 Food waste is not only bad for the environment, it is a waste of money too. Reducing food waste is one of the most effective ways of reducing your impact on the environment at any time of year.
Planning, storage, and portion sizes are all key to reducing food waste and helping you to save money. You can find top tips on each of these on our Food Waste website.
Once you’ve bought your food, how you store it can make a huge difference to how long it will keep. Remember, after the ‘best before’ date food may no longer be at its tastiest but should be safe to eat. However, food must be eaten before the ‘use by date’ to avoid health risks. There are resources on the Love Food Hate Waste website, which is up-to-date on the latest guidance - for example, did you know it is now recommended to store potatoes in the fridge?
If you do find that you’ve bought or prepared too much food, don’t let it go to waste. You could:
- Give your guests doggy bags to take home
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Offer your surplus to others with an app like Olio
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Freeze what you can and make a new meal out of what you can’t - cold turkey sandwich anyone?
- Compost inedible raw fruit and vegetable waste.
 Christmas bin collection dates are on our website. If you haven't seen them already, you can find out everything you need to know about collection dates over the festive period and 2024 on our website.
As usual, our teams are taking the week off between Christmas and New Year and will be collecting up to two bags of securely tied Christmas excess on the first grey and any extra flattened cardboard on the first green bin collections of 2024.
You can view your collection calendar for 2024 or even download a copy to print by logging on to your My Kirklees account.
We also have useful information about waste and recycling over the festive period on our website, including more details on our excess policy, HWRC opening times, and more.
 Are you getting a real Christmas tree this year? Did you know once your tree has had its time to shine, you can request a collection and send it to be recycled? It benefits the environment and local charities too! We're supporting both The Kirkwood and Forget Me Not Children's Hospice, who are collecting and recycling trees in the new year.
Last year 3,600 Christmas trees were recycled in Kirklees, raising over £48k for these great charities. They hope to be able to raise even more this year.
If you’re curious to learn what happens to a Christmas tree once it's recycled, you can find out more information, including how to book your hassle-free collection with your chosen charity on our website.
 If like us you’re dreaming of a “green” Christmas, our latest blog is full of handy hints on how to avoid too much waste in the coming weeks.
From greener gifts, to Christmas crafts - including something to keep kids and pets entertained, we have lots of ideas to save you a little money and help save the planet in the coming days.
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