If it’s your goal this year to get motivated to waste less food, it’s our goal to help motivate you. So, we’ve compiled 10 food waste facts to feed your brain and showcase just how important it is for us to be conscious of bio waste.

FOOD WASTE ACCOUNTS FOR APPROXIMATELY 10% OF GREENHOUSE GASES

SOURCE: DRIVEN TO WASTE REPORT, WWF AND TESCO, 2021

Food waste accounts for more greenhouse gases than the aviation industry. We hope you don’t find that too shocking. By reusing surplus food and stopping food from being wasted throughout the food chain, we can have a phenomenal impact on our planet.

MAKING A PIZZA REQUIRES 1,239 LITRES OF WATER

SOURCE: INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS GLOBAL FOOD REPORT, 2013

Making one single pizza requires 1,239 litres of water. That’s nearly half of a standard swimming pool worth of water. When we think about wasted food, it’s important to remember all of the resources that go into it, including water, energy and human resource. These are precious resources that are being misused when we waste food.

OVER ⅓ OF FOOD IS WASTED GLOBALLY

SOURCE: UN FAO, 2021

1.3 billion tonnes of food go to waste yearly, a fact that becomes even more pertinent when you find out that…

AS MANY AS 811 MILLION PEOPLE GO HUNGRY GLOBALLY EACH YEAR

SOURCE: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL 2, ZERO HUNGER, 2021

Although we waste over ⅓ of the food produced, 811 million people are still going hungry.

NEARLY 30% OF THE WORLD’S AGRICULTURAL LAND IS CURRENTLY OCCUPIED TO PRODUCE FOOD THAT IS ULTIMATELY NEVER CONSUMED.

SOURCE: FOOD WASTAGE FOOTPRINT: IMPACTS ON NATURAL RESOURCES, UN FAO, 2013

Each of the world’s ecosystems is interconnected with others. When parts of our ecosystems are taken up to produce food that isn’t eaten, food waste is creating a tangible impact on biodiversity.

THE AVERAGE IRISH HOUSEHOLD THROWS OUT 150KG OF FOOD WASTE PER YEAR, AT A COST OF APPROXIMATELY €700

SOURCE: NWPP FOOD WASTE REPORT, EPA, 2021

Each time an Irish consumer pops a browning apple in the bin, throws out a nubbin of carrot or even chucks a whole plate of perfectly good leftovers, we contribute to the damage caused by food waste. Want tips? We’ve got you covered with how to reduce food waste in your household.

THE COMMERCIAL SECTOR ACCOUNTED FOR AT LEAST 801,172 TONNES OF FOOD WASTE IN IRELAND IN 2018

SOURCE: NWPP FOOD WASTE REPORT, EPA, 2021

At the end of the day, making changes as individuals can only go so far. We must work to reduce food waste on a commercial scale - this is why we work with food places in Ireland to divert their surplus food to happy consumers.

OVER HALF OF EU MUNICIPAL BIO WASTE IS NOT RECYCLED OR REPURPOSED

SOURCES: ECN, 2017; European Parliament, 2017

On the plus side, this means that half IS recycled or repurposed. John Byrne, sustainability manager of Thorntons recycling, says that at Thorntons brown waste is turned into compost. If the brown waste is not suitable for composting, it is made into Solid Recoverable Fuel or sent to the Waste to Energy plant in Poolbeg.

THE GLOBAL FOOD SYSTEM IS THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF BIODIVERSITY LOSS

SOURCE: FOOD SYSTEM IMPACTS ON BIODIVERSITY LOSS, CHATHAM HOUSE, 2021

Back to biodiversity! How we eat, grow and produce food is influencing organisms in our planet, contributing to a loss of resilience and increased vulnerability in our ecosystem.

GLOBALLY, TOO GOOD TO GO HAS SAVED 110 MILLION SURPRISE BAGS - THE CO2E EQUIVALENT OF THE YEARLY EMISSIONS OF 32,000 IRISH CITIZENS

SOURCE: MYCLIMATE, 14 JAN, 2022

At Too Good To Go, we know that saving Surprise Bags is only one way to fight food waste - but even this one mode can have a big impact. Want to fight food waste? Download the app here.