What you can do to avoid (or at least reduce) throwing away food
The shocking scale of food waste in Poland and around the world, and why it should matter to you
Have you been to Kraków - the magnificent former capital city of Poland? Picture this: you’re on your way to enjoy a relaxing weekend there. You step off the train and... wait, what? Bread. Everywhere. Not just covering Kraków’s ground - and that’s 327 km², but spilling out beyond the city limits. That’s what the 4.8 million tons of food wasted by Poles last year looks like, if you were to lay it all out in loaves of bread—about 345 km² worth, according to the 2021 NIK report.
We’re all about the visuals, so here’s another one:
imagine nearly half of the Tatra Mountains (785 km²) buried under a tight, cozy blanket of bread loaves. Yup, it’s that bad.
Now, let’s pop over to Warsaw. With the amount of food wasted, we could cover the floor space of 1536 Złote Tarasy malls (225,000 m²) with bread!
And what if we converted 4.8 million tons of wasted food into meals for people? Well, considering the average human eats about 680 kg of food per year, that’s enough to feed 7,058,823 people for a whole year—that’s like feeding everyone in the 13 biggest cities in Poland!
Oh, and if we wanted to feed the entire Slowhop team (all 30 of us) with that amount of food, we’d be set for the next 235,294 years. We wouldn’t need to think about food again for many, many lifetimes!
Long story short? We waste a ridiculous amount of food.
What’s the Deal with Food Waste from Our Hosts' Perspective?
Our hosts face a few challenges, and one of the big ones is guests not always being aware of the food waste problem—especially when it comes to groups. One of our hosts shared:
Guests who come in pairs are much better at sorting waste, and we end up with less food in the trash. Unfortunately, with larger groups (more than 4 people), it’s a different story. They throw away food—leftovers from breakfast (from us), food they bring themselves, even unopened products... The ‘winner’ so far was 2 kg of chicken fillet tossed straight into the bin. Last week, during sorting, I found unopened cottage cheese and blue cheese. Even though we encourage them to use our fridges, bio bins, or compost, it’s still an issue. It could be because groups come for a quick weekend chill, and sorting food waste isn’t really on their list of priorities.
Another host has noticed something similar:
I see the most food waste during bachelorette parties. The brides-to-be go all out with their shopping, nibble a bit, and then toss the rest into the garbage, mixed in with everything else.
At another place, the only “culprits” behind food waste are the little ones who’ve just started eating solid food, leaving behind bits and pieces that, at best, end up in the compost feeding the garden.
How Can You Encourage Guests to Waste Less Food?
This time, we’re starting with dessert—a sweet list of practical tips! If you’re into stats and the theory behind food waste, you can find those further down in the article.
Here’s how to work with your guests:
Let your guests know that your place is all about reducing food waste, and try to get them on board. You can mention this in your welcome email, on your website, on the menu, with signs and infographics around the property, or simply chat with them about it (you and your staff) whenever the opportunity arises.
Offer reusable food containers. Make sure they’re available in every room, cabin, or apartment. Encourage guests to take them on hikes or when they head into town for a bite—so they can pack up leftovers for themselves or even their dog. If they’re dining with you, offer to pack up their meal leftovers for later.
Next to your standard recycling bins, provide a separate bin for organic waste—not just in common areas but also in guest rooms (in a mini version). Guests are on vacation, and it’s hard to blame them for not wanting to run downstairs to toss an apple core in the kitchen. Make it easy for them, and they’ll be more likely to sort their food waste properly.
Team up with local farmers or neighbors to see which food scraps can be fed to livestock. Just a friendly reminder—don’t give spoiled or moldy food to animals; that’s strictly compost material!
Ask guests to let you know if they have leftover food at the end of their stay, so you can collect it for the local critters’ free breakfast. Many of our hosts do this. Kasia from Gazdówka even mentioned that thanks to this practice, they’ve almost completely eliminated food waste from their guests.
Do you create your own zero-waste recipes? Maybe it’s time to craft a signature "leftover" menu that guests can recognize the moment they step through the door! Inspire your followers by sharing your culinary tricks on social media. It’d be awesome to see posts of guests proudly showing off dishes they made using your recipes.
The first time we truly felt the scale of food waste was during our trip to Auroville, India. In the cafeteria, which feeds hundreds of people daily, they weigh the food that gets returned to the kitchen. Every day, they write the amount of wasted food in kilograms on a big board. It left a huge impression on us.
If you’ve tracked food waste in your property, share the results with your guests by posting the data on a board in the dining area, on social media, or through casual conversation. No need to make anyone feel guilty, just raise awareness of the problem. And if you don’t have your own stats yet, we’ve got plenty of them for you right here.
