Save money by reducing your household waste with these top tips — plus win £27,000 towards your uni fees

EVERY household could be throwing away more than £270 of food every year.

Families are binning up to eight per cent of their average weekly shop, according to a survey by Hotpoint, with bread, bagged salad and fresh vegetables topping the list of dumped items.

Here, we’ve asked a panel to give their top tips on reducing waste . . .

1. Chef JAMIE OLIVER, says: “Freezers are like a time capsule for fresh food. It’s like pressing the pause button, locking in nutrients and preserving taste. If you have fruit that’s about to go bad, put it into the freezer in a container and it will be perfect for a smoothie on another day.”
2. Sun Saver SHARON ADAMS, from Midsomer Norton, Bath, says: “Try putting the food on the plates BEFORE you cook it, so you can gauge how much is needed. Use meat or poultry to make a pie so it goes further and then put leftovers in sandwiches for next day’s lunches. You could also use leftovers in a soup.”
3. HOLLY SMITH, founder of the Facebook page Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK, says: “After a roast dinner, save everything you didn’t eat and make bubble and squeak. Strip the carcass and make chicken soup. Plate up any extras and then freeze them for a quick homemade microwave meal.”
4. HESTER GRAINGER, founder of the @mummysavingshopper Instagram page, says: “At the start of each week, work out who will be in and eating on the same day. There is no point cooking lots if everyone is going to be out. Batch cooking is another way to stop wasting food. Make lots of the same meal and freeze it into dinner-size portions.”
5. KAREN MANNING, from Harwich, Essex, says: “Why don’t you do a food-saver family challenge? See who can leave the least amount of food on their plates. Set a reward for whoever manages to cut back most on waste.”
6. EMMA DREW, founder of the EmmaDrew.info blog on saving and making money, says: “You can see the results straight away with meal planning. Go into your kitchen, see what you have and plan your meals around those ingredients. I save £40-60 a week on my shop by doing that.”

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For each Sun Savers code you enter you will get a ticket into our £15,000 monthly raffle. Plus, collect ten raffle tickets in a calendar month and you’ll get a GOLDEN TICKET into our huge £80k raffle which takes place every three months.

Fancy getting involved? Just head to the Sun Savers app or website and opt-in to each month’s raffle by clicking “Yes!” when prompted. Then start collecting the Sun Savers codes printed daily inside the paper. Today’s code is on page 20.

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YOU could be on course for a big saving with Sun Savers.

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