National Organising Week 2019 - Reducing Food Waste

This week is National Organising Week from the 4-10 November 2019, set up for all members of the Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers (APDO). The theme this year is ‘Reducing Food Waste.’ In the UK there are 10 million tonnes of food waste each year, according to a report from WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme). 71% of this comes from household waste. How can you reduce your household food waste?

Avoid throwing away leftovers and surplus food by following my top tips.

Monitor your stock levels - effective food organisation in both your cupboards and fridge will make it easier for you to know both what you already have and need to use up and items that you need to add to your shopping list. This will also help you avoid stockpiling. I recommend grouping like items together (using baskets/cardboard boxes where relevant)
Don’t overbuy - keep track of what you have bought and used (see point 1). Buy and cook what you need. Overstocking and cooking more than can be eaten leads to unnecessary food being thrown away.
Check the dates of foods when buying - only buy food that you can use before it expires
Meal Planning - think about what you’re going to cook and how to use leftovers for example if you cook a roast could you use the leftovers to make a curry the following day?
Don’t throw away leftovers - The BBC has some fabulous ideas for how to use leftover food supplies. www.bbc.co.uk/food/collections/leftovers
Love your freezer - When adding leftover food to the freezer use airtight containers. Label with date and contents and store in reasonable sized portions to help manage your freezer stock You can also prep vegetables that can then be frozen for to use at a later date. Simply boil for 3 minutes, then put into iced water. Drain onto a tray and freeze. Once frozen add to a freezer bag and label.

I hope that you find these tips useful. Every small change can make a big difference.

Lets keep Organising!

Tracy Ross, Professional Organiser

I first met Tracy in 2019. I live overseas and wanted to help my Mother clear a downstairs room to become a bedroom, I needed a gentle, trusted professional to complete the task after I had returned to my home. We all met and agreed upon a plan, but it was not to be as my Mother’s health deteriorated very quickly and she passed away. Although I did return to the UK a few times that year, decluttering wasn’t a priority. Then Covid put an end to my being able to return. Finally, in spring of this year, flight restrictions were lifted and I saw an opportunity to return to the UK, now faced with the task of clearing the family home. I contacted Tracy and thankfully, despite short notice, she had some free days to help me. We arranged 6 days throughout my 2 1/2 weeks to help me stay on track and motivated. Tracy helped me stay focussed and helped me believe we could achieve a fairly daunting task of going through a lifetime of memories, papers, photos and possessions. I had to be very disciplined about what was kept as whatever I chose to keep was to be shipped back to my Country. Tracy gave me time to tell a story about an item and why it made the “keeper”, or “think about it” pile, yet didn’t break stride in her work whilst listening. It was a very cathartic process. I felt like I was talking to a long time friend. She has a talent for putting you at ease, and for helping you see objects with a critical eye. Not once did I feel she was making the decision, more that she helped me verbalize my attachment, or not, and that really builds a bond of trust. After each session, I had “homework” to complete before we met again and a follow up email charting the successes of the day and the plan for the next session. As I was on my own during my stay in my family home, this could have been rather lonely, but knowing that Tracy was coming, both broke up the monotony of going through endless boxes and kept me on task such that the job was successfully completed.

Andree Stow
May 9, 2022
Tracy is amazing. We were renovating our house and finally was able to plan some extra storage. Tracy helped us to plan out new fitted wardrobes and then came back a few months later to help me get into a system with my laundry ( one of the things as a family I find hard to keep under control! ). She is kind, non judgemental, motivational & inspirational! I would say most people could do with a bit of Blissfully Organised in their lives!

Laura Dannan
December 14, 2020
Tracy is exceptional at what she does and is generous in what she gives. Highly recommend.

Jayne reah
February 23, 2022
Tracy helped my young girls and I declutter before a house move. In particular I was impressed with how Tracy got on well with the girls (7 yrs and 3 yrs) straight away and explained the sorting process simply. This has had a lastly impact on my children, getting them to appreciate you can’t keep everything!! I too enjoyed spending focused time with Tracy looking at my wardrobe. I will definitely be implementing the learnings for my clothes purchases such as reducing my tendency to buy some items in too many colour ways! Thank you Tracy for all your help. Jo

Joanna Dew
August 25, 2020
Tracy has helped me many times over the years, and I think I must have known her for 10 years now! When I first contacted her I had reservations about letting someone into my home, making judgments and telling me what I should do. But Tracy's service is NOT like that at all. She did a full home audit and we chatted about what I hoped to achieve. For years I'd been frustrated by our storage area, a large room under the house which was hard to access and full of things we hadn't seen for years. We agreed to tackle it and Tracy suggested that to start with, we took everything out. I thought she was completely mad at this point. Three hours later we had done just that, assessed what was there, got rid of some of it, sorted some and made plans for the rest. It was like a massive weight had lifted from my shoulders. After that she helped me organise rooms, and filter through boxes of stuff. More recently she helped me prepare for a big move. It's always an absolute pleasure to see Tracy and she is very thoughtful in her approach. Her service is life changing and I am very grateful that I contacted Tracy all those years ago. Contact her now, you honestly won't regret it.

Clare Suttie
June 11, 2020