Waste and Recycling

#Back to savvy

It’s time to get #BackToSavvy!

With busy lives and rising costs, many of us are looking to see where we can save a few pounds. With the kids heading back to school, it’s time for a little more control over our meals and our budgets.

We’re here to help you get #BacktoSavvy, by sharing top tips on how to plan and prepare and make tasty meals both you and your little ones will enjoy. Good for your pocket and the planet.

Meal Prep, Not Meal Deal

For those heading into work, meal deals are a tempting offer. But did you know that our speedy habits add up? Turns out that 10.7 billion items of packaging waste come from meal deals each year.

Save money, and the environment by preparing lunches in advance. It’s a great way to take amazing home cooking on the go, use up leftovers and avoid having a watery sandwich from the shop.

Check out our top tips for getting started on preparing meals:

Cook in batches – Make multiple meals in one go by cooking a larger batch recipe, then refrigerate or freeze for future lunches and dinners
Love your leftovers – Save your leftovers by turning them into tasty new lunches or remix them into fun new recipes
Store food the right way and get familiar with your freezer – Stock meals in your freezer so you have a stash of home-made ready meals. Check out the A-Z of food storage.
Share the love and try meal-swapping – Swap meals with meal-prepping friends or colleagues to add a bit of variety
Prep ingredients – Freeze raw ingredients together for quicker cooking down the line

Cook Today, Eat Tomorrow (or the Day After)

We all know some things taste better the day after. So, get #BackToSavvy by batch cooking and make multiple meals in one go. It’s a great way to save money and means you can use up all your odds and ends which go off quickly, such as fresh herbs.

When batch cooking, pick out recipes that have common ingredients, can be cooked in bulk and which freeze well – soups, stews and curries are all great options!

Batch cooking tips

To start batch cooking, find a spare hour or two, put on your favourite podcast or playlist and prep some delicious food your future self with thank you for. Check out our 10 easy meal prep tips..

Stay Fresh, Lunch It Later

Keep your tasty lunches fresh by storing them right. After cooking, follow our tips below:

Pop your food in a container such as a Tupperware, takeaway container or even an old jar (just make sure it has a seal if it’s going into the freezer)
Label the container with the current date and what the item / meal is
After food has cooled, put it in the fridge if you plan to eat within two days. If you want to keep it longer, pop in your freezer

To defrost any frozen meals, move them to the fridge overnight and you’ll have a #FoodSavvy meal by the morning.

Recycling search

In this section

Waste sorting game

Try our new, fun and interactive waste sorting game Sort It Out!

Challenge yourself on how to recycle or dispose of materials correctly ranging from aluminium foil and egg shells to batteries and plastic bags.

Simply drag and drop the material to the stream of your choice, you’ll soon learn how much you really know.

Complete the levels successfully and you can select a special prize to help build your own digital park.

Try the game now!

Play Sort It Out!

Tasty Toastie competition

Three toasted sandwiches with eyes on an orange background

Win £500 for your school, youth group or early years provider by entering our #TastyToastie Competition!

Get your kids thinking more about how what they eat can impact on the environment by entering your school, youth group or early year providers into the #TastyToastie competition.

The winning entry will be awarded £500 for their organisation. Second place will win £250 and third place £100. This can then be used on any food related item or project such as cookbooks, cooking equipment, cooking lessons, a breakfast club or a growing kit for an outdoor area.

Why Toasties?

We are working with environmental charity, Hubbub on #FoodSavvy – a campaign to help residents cut down on their food waste at home.

In May, June and July – we're focussing on bread through #UseYourLoaf. Toast and toasties are a great way of cutting down on the 20 million slices of bread that are wasted in UK homes each day.

Through the #TastyToastie competition, we hope to get kids, parents and schools to use more creative ways to cut down on the amount of bread wasted at home.

How to enter #TastyToastie

Entering the competition is quick and easy. Just follow the steps below but make sure your entry is with us before the closing date of Friday 1 July 2022.

Step 1: Let us know your school, youth group or early years provider is taking part by registering with us using our #TastyToastie online registration form.

Step 2: pdf Download our Tasty Toastie leaflet (2.10 MB) and share it with your pupils/children to help get them thinking about the staggering amount of bread that is wasted in the UK every year and how easy it is to avoid it. We'd be grateful if you could also share them with parents either by including them in your regular newsletter, if you have one, or we are happy to provide printed leaflets for you to distribute. Just let us know how many you need when you register with us.

