Happy World Environment Day! Yep, today’s the big day when a bearded man dressed in green squeezes down chimneys worldwide making note of who’s been environmentally naughty or nice. Not really, but it is the day the UN designates for environmental education and this year’s theme is Think. Eat. Save – an anti-food waste and food loss campaign that encourages you to reduce your foodprint (love that term).

Some fast facts: a jaw-dropping 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted every year – the same amount produced in all of sub-Saharan African, according to the UN. Stats say that we end of tossing a good third of all food produced.

The lovely infographic on the left (courtesy of Lochness Water Gardens) gives you an idea of all the water that goes into making everything from a glass of milk to a pound of veggies or a cotton shirt. That’s a hell of a lot of H20 wasted every time we buy more than we need and end up with spoiled milk/rotting veggies/barely worn clothes.

More hard facts: global food production is also to blame for 80% of deforestation, 30% of greenhouse gas emissions and is “the largest single driver of biodiversity loss and land-use change,” says the UN.

So use today as an excuse to kickstart a conversation around the water cooler or at home with friends and fam about all this crazy waste and buying less of what we don’t need. For some tasty ideas for cutting back on food waste and putting wilting/spoiling foods to good use, read my column as well as my blog on the topic.

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