Disposal of money into dustbins..

"I am hungry". I said this as I walked home with my siblings from 4pm lesson in our primary school. I just needed food. It was on this same day that my mum taught me and my siblings a practical lesson on food waste. We got home and had our meal for the day which was something that looked like eba but did not taste like eba..but we ate it all. Few hours after the food has digested, my mum decided to tell us this :

"I am sure you enjoyed your food from the way you ate. However I would like to inform you that the meal you just finished is a combination of amala, eba and semo".

That was exactly how she said it and she smiled hard. She went on to explain that all the amalas, ebas and semos she makes for us that we do not finish, she kept them  in the deep freezer to preserve it. Inquisitive children like us asked her how she made it? Did she just warm them and mix them together? She gladly replied:

" I just broke them (frozen amala,semo and eba) into boiling water and added more garri to it so that you would not taste you the combination".

 And that was how we made sure we finished our food always...well not always.

Everyday people throw money into the garbage bins. Food waste is the highest amount of waste generated developing countries irrespective of the obvious presence of plastics. According to UNEP ( United Nations Environment Programme) each year one third of all food produced ends up in the bins of consumers, retailers, farmers and transporters. This results in a total of 1.3 billion tones of spoilt food with a worth estimated at $1 trillion every year. The presence of rotten food in the bins generates methane gas which is one of the green house gas that is responsible for climate change. We can agree that something needs to be done about the amount of money thrown in the bin yearly and its effect on the environment.  As a consumer you have a role to play in reducing food waste in your own small way and you can do it by following this few tips:

•         After eating, leftovers should be packed a placed in the fridge. Sometimes laziness may set in especially at night, do make an effort to clear up the kitchen.  Leftovers can be reheated on nights you choose not to cook (next day- jollof rice taste really good when reheated)
•      Cook what you and your family can finish. Even if you have to add extra for those who want more, do not over shoot it.

•          Excess purchases should stop. Supermarkets encourage excess purchases with their buy-one-get-two-free promos which makes people buy more than what they need. If you have to partake in such promos make sure you do a food stock inventory so you do not have excess at home.

•           Store you food  stuff properly. Perishable food items like fruits and vegetables should be consumed within few days even if they are stored in refrigerators to increase their shelf life. Storage areas should be well aerated

•           Do not burn your food. Burnt food is a waste.

Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth  Executive Director Godwin Ojo rightly said that “In a world of seven billion people, set to grow to nine billion by 2050, wasting food makes no sense – economically, environmentally and ethically". I could not agree more. Remember give a hoot..and do not pollute.

PS: Thank you to all who visited this blog and  those who dropped their comments. Please do drop your comments and questions ( if you have any).