Step 3: Get your pupils or children to create inventive toastie recipes and take pictures of the toasties they make. This can be done in any format. For instance, you may wish to hold a cooking class within your school or organisation. Alternatively, you can encourage the pupils/children to make their toasties at home.

If this isn't possible then we are happy to accept drawings of the toasties. The important things is to get people thinking about food waste, particularly bread waste, and the simple things we can all do to avoid it.

Step 4: Choose a 'menu' of three toasties to represent your school or organisation. The menu should contain one breakfast, one lunch and one dinner toastie. Each toastie must include a name, recipe, and picture for each one.

Step 5: Submit your school or organisation's menu using our #TastyToastie entry form.

The winners will be chosen in the week starting 4 July 2022. Read the terms and conditions below for more information.

Good luck!

Terms and conditions

The Tasty Toastie Competition is run by Wychavon District Council with support from Hubbub Foundation: UK Registered Charity No. 1158700 | Registered Company No. 09038107. Registered office is at Somerset House, The Strand, London, WC2R 1LA.
The competition is open to all schools, youth groups and early years providers within Wychavon District.
The competition is open from Monday 23 May 2022 until Friday 11.59pm on 1 July. After this date, no further entries to the competition will be accepted.
No responsibility can be accepted for entries not received for whatever reason. The promoter is not responsible for inaccurate prize details supplied to any entrant by any third party connected with this competition.
Three schools will be chosen as first place, second place and third place winners and will be awarded the respective prize amounts. Each winner will be notified and confirmed by email. If the winner cannot be contacted, has not completed both criteria for entry or does not claim the prize within 14 days of notification, we reserve the right to withdraw the prize from the winner and pick a replacement winner.
The prizes are provided by Wychavon District Council and are as follows: £500 for the first-place organisation, £250 for the second-place organisation and £100 for the third-place organisation.
The prize is as stated and is not transferable.
The prize money will be provided via bank transfer and must be spent on food-related items or activities.
Hubbub’s decision in respect of all matters to do with the competition will be final and no correspondence will be entered. The competition and these terms and conditions will be governed by English law and any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England.
All entrants agree to the use of their name and any photography or films created will be used in publicity material, as well as their entry. Any personal data relating to the winner, or any other entrants will be used solely in accordance with current UK data protection legislation and will not be disclosed to a third party without the entrant’s prior consent.
Hubbub shall have the right, at its sole discretion and at any time, to change or modify these terms and conditions, such change shall be effective immediately upon posting to this webpage.
Hubbub reserves the right to cancel or amend the competition and these terms and conditions without notice in the event of a catastrophe, war, civil or military disturbance, act of God, or any actual or anticipated breach of any applicable law or regulation or any other event outside of the promoter’s control. Any changes to the competition will be notified to entrants as soon as possible by the promoter.
Entry into the competition will be deemed as acceptance of these terms and conditions.

#UseYourLoaf

#UseYourLoaf to help cut down on the 20 million slices of bread wasted each day!

Whether it’s sourdough, wholegrain or just plain old white, everyone has their favourite bread.

Did you know that each day in the UK we throw away 20 million bread slices? That’s the same as throwing away 1,000,000 loaves a day.

We’ve got plenty of ways to help you #UseYourLoaf. Check out all the ways to save below.

How to store bread like a pro

Want to love your loaves for longer? Store your bread the right way to cut down the amount wasted, by following our top tips below:

Location, location, location - Store your bread in the original packaging in a cool, dark and dry location (e.g. a cupboard or bread bin).
No to the fridge - Don’t keep bread in the fridge, as it will go stale sooner!
Best before dates – Packaged bread can often be eaten up to a week after its best before date. Unless it’s gone mouldy!
Freeze it – All bread can be frozen and stored for longer. Defrost it when you need a slice or even pop it straight into the toaster.

Recipes to get you b-ready to use up your loaves!

Bread can be used in lots of creative meals and can be a great way of preventing stale bread from going into the bin.

Why not check out the video recipe below for Overnight Pecan and Pear French Toast (opens new window) – a deliciously decadent breakfast and brunch treat using leftover bread.