Sometimes guests bring their own food (leftovers from home, something they bought on the way, or even homemade treats). Depending on the situation, we’ll store it in the fridge and serve it at breakfast, or we’ll announce a ‘breakfast co-sponsor’ and share the treats with other guests—like homemade pumpkin and pineapple jam brought by Room X. It’s always a hit, sparking great conversations.
Think About What Solutions in Your Place Could Help Guests Reduce Food Waste. Maybe it's worth considering a contest for your visitors to reinforce the message and get them involved in your efforts?
Fun fact: Simple solutions are often the most brilliant. At the famous MIT, they installed a FoodCam—a webcam pointed at a table where anyone can leave extra food. With just one push of a button, it sends a notification to the MIT community (through social media), letting them know there's free food available. Apparently, people sprint down the hallways, and the issue of leftover catering, among other things, has been solved!
If you’re fighting food waste, show off your results and efforts in your virtual community—eco-travelers love that kind of stuff and will definitely appreciate it.
What Can You Do as a Host?
Just starting your journey with feeding guests? Here are some tips that might come in handy.
We’ve based them on the advice of experienced hosts. Good practices for managing food and waste in guest accommodations point to prevention, reducing potential losses, proper storage, "rescuing" or recycling leftovers, donating excess to others, feeding animals, composting, monitoring the size and quality of waste, training staff, engaging guests, and adjusting the food system (like portion sizes).
For simplicity, we’ve boiled it down to three main steps:
1. Prevention
Create weekly menus and base your shopping list on them. Resist the temptation to stock up like you’re feeding an army for a month. Unless you live in an ice desert and get around by dogsled or scooter, there’s probably a store within 15-30 km where you can buy any emergency supplies.
"Discount"—the magic word. While a good deal is hard to resist, we caution against spontaneous shopping in pursuit of bargains. Before buying, ask yourself:some text
Do I really need this, and will I use it?
Does buying it mean I need five more expensive ingredients I hadn’t planned for?
Will I use it before it spoils?
Isn’t it by accident one of those "2 for the price of 3" deals? Maybe a better-quality, local product is the smarter choice.
Cook just enough food to avoid throwing any away. If you notice you’re buying too many eggs for a dish, make a note of it and buy less next time. Use our spreadsheet (eco-calculator 2) and try a week-long experiment monitoring your shopping.
Consider switching from a buffet to calculated portions. Przechowalnia Marzeń significantly reduced waste after introducing this. A similar change at UC Santa Barbara's cafeteria in 2009—removing trays and giving students just plates to carry—cut food waste by 50%. They also reduced portion sizes, which helped even more.
Ask guests about their food preferences. Not only will you create meals better suited to their tastes, but you’ll also make them feel well taken care of.
Appreciate the value of local, seasonal fruits and vegetables. These mean fresher, healthier, and more diverse meals with a smaller environmental impact. Our hosts have also noticed that guests respect the effort put into growing your own vegetables or tending an orchard, which makes them appreciate the food even more.
Pay attention to food labels. There are two types: "best before" and "use by." "Best before" is a guideline, and if the product looks, smells, and tastes fine, it’s usually safe to eat. "Use by," however, is a stricter limit—if you’re feeling bold and decide to ignore it, keep a bucket handy because food poisoning is no joke.
Store leftovers properly (in containers, fridges, or pantries) and plan a meal where you can use them before they spoil. Need storage tips? Check out this article or this one.
Serving up big portions? Consider investing in a vacuum sealer (the glass jar kind, not the plastic wrap kind!). Apparently, this process can extend the shelf life of your food by up to twice as long.
Organize a training session for your staff and enlighten them on how crucial it is to minimize food waste and how to prevent it in their daily tasks. Employee engagement is one of the key steps listed in the restaurant food waste reduction plan. Check out the full report here.
Many seasoned hosts say that opting for high-quality products means cleaner plates after meals. Hard to argue with that. Justyna from Osada Helenów says:
I really care about the quality of products and packaging. We’ve noticed that when guests get something nicely packaged, like a jar of jam, they take it home with them. Plus, we include flyers in the baskets about the products we serve, their ingredients and origins, and how to repurpose leftovers to enjoy at home. Guests are thrilled.
Another great idea from Siedlisko Letnia Kuchnia: If possible, chat with your guests about their food preferences and dislikes (maybe they prefer a different preparation method or a change in the dish’s composition). With a big garden and orchard, Siedlisko Letnia Kuchnia can use only as many products as needed. Guests also appreciate the effort Hosts put into preparing meals, making them more respectful of the food.
2. Reusing
Not in the mood to eat leftovers soon? Freeze them, and they’ll be perfect for a quick meal later.
Running a restaurant or café and often end up with “extra portions” at the end of the day? Join Foodsi, Too Good to Go, or another app that helps prevent food waste.
