Saving the Earth: Starting Yummy

Cutting down on plastic, leaving the car at home, minimising air miles - all valuable and essential ways to help the Earth.

But what if I told you that there is a way to be a friend of the earth in the easiest and most yummy way?

Food waste is one of the biggest issues to our climate with about a third of all food produced for human consumption going to waste. Food waste from out homes adds up to over 10 million tonnes of food being binned every year!

Food waste from the hospitality sector accounts for 40% of all waste going to landfill, so not only do we as individuals need to be accountable for the food we throw away, it is important that all businesses who produce food are taking into consideration their wastage.

So naturally reducing food waste is one of the most simple and daily things we can do to help the environment. And not only can we help to reduce our own waste as home, but there are ways you can also help companies to make sure their waste is also as minimal as possible.

One of the best apps to make this possible is Too Good To Go, which businesses can sign up to in order to list any of their waste food for people to buy. Lots of restaurants, hotels, cafes, and bakeries use TGTG, with even larger shops starting to use it too like Morrisons. You can get anything from sandwiches, to carveries, to breakfast food, baked goods, curry, drinks, tea, sushi... The list goes on, and on. Too Good To Go is now in many different countries!

The company I work for, a cake shop called HeyLittleCupcake! in Manchester UK, use this app, and the difference it has made to the amount of waste we have is phenomenal!

HLC offer what is known on TGTG as a 'magic bag'. This is a surprise box of treats which usually varies between vendors, but at HLC each bag contains 4 tasty treats!

HeyLittleCupcake! has been open for 10 years this year and offers brownies, layer cakes and cupcakes for all occasions. They are based in Manchester city centre, Selfridges in the Trafford Centre and at Selfridges in Birmingham. HLC are looking to be more dedicated to green initiatives in 2020, and have already had a great start by changing to compostable and eco friendly products, and introducing Karma Cola onto the menu.

'Waste' in this instance is a misleading way to describe the food available, as it has a negative connotation to it meaning people may think it is out of date. But this is far from the truth! Treats you get from most vendors may not be freshly produced that day, but they will not be past their best!

The cupcakes HLC supply in their 'magic bags' are best up to 4 days so there is plenty of time to enjoy them!

Sometimes there are even brownies included in the boxes (although these are so popular in our shops its a bit like finding a unicorn in your magic bag!) Brownies usually last up to about a week, so there is even more time to enjoy.

Here are a couple of tips to get the best from your boxes:

1. Buttercream on cupcakes is usually the first part of the cupcake to be past its best, with the icing sugar making the buttercream harden. This can be easily removed if this is the case, so that the sponge can be eaten alone. Or if you take the icing off and give it a quick mix to make it smooth again it is easy to spread back on the cake and enjoy.

2. Sponge cake (without buttercream) can be eaten hot or cold - coated in jam, chocolate spread, or even custard. This will make up for if the cake is at the end of its best and may be a little crumbly.

3. Keep cakes in a cool, dry place - NOT THE FRIDGE! Cakes that go in the fridge end up with hard icing and a dry sponge! Cakes, cupcakes and brownies will last longer in the cupboard.

4. Cupcakes can be mashed up with a little extra icing so that you can try your hand at making some cake pops - see below. This is actually something else that HLC does to stop waste straight from the kitchen, with all off cuts from layer cakes!

So why should you put your energy into minimising food waste?

1. It is easy - take more consideration about what food you have and how you can use it. Starting with simply reducing food waste can help people start considering taking other precautions to help the environment.

2. Anyone can do it - some people find changing to eco-friendly alternatives difficult, but with this you can make a massive difference just by making sure you are throwing away less

3. You can make a difference - reducing waste will save you money, maximise your food, and if you use apps like Too Good To Go you will make a real change to companies trying to reduce waste too.

In February, customers helped HLC save 163 magic bags - which reduced out CO2 waste by 407.5kg!

4. You get to eat food! Duh.

Thank you to HeyLittleCupcake! for letting me write about the work we do with Too Good To Go. I have not been paid or asked to write this, I just really like the values of the app and working in the cafe I see a real difference to the amount of waste we have!

Thank you Too Good To Go for your amazing app, which makes saving waste so much easier!

(Instagram handles for both HLC and TGTG will be provided below.)

This article will be being posted in the Speak Up challenge. Should it win, the donation to one of the environmental charities will be on behalf of myself and all of the staff at HeyLittleCupcake!

HeyLittleCupcake:

@hlcupcake

Too Good To Go:

@toogoodtogo.uk

https://toogoodtogo.co.uk/en-gb