Food Waste: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How Your Staycation Can Help

When we talk about food waste, the uneaten food that ends up in landfills instead of plates. Also known as edible food loss, it’s not just about leftover mashed potatoes—it’s a global system failure that wastes water, energy, and money while pumping out greenhouse gases. In the UK alone, households throw away nearly 10 million tonnes of food each year. That’s enough to fill 4 million wheelie bins. And most of it? Still perfectly good to eat.

This isn’t just a grocery store problem. It’s tied to how we live, where we stay, and what we expect from our getaways. Think about your last all-inclusive resort: buffets piled high, drinks flowing, plates cleared without a second thought. Or your cozy eco cottage, a low-impact home designed to reduce environmental strain through smart design and mindful habits. Also known as sustainable cottage, it often includes compost bins, bulk-buying pantries, and menus planned to avoid excess. These places don’t just look pretty—they’re built to fight exactly this kind of waste. And that’s no accident. The same people who choose self-catering cottages over hotel chains are often the ones who care about green building, construction and design that cuts energy use, reduces waste, and uses renewable materials. Also known as sustainable building, it’s the quiet revolution behind cottages that run on solar, collect rainwater, and serve meals made from local, seasonal ingredients.

Here’s the thing: your vacation choices ripple out. When you book a place that grows its own herbs, uses upcycled furniture, or sends scraps to a local farm instead of a dump, you’re voting for a different kind of travel. You’re saying yes to zero waste travel, a way of exploring that minimizes disposable items, avoids single-use packaging, and respects local food systems. Also known as low-impact tourism, it’s not about perfection—it’s about progress. One less plastic-wrapped snack. One more meal cooked from what’s in season. One more compost bin in the backyard.

You won’t find a single article here that says "just don’t waste food." That’s too simple. Instead, you’ll find real stories: how a cottage owner in Devon turned food scraps into soil for her veg patch, why a family in Wales switched to bulk-buying after seeing how much they threw away, and how even all-inclusive resorts are starting to track plate waste to cut costs and carbon. These aren’t grand gestures. They’re small, repeatable actions—exactly the kind that add up when enough people do them.

What follows isn’t a lecture. It’s a collection of practical, real-world examples from people who’ve already made the shift. Whether you’re planning a quiet weekend in the countryside or thinking about how to make your next stay more responsible, you’ll find something here that fits your life. No guilt. No perfection. Just clear, doable steps—because fixing food waste starts not with policy, but with your next meal.