture of meat-eaters and vegetarians/vegans.
Learn how to freeze food in jam jars.

Using up food that’s about to go bad

Learn the difference between use-by dates and best-before dates

Find out the difference between a best-before date and a use-by date – misunderstanding could be causing you to throw away perfectly good food.

Leftovers

Use your leftovers to make a quirky lunch tomorrow (e.g. fish fingers in a wrap with lettuce and mayo; chilli in a bap; roasted vegetables with pasta).

Bread

Freeze sliced bread before it goes stale. When you freeze it, put a piece of kitchen roll or a piece of teatowel in the bread bag – this will absorb any excess moisture so the bread doesn’t go soggy when you defrost it later. You can toast bread straight from frozen, or defrost as many slices as you need, overnight, in a reusable bag.

If your bread has already gone stale, or no one ever eats the crusts, grate them or whizz them up in a food processor. Use the breadcrumbs as a crunchy topping for a pasta bake, or breading for nuggets.

Fruit

You can freeze fruit that’s gone a bit past its best (but not mouldy). The fruit will be squishy when defrosted, so use them in a recipe where you don’t expect them to be firm, like a smoothie, porridge, overnight oats, a crumble or any baked fruit recipe. Bananas can be frozen and used as a base for a smoothie, non-dairy ice cream, or banana bread.

Vegetables

Freeze vegetables that are past their best (but not mouldy) and roast them later. Tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables work really well, as you expect roasted vegetables to be squashy anyway.

Save veg peelings/tops to bring extra flavour to soups or stock.

Save your potato peelings and make homemade “crisps” in the oven.

Broccoli stems are nice when sliced thinly, brushed with oil, seasoned and lightly pan-fried.

The leaves of many root vegetables can be sauteed like chard, or used to make a variation on pesto.

Salad

Put a piece of kitchen roll, or a piece of a tea towel, in your bag of salad leaves or spinach. The leaves will last much longer before they start to go slimy.

Use excess salad leaves or spinach to make pesto – a super-easy mid-week meal.

Eggs

Eggs last a long time past their best-before date, but if you have some that you are sure you won’t use in time, you can freeze them. Crack the egg as normal, then freeze the white and yolk either together or separately in small containers.

Milk

Milk can be frozen, but be careful because liquid expands when it freezes. Follow these steps to avoid splitting the container:

  • Loosen the lid
  • Very gently, push in the side of the bottle (not so much that the milk comes out of the bottle!)
  • With the side still pushed in, tighten the lid
  • Now freeze it
  • When the milk expands, it will just push the side of the container back out, and the bottle shouldn’t split

Cheese

Grate bits of hardened cheese and freeze them, then use them later for cheesy toppings.

Random leftovers

Use odd leftovers in quiches, mixed through rice, on pasta, roasted and served on a slice of puff pastry, or in omelettes.

Why not have a “whatever” night every week, when you finish up whatever’s left over in the fridge? This should save money as well as introduce some variety – you may find a new favourite meal.

[1] Food surplus and waste in the UK – key facts. October 2021. rep. Available at: https://wrap.org.uk/sites/default/files/2021-10/food-%20surplus-and-%20waste-in-the-%20uk-key-facts-oct-21.pdf (Accessed: January 2, 2023).

Photo credit: Victoria Shes on Unsplash

Categories: Food, High impact, In Lockdown, Quick & easy, Saves money, Waste

Make your own lunch

lunchtime sandwich roll with brie walnuts and salad

Bad memories of the sandwiches you used to have to eat at school? Don’t worry, things have moved on.

Using last night’s leftovers to make your lunch prevents food waste – but you also get to amaze your colleagues with the unending variety of your lunches. If you usually buy your sandwiches at the supermarket, you’ll also save money and prevent plastic waste.

Try different types of bread, rice, salads, or pasta, served with a mixture of fillings, spreads, or whatever your kids didn’t eat from last night’s dinner.

Some ideas that are definitely better than yet another cheese sandwich are:

  • left-over vegetarian/chicken nuggets with chilli mayo and salad leaves served in a wrap
  • left-over (vegan) fish fingers with lemon mayo in a wrap
  • uneaten naan with yoghurt and cucumber
  • cooked-too-many roasted vegetables with couscous
  • reheated pasta and sauce, topped with a few fresh tomatoes
  • reheated chilli served up in a bun like a sloppy joe
  • almost any leftovers folded into an omelette (egg or chickpea based)
  • wilted salad leaves whizzed into a pesto with garlic, lemon juice and cashew nuts, served on toast
  • leftover vegetables mixed through a bean salad, with a simple vinaigrette dressing

Photo credit: Nikizhang on Unsplash

Categories: Food, In Lockdown, Quick & easy, Saves money, Waste

Eating better Step 1 – go meat-free a few times a week

meat free meal with salsa, chips, dip and tomatoes

Why should we cook without meat a few times each week?

Avoiding meat and dairy products is one of the most effective things you can do to reduce your environmental impact.[1] That’s because meat and dairy provide just 18% of calories – but they use 83% of farmland and produce 60% of agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions![2]

But if you and your family are used to eating meat and dairy, completely cutting them out isn’t going to be easy. That’s why we recommend going meat-free a few times a week to start with. It’s an easy way to introduce die-hard meat eaters to alternative foods without making them feel too cheated and resistant.

How do you start cutting out meat?

It’s easy to find out just how tasty meat-free and dairy-free meals can be. If you’re not used to cooking, most supermarkets now stock a good range of vegetarian and vegan ready meals.
Meanwhile, practice making some easy meals. Eating sustainably is easier, cheaper and more interesting if you know how to cook from scratch.
Check out our list of eco-friendly food alternatives for our guide to the best dairy and meat replacements.

If you have some experience cooking, start by searching Pinterest or BBC Good Food for recipe inspiration. You’ll have a lot of fun discovering foods you didn’t know existed. Look for recipes with a small number of familiar ingredients to start with, or swap out the meat in a meal that you’re used to making.

Can you save money by going meat-free?

Vegetables are generally cheaper than meat, so eating plant-based meals can save you money. For example:

  • You can buy the ingredients for vegan chilli, including plant-based mince, for £2.01 (Aldi, April 23)
  • It would cost £3.85 if you made the same chilli with minced beef (Aldi, April 23)

Alternatively, if you’re buying ready meals, you can save money by buying a side dish and treating it as your main. For example:

  • Buy cauliflower cheese (Aldi, £2.09 for 750g) instead of a family-sized beef lasagne (Aldi, £3.69),
  • Buy aloo gobi saag (Sainburys, £2.50) instead of chicken tikka masala (Sainsburys, £4.25).

Next:
Step 2: stop eating beef

[1,2] Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single biggest way’ to reduce your impact on Earth, The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/31/avoiding-meat-and-dairy-is-single-biggest-way-to-reduce-your-impact-on-earth (Accessed: February 20, 2023).

Photo credit: Ralph (Ravi) Kayden on Unsplash

Categories: Food, In Lockdown, Quick & easy, Saves money, Waste