Reducing our food waste is an easy and useful way of helping combat the disastrous effects of climate change. Over the next two weeks, I’ll explore how we can cut the mountain of food waste we Scots produce every year.

It’s estimated that in 2021, 1037 million tonnes of food waste was produced here, generating 4.7 tonnes of CO2. Each average-sized household of two produced 235kg of food waste and if the Scottish Government is to achieve its target for 2025, this figure would need to be reduced by 76kg.

Nearly half of our local councils are doing their bit by providing food waste collections, but the rest don’t. The food in the general waste bins is either burnt or landfilled which is ridiculous: burning the 70% of water it contains scarcely makes any sense; and dumping in landfill is pernicious, since it releases methane, a gas that’s 28 times more potent than CO2 .

So how do we deal with these facts? When growing our own, we do our damndest to eat every precious morsel, even if it’s just chives. Luckily, I have enough ground to produce much of our food, so between us, the poultry and the compost bins scarcely a scrap is wasted.

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But however you get your food, a bit of canny planning and actually knowing what’s in the fridge, should cut back what you have to chuck out.

With or without a garden, there’s a lot you can do at home. A wormery is best way of composting raw fruit and veg scraps. Brandling worms digest the material and after some months you’ll have a rich supply of weed-free compost for top dressing pots and containers.

Provided the worm food is raw, not cooked, the wormery shouldn’t smell, so you can have it in a corner of the kitchen, just outside, or on a balcony or outhouse.

Worms need warm but not hot or very cold conditions, so should be kept out of direct light and given some protection from winter frosts. These workers should be kept moist and the waste must be neither dry nor soggy and, like all of us, they need a regular meal, so you can top up frequently, every time you prepare a meal.

Whichever wormery you buy, ensure it contains 2 or 3 stacking trays, mounted on a collection sump for surplus liquid. Drain this off as a liquid feed for pots. Place one tray on the sump with the second one ready for use once the first is filled. Most of the worms will then move up to the new tray for the food, leaving the lower, composted, one for you to use as rich top dressing for pots.

There’s a wide selection of wormeries on the market, but I’d like to mention two in particular, described as ‘best buys’ by Gardeners World.

If you’ve a lot of scraps to process, WormCity is the perfect bin. It measures 75cm x 43cm x 43cm, and its V-shaped sump collects liquid more efficiently.

The WormBox, another Gardeners World ‘best buy’, is the answer for a small household with only a little raw food scraps. This elegant little unit, also produced from recycled material, measures 38cm x 50cm x 50cm, has casters, so can easily be moved around. As a final feature you could have a planting tray on top or even use it as an extra seat.

Ceratostigma plumbaginoidesCeratostigma plumbaginoides (Image: Mandy Bradshaw)

Plant of the week

Ceratostigma plumbaginoides or hardy plumbago is much prettier than its name. In late summer and early autumn this woody perennial is covered in intense blue flowers that amplify declining light levels. Cool autumn weather turns the bright green leaves fiery red.

The plant is hardy but will not withstand soggy soil, especially in winter; like most of us it prefers a sunny position. It grows to 45 cm in height and will spread to about 60cm.