Here’s a lifehack from Paulina Górska: designate a shelf in your fridge and a cabinet in your kitchen for products nearing their expiration date.
Stick a note on it saying “Use me quickly,” “About to expire in 3…2…1…” or similar. This will help you and your household/staff get into the habit of checking and using items that are about to spoil. Also, do a fridge check at least once a week. You could even follow Przechowalnia Marzeń’s example with a separate container labeled “Must Use.”
Repurpose food—turn stale bread into croutons, limp tomatoes into spaghetti sauce, or leftover potatoes into dumplings. Do you know how many amazing recipes have come from kitchen experiments with leftover fridge finds? Check recipes from websites like Love Food Hate Waste etc. and surprise everyone you’re feeding.
Don’t go overboard and channel your inner Bear Grylls—he may eat snake intestines without a stomach upset, but you shouldn’t test that on yourself or your guests. If you see mold on jam, don’t just scrape off the top layer; throw it out entirely. The same goes for almost any product with mold. Cutting off the “white fluffy duvet” of a tomato still serves up mycotoxins, which can be cancer-causing. Please, don’t do this to anyone.
Our Slowhop team often creates delicious treats from kitchen leftovers:
Domi turns all leftover vegetables into juicy patties, while Zosia gives yesterday’s bread slices an egg bath and covers them with a cheesy blanket.
Kasia B. enjoys making omelets, though sometimes egg muffins with leftover bits win out.
Ola frequently makes juices for the kids, so she turns the leftover pulp into homemade apple cider vinegar or bakes muffins that vanish quickly after coming out of the oven.
Aga sometimes recalls Grandma’s breakfasts: bread with butter and sugar dipped in milk. Who hasn’t snagged the last “sugar boat” from a sibling’s bowl?
And Wiki? Wiki bakes up leftover cheese, ham, and veggies in puff pastry rolls or turns them into stuffed crepes. “I also make something like carbonara. Pasta, egg sauce, and whatever’s in the fridge: bacon is classic, but cooked salmon, sun-dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms… With egg sauce, Grana Padano cheese, and ground pepper, I can switch up the add-ins every day and the kids love it” she adds.
Recently, a quarter of the team tested a bread recipe using “overripe” bananas. Tart, quiche, pralines, flatbreads… There are so many dishes that make a great foundation for “new editions” of leftover food.
For dessert ideas, Kotowo 5 recommends so-called clever recipes, like British puddings, repurposing cake dough (like bundt or shortcrust) for the base of another cake, or using leftover cake for cake pops.
3. Recycling and Waste Optimization
Throw your scraps into the compost (and sort those packages like a pro) or turn leftovers into fertilizer and gas if you’ve got a home biogas setup.
Let’s focus on waste optimization! We’re really pushing for you to do a food waste audit. It’s a trick some big hotels with fancy restaurants use. Basically, you’ll be tracking what food you buy and toss out, like a high-tech food detective. We get it—being a Host can sometimes make you feel like a Hindu deity with a million arms, juggling a zillion tasks at once.
So here’s a simpler version of the audit: for one week, set up a notebook and pen in an easy-to-reach spot in your kitchen. Note what dishes or products were left unfinished and how much was tossed. If you’re feeling fancy, use your tablet or phone and our spreadsheet to track your food waste (Eco-Calculator 2). This will make analyzing the data a breeze later on. Weigh your organic waste bin before you throw it out — and keep at it for 7 days.
After a week, look over your notes and sum up the results. Maybe it’s time to cut back on portions, upgrade your veggie storage, or scale back on buying too much. Or perhaps you need to swap out a product because it’s popping up in the trash more often than in your guests' bellies? These observations will be your best guide for starting your food waste battle. Need more details? Try a quick survey with your guests (digital is best for easy analysis). And check out these questions from Green Key certification:
Can we better match the amount and type of food products?
Can we use smaller plates and serve smaller portions?
Can we offer some dishes in half-portions?
Can we store food better to keep it fresh longer?
Are we using all ingredients as efficiently as possible?
How can we process or donate leftover scraps?
Zero Waste Kitchen
We love expert tips, so we asked Sylwia Majcher for some advice. Sylwia says, “Not wasting food is a point of pride, not shame!” As a zero waste guru, she’s got some brilliant tricks for feeding your guests without waste:
Menu Magic: A well-thought-out menu makes the most of everything you have on hand.
Portion Control: According to Venturis Horeca surveys, oversized portions are a major cause of food waste in restaurants.
From Stem to Root: Use leaves and greens for broths, sauces, fillings, and dish decorations. And teach your guests a thing or two. It’s a win-win!
Waste Watch: A few days of tracking discarded products and portions can help pinpoint where things are going wrong.
Smart Storage: Proper storage can keep your ingredients fresh and extend their shelf life.
