New research from the Love Food Hate Waste campaign reveals 74% of us claim to use a shopping list, but only 55% of us actually stick to one.

This year Love Food Hate Waste is encouraging shoppers to ‘Love a List’. A shopping list is a simple yet powerful tool to cut down on the embarrassing rates of household food waste in New Zealand.

Each year kiwis send thousands of tonnes of leftovers, expired food and food scraps to landfill. Estimates vary from 224,000 to 504,160 tonnes per year nationally.

The research found:

• High food wasters in particular are especially likely to not follow their shopping list with only 36% of them writing a list before going shopping compared to the national average of 74%.
• 33% of shoppers admit that writing a shopping list would help them to reduce their food waste.

“During the first lockdown we saw a huge increase in the number of people shopping with a list and meal planning as people tried to limit the frequency of their visits to the supermarket,” says Jenny Marshall, of LFHW.

“In the lead up to Christmas and with many families struggling financially, writing a shopping list and sticking to it is a great way to stay within your budget and will help you to waste less food, which is really important for our planet.”

These days there are all sorts of ways to make shopping lists, from writing a list on the back of an old envelope or talking to your watch and telling Siri or Alexa what you need to buy.

There are also some great list-making apps that can be downloaded on to your phone. For those who struggle to stick to the list, Jenny has a few tips:

• Set yourself a budget for treats; or reward yourself with a treat if you stick to your list
• Only stock up on specials with a long shelf life e.g. tinned and dried food
• Don’t take your children with you if you can avoid it;
• Allocate children roles if you can’t e.g. chief crosser-offer, or try shopping online.
• Check out the specials online first to check if you need those items at home.
• Set yourself a shopping target.
• Pledge to not buy a single item that’s not on your grocery list.
• Don’t shop hungry.

“There is no point buying two broccoli for $2 on special if you just end up throwing one of them away,” Jenny says.

“Writing a shopping list may seem to be an unlikely way to save the planet in this topsy-turvy COVID world of 2020 writing a list and sticking to it may be one simple thing we can all do.”

© Scoop Media