One More Thing

As you can see from the image on the right next week is National Zero Waste Week 2012, pioneered by the redoubtable (as in 'worthy of respect and honour' rather than 'arousing fear', of course!) Mrs Green.

The theme of this year's week is One More Thing because, according to Mrs Green, if every household in the UK recycled just one more thing the total amount of recyclable rubbish could be increased by more than three quarters of a million tonnes.

Without wishing to sound smug I am a pretty good recycler already (with the support of my local council who provide excellent recycling facilities), but there is always room for improvement.

So what is my One More Thing to be?

Well, after some consideration, I have decided to make better use of my freezer.

I propose to this in three ways:

1. I am going to try and (identify! and) use up some of the food already in my freezer.  Followers of my Zero Waist blog will remember that I attempted to so some time ago, but with limited success, partly due to the lack of labeling and partly to the kind of food I'd frozen. 
2. Wherever appropriate, I am going to double up recipes and freeze half the dish.  This will save energy and provide me with an invaluable store of quick meals for those days when I don't have the time (or inclination!) to spend hours in the kitchen.
3. I am going to label EVERYTHING I put in the freezer - even if I'm convinced I'll remember what it is when I eventually dig it out.  It's remarkable how similar stewed apples appear to curried parsnip soup - but you wouldn't want the latter with custard!  I am also going to try and keep some sort of record of what's in the freezer (and maybe even in which basket!) to help in menu planning.
4. I am also going to use the freezer to save little pieces of food from the bin (even if it's the compost one!).  Parmesan rinds can be frozen to add to the next stock.  Half a lemon can be sliced and frozen to add to my favourite tipple.  The other half of a bunch of parsley can be chopped and frozen in an ice cube tray to add to a stew or a sauce.
5. I shall be recording any interesting observations on my progress over on Zero Waist and I hope you will pop over to see how I'm doing.

Well, that's my One More Thing.  What's yours?