Take the Jump: Eat Green

Move to a mostly plant-based diet

Reduce food waste

EPA Wasted Food Scale

This US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scale shown below is based on its 2023 report From Field to Bin: The Environmental Impacts of U.S. Food Waste Management Pathways. The Scale prioritizes actions that prevent and divert wasted food from disposal, arranged in order from most preferred on the top left to least preferred on the top right. The most preferred pathways – prevent wasted food, donate and upcycle food prioritize using food for its intended purpose: to nourish people; they offer the most benefits to the environment and to a circular economy. The least preferred pathways – landfilling, incineration and sending food down the drain – have the largest environmental impacts and have limited potential for circularity. See the infographic at the bottom of this page illustrating how wasted food fuels climate change.

Annual awareness days/weeks

Food Waste Action Week 9 – 15 March 2026
This week, organised by WRAP, is intended to raise awareness about the devastating impact that food waste is having on the planet. WRAP notes that 60% of food waste happens in our homes – creating 16 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually. From bread and milk to fresh vegetables and leftovers, the food we buy with the best intentions often ends up in the bin. So this year’s theme is Make your food go further, for your pocket and for our planet. Take a look at the Love Food Hate Waste campaign for simple, practical actions that help food go further – saving money, time and stress. If we stop wasting food, we also avoid wasting all the resources and emissions associated with producing that food and getting it on our plate.

Stop Food Waste Day 29 April 2026
This global awareness campaign is dedicated to reducing food waste. As explained on their website, just a quarter of the food lost or wasted globally every year could be used to feed the 795 million undernourished people in the world, highlighting that food waste is also a moral issue. The aims of the campaign are threefold:

Prevent global food waste by storing food optimally, making use of every edible part of the ingredient and planning meals ahead of time
Inspire everyone to reduce food waste and repurpose more
Repurpose food, using ingredients that most commonly go to waste, or by redistributing surplus food to your local community.

Check out the free cookbook, featuring recipes from around the world, using ingredients such as stale bread, overripe fruit and discarded vegetable peels.

Zero Waste Week 7-11 September 2026
Zero Waste Week is an annual awareness campaign to help reduce landfill waste (not just food waste) so we can preserve resources, protect the environment and save money.

International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste Reduction 29 September
This UN day seeks to promote awareness and collective action to reduce food loss and waste. As noted in their Get Involved booklet:

The world produces enough food to feed everyone, and yet millions suffer from hunger and malnutrition. Food loss and waste exacerbate this problem by reducing the amount of food available for consumption, thus contributing to food insecurity.
Food waste continues to hurt the global economy and fuel climate change, nature loss, and pollution.

A free e-learning course on Food Waste Prevention is available, to help save food at different stages of the food chain.

World Food Day 16 October
This day promotes awareness of hunger and how we can create a better, more sustainable food future for all. As consumers, we can exercise rights and call on governments to tackle inequality and poverty, make healthy food choices to increase their availability, reduce food waste and protect the environment. Check out the UN page for more on the actions we can take.