Food Waste

[blackelle123]

Curiosity here!!!

 

Due to the big thing about food wastage, I feel extremely guilty if I put anything in the bin. I try to feed the birds etc anything suitable thats left over. Does anyone throw food waste i.e. veg peelings etc into the water?

[Keeping Up]

Curiosity here!!!

 

Due to the big thing about food wastage, I feel extremely guilty if I put anything in the bin. I try to feed the birds etc anything suitable thats left over. Does anyone throw food waste i.e. veg peelings etc into the water?

Yes if it's something likely to be gratefully received by the fish or ducks

[Liam]

I throw the odd banana skin or apple core into the hedgerow to let nature take it's course but for anything else it either gets chucked into the bin or taken home for the compost heap.

 

Bits of paper and tissue usually gets chucked into the fire for when its next lit.

[denboy]

food waste = fish food every thing else binned

[Chickadee]

Curiosity here!!!

 

Due to the big thing about food wastage, I feel extremely guilty if I put anything in the bin. I try to feed the birds etc anything suitable thats left over. Does anyone throw food waste i.e. veg peelings etc into the water?

 

I dont myself I just put it in the bin as i dont know what fish eat but i will chuck bread, pastry, cake etc in if theres ever any left.

 

My Mum and me do enjoy a good bit of veg spotting though. We have spotted potato, leek, corget, pot noodle, orange, apple, mushroom all coming down Tardebigge, it passed the time.

[carlt]

I dont myself I just put it in the bin as i dont know what fish eat but i will chuck bread, pastry, cake etc in if theres ever any left.

 

My Mum and me do enjoy a good bit of veg spotting though. We have spotted potato, leek, corget, pot noodle, orange, apple, mushroom all coming down Tardebigge, it passed the time.

Do Pot Noodles count as 1 of the 5-a-day?

[8 Ball]

Ohh yes !! ALL food bits go overboard....and with a £79 underwater camera and monitor system bought from maplins (just search underwater CCTV)...I can watch the fishes enjoying the left overs of a tesco microwave meal...and the odd lump of mouldy cheese !

 

Fish Cam ! Its the way ahead.

Edited May 9, 2008 by 8 Ball

[NB Alnwick]

Food waste is one of my pet hates (along with excessive packaging) and could be a good excuse for a really good rant!

 

[As if I ever needed an excuse!]

 

We ran a village shop for ten years, turnover on certain items was inevitably slow and we virtually lived on out-of-date stock. It was amazing how we managed to improvise and prepare decent meals out of food that nobody else would buy - my favourite was strewed bananas in maple syrup. Delicious and you would never have believed that the skins had been quite black!

 

If you only buy what you need and find a way of cooking everything that you have bought there should be no waste!

Edited May 9, 2008 by NB Alnwick

[blackelle123]

Thats put my mind at rest - I was feeling bad about chucking that odd bit overboard. I really try not to waste anything, either the dogs get any left overs or the fish and ducks benefit. I do shop accordingly, but you still get veg peelings etc that I don't like to throw in the bin. As we live on-board and don't have a garden there is no-where else to put it.

 

I will continue to chuck it over when suitable, i.e. when nobodys looking. I think there are a few people who would frown at putting 'rubbish' in the river, even if it is degradable.

 

[Lady Muck]

Food waste is one of my pet hates (along with excessive packaging) and could be a good excuse for a really good rant!

 

[As if I ever needed an excuse!]

 

We ran a village shop for ten years, turnover on certain items was inevitably slow and we virtually lived on out-of-date stock. It was amazing how we managed to improvise and prepare decent meals out of food that nobody else would buy - my favourite was strewed bananas in maple syrup. Delicious and you would never have believed that the skins had been quite black!

 

If you only buy what you need and find a way of cooking everything that you have bought there should be no waste!

 

Agreed, be inventive. I bought a packet of rocket that wilted before my eyes - I didn't bin it, we googled some recipes and had rocket pesto and pasta for our dinner.

[8 Ball]

If you only buy what you need and find a way of cooking everything that you have bought there should be no waste!

 

I always have loads to throw to the fish. Apple cores, bannana skins, plate scrapings, sink'mush', left overs in the baking/microwave pot/packaging washed out with water prior to putting it into the recycle bag, tin cans also rinsed through before bagging, tea leaves, breadcrumbs from the work surface, The damaged grapes at the bottom of the bag etc.

 

I think the point is food waste, ie. plate scrapings, pan washes etc, not excess.

[NB Alnwick]

I always have loads to throw to the fish. Apple cores, bannana skins, plate scrapings, sink'mush', left overs in the baking/microwave pot/packaging washed out with water prior to putting it into the recycle bag, tin cans also rinsed through before bagging, tea leaves, breadcrumbs from the work surface, The damaged grapes at the bottom of the bag etc.

 

In my view, it is wrong to throw anything in that might not be found growing naturally in this country.

 

These days, many items that we eat and waste come from foreign lands and are not, therefore, indigenous species in Britain. Throw home grown apple cores, potato peelings and bread crumbs into the cut as fish/duck food by all means but you should not throw in such items as banana skins, orange peel, coconut shells and any other foreign produce.

[Capey]

Stale bread to the ducks, left over bones and carcasses for our resident fox, veg peelings into the hedges - they make good compost for future generations of plants. I work in a departemnt at the unviersity who do loads of catering and we always have leftovers, easy - I found the local old folks home who happily accept without any complaint left over cake, cookies and tarts. Quite off the subject I was so amused when coming to this country and hearing parents tell their kids "dont waste food, think of the starving african children" growing up in Africa it was "dont waste food, think of the starving Chinese!!!"

[8 Ball]

In my view, it is wrong to throw anything in that might not be found growing naturally in this country.

 

These days, many items that we eat and waste come from foreign lands and are not, therefore, indigenous species in Britain. Throw home grown apple cores, potato peelings and bread crumbs into the cut as fish/duck food by all means but you should not throw in such items as banana skins, orange peel, coconut shells and any other foreign produce.

 

 

Why not throw 'non-indigenous' produce in the river? It decays (and is therefore dead) just like anything else. A coconut shell thrown into the cut is hardly likley to sprout underwater coconut trees is it? It will decay naturally just the same as an English apple. If the coconut (just for example) was bagged, binned and disposed of...it would end up in landfill amongst the millions of tonnes of other 'non-indigenous' products.

 

I know where I'd rather see mine go and so do the Carp, tench, roach, chub, bream, crayfish and other life that live under my hull......I know this because I'm watching them now on FISH-CAM !! :-)

Edited May 9, 2008 by 8 Ball

[jojoknitter]

I dont myself I just put it in the bin as i dont know what fish eat but i will chuck bread, pastry, cake etc in if theres ever any left.

 

My Mum and me do enjoy a good bit of veg spotting though. We have spotted potato, leek, corget, pot noodle, orange, apple, mushroom all coming down Tardebigge, it passed the time.

 

yeah! a whole cabbage and red pepper and then a leek sailed past me the othe night....amazing - they hadnt even been touched by the look of things. Oh the wonders of veg spotting.

[Hairy-Neil]

..... you would never have believed that the skins had been quite black!

 

My brother buys bananas and puts them away in a cupboard for a couple of months till they are completely black and shrivelled to 2/3 size. When you open them up they spread like syrup.....If you can't spread it with a knife then they're not ripe enough..... where's the pukeing smilie when you want one??

[blackrose]

Thats put my mind at rest - I was feeling bad about chucking that odd bit overboard. I really try not to waste anything, either the dogs get any left overs or the fish and ducks benefit. I do shop accordingly, but you still get veg peelings etc that I don't like to throw in the bin. As we live on-board and don't have a garden there is no-where else to put it.

 

I will continue to chuck it over when suitable, i.e. when nobodys looking. I think there are a few people who would frown at putting 'rubbish' in the river, even if it is degradable.

 

 

Actually, even degradable waste can impact water quality by putting too much biological organic demand (BOD) into the water. BOD is a measure of the oxygen used by microorganisms to decompose waste. When this happens, much of the available dissolved oxygen is consumed by aerobic bacteria, robbing other aquatic organisms of the oxygen they need to live and rendering the habitat unsuitable for many species.

 

The EA ask waterways users not to even throw an apple core into the Thames, but having said that, what leftovers we may chuck in are certainly nothing compared to the trees, leaves, grass and other organic biomass that goes in there. So perhaps the EA are just trying to prevent the food waste going in addition to the biomass?

Edited May 9, 2008 by blackrose

[Orphiel]

As an alternative to throwing stuff in, why not get a small wormery? I feed my worms and they eat all the food waste I can produce to the extent that I'm going to have to start collecting it off neighbours soon. You can get a tiny one that fits on the boat, and it gives you good compost and plant feed as well. Also is p1ss easy to use, but we did have to add extra sealing tape round the inside when we got it first.

 

Something like this is good, second one down, the junior wormery. http://www.originalorganics.co.uk/wormeries.htm

 

Meg

[blackelle123]

As an alternative to throwing stuff in, why not get a small wormery? I feed my worms and they eat all the food waste I can produce to the extent that I'm going to have to start collecting it off neighbours soon. You can get a tiny one that fits on the boat, and it gives you good compost and plant feed as well. Also is p1ss easy to use, but we did have to add extra sealing tape round the inside when we got it first.

 

Something like this is good, second one down, the junior wormery. http://www.originalorganics.co.uk/wormeries.htm

 

Meg

 

How much food waste would they get through? i.e daily pototo & veg peelings, plate scrapings for two people. Then what would I do with the compost? don't have a garden but do have tubs of flowers on the boat. Most important - does it smell?

[Amduck]

yeah! a whole cabbage and red pepper and then a leek sailed past me the othe night....amazing - they hadnt even been touched by the look of things. Oh the wonders of veg spotting.

 

 

Yes, but did you spot the body of the person who fell in while trying to get on their boat with their grocery shopping?

[debbifiggy]

Actually, even degradable waste can impact water quality by putting too much biological organic demand (BOD) into the water. BOD is a measure of the oxygen used by microorganisms to decompose waste. When this happens, much of the available dissolved oxygen is consumed by aerobic bacteria, robbing other aquatic organisms of the oxygen they need to live and rendering the habitat unsuitable for many species.

 

The EA ask waterways users not to even throw an apple core into the Thames, but having said that, what leftovers we may chuck in are certainly nothing compared to the trees, leaves, grass and other organic biomass that goes in there. So perhaps the EA are just trying to prevent the food waste going in addition to the biomass?

Blackrose is correct. You should not throw anything into the water that shouldn't already be there as too much increases bacteria which reduces oxygen which kills the fish. The small particles from washing up dishes is ok (grey water is allowed to be disposed overboard at present) but please don't throw other large bits and pieces over the side if you can help it. It's actually an offence against BW bye-laws to dispose of things in the canal. I'll look it up when I have a moment.

D

[Ex- Member]

We've always taken the view if it could be used for ground bait for fishing, then throw it in the water for the fish. Anything the ducks or swans eat into the water. (not White Bread) Any other food waste just dispose on to the canal bank where there's no public access. This food gets eaten very quickly by all sorts of creatures, potato pealings any waste veg meat, cheese. I would think it's better to do this than secure it in poly bags where it rots and stinks. Of course if there's a compost heap available even better, but binning it in Black Bags just doesn't seem right.

[blackelle123]

Blackrose is correct. You should not throw anything into the water that shouldn't already be there as too much increases bacteria which reduces oxygen which kills the fish. The small particles from washing up dishes is ok (grey water is allowed to be disposed overboard at present) but please don't throw other large bits and pieces over the side if you can help it. It's actually an offence against BW bye-laws to dispose of things in the canal. I'll look it up when I have a moment.

D

 

Now I am confused - O.K. so I won't throw it in the water. Not sure that its better though to bag it and bin it and then let it rot down in land fill!!!!

 

As I haven't got access to a compost heap, just want to do whats best!!

[GSer]

I would think anything (within reasonable quantities) organic food waste, discarded overboard on the K&A or Thames would soon be devoured by the hoards of signal crayfish found in most sections of these waters.

[Ex- Member]

Now I am confused - O.K. so I won't throw it in the water. Not sure that its better though to bag it and bin it and then let it rot down in land fill!!!!

 

As I haven't got access to a compost heap, just want to do whats best!!

 

Were on dry land at the moment with the boat, but based in the countryside. We throw all our food waste into a large overgrown ditch just a few feet from the boat. I've chucked all sorts of food waste in this ditch, and you can almost guarantee the lot has gone the next day. We've chucked stuff in at lunchtime and it's all gone by early evening. There's a lot of hungry critters out there I can assure you