Packaging Prowess: Ditch the plastic and use packaging from plant-based materials, paper, or reusable containers with your logo. Partner with suppliers to cut down on plastic waste.
Composting: Even if it’s just your internal compost, it’s a great way to create a closed-loop system, making fertilizer to grow more veggies and herbs for your kitchen.
Tap or Filtered Water: Free and highlighted on your menu or communications.
Guess Where Most Food Waste Happens in Poland?
We’d bet we'd eat a piece of chalk and wash it down with vinegar that most of the food waste happens in stores and in the food service industry. And we’d end up with quite a nasty hiccup: a report from late 2021 shows that 60% of food waste comes from our homes. That’s 8 times more than in stores and 51 times more than in restaurants. Statistically, every Pole throws away 247 kg of food a year—about 0.7 kg a day. That’s approximately a loaf of bread and a stick of butter just tossed out.
Fig. 1. Amount of Food Waste in Poland According to NIK Report (2021)
The average for a European Union resident is 173 kg, placing Poland in the unfortunate 5th spot within the EU. It turns out we most often toss out bread, fruit, and cold cuts. The main reasons are food spoilage (65%) or missing the expiration date (42%).
Fig. 2. Reasons for Disposing of Food Products and Food Components in Households (NIK Report, 2021)
We’ve heard murmurs about food waste in schools. Let’s hit the brakes and focus on areas directly affecting accommodation facilities. Another source indicates: "Every week, a Polish household throws away an average of nearly 4 kilograms of food, of which 2.2 kg is edible, and the rest consists of scraps, often inedible. According to PROM analysis, this 2.2 kg of food weekly is worth about 50 PLN." This means that a typical Polish household loses around 2,600 PLN each year - about the same as a monthly rent or minimum wage with a bonus. With that money, you could rent a holiday cabin for a few days.
What’s the global situation?
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that annually, 931 million tons of edible food is wasted, with nearly 570 million tons coming from households.
These figures highlight the crucial role each individual consumer plays in this fight, and it’s important to focus on raising public awareness. Besides legal regulations, education and public campaigns on rational shopping and proper food storage are necessary. For a primer on increasing your awareness, we recommend a documentary on food waste.
According to Komal, founder of Copia - a U.S. startup tackling food waste - each day in the States, so much food is thrown away that it could fill the world’s largest stadium to the brim. And we’re not talking about uneaten leftovers but entirely new, untouched food that hasn’t even been nibbled.
The Real Cost of Food Waste
Did you know that tossing out, say, a block of cheese means wasting more than just the product? You also leave behind a "water footprint" (the amount of water needed from production through to transport and disposal of the final product) and a "carbon footprint" (the greenhouse gases emitted during production, transport, and disposal).
Food waste also translates into wasting land used for its production. According to FAO data from 2016, global food waste—then at 1.3 billion tons per year—equated to a simultaneous loss of 1.4 billion hectares of land. That’s a larger area than Canada and India combined! This is part of the so-called environmental footprint, which includes all the earthly resources needed for you to eventually eat that cheese (including water and gas emissions).
Let’s Do Some Simple Calculations:
The water footprint of cheese is 5060 liters/kg – that’s 25 bathtubs of 200 liters each, and the carbon footprint for 1 kg of the product is equivalent to 27.9 kg CO2, which is like driving about 142 km. A typical block of cheese weighs 0.25 kg.
So, to produce that cheese block, it takes 1265 liters (6 bathtubs of 200 liters) and 6.98 kg CO2, which is equivalent to driving 35 km. Now you know you're not just throwing away "the cheese," but also a significant amount of natural resources.
Imagine if every Pole threw away just one block of yellow cheese today:
37,996,000 people x 1265 liters = 48,064,940,000 liters of wasted water.
37,996,000 people x 6.98 kg CO2 = 265,212,080 kg CO2 emitted into the atmosphere, equivalent to driving 1,329,860,000 km.
These are staggering numbers, and it’s hard to grasp their scale. The most important takeaway: be mindful of your consumption choices.
Want to Know Why We Care So Much?
Food waste isn’t just about food security and ongoing hunger worldwide; it also accelerates climate change. Research from 2010-2016 shows that greenhouse gas emissions from wasted food accounted for 8-10% of anthropogenic emissions. In the U.S., annual food losses emit as many greenhouse gases as 32.6 million cars. For comparison, in 2021, there were 38,674,496 registered vehicles in Poland. It’s safe to say that reducing food waste in the U.S. to zero would cut emissions comparable to those produced by vehicles on Polish roads. That’s a huge scale.
GAIA, an environmental organization, estimates that isolating organic waste through proper trash sorting in cities could reduce global methane emissions from landfills by 62%.
Food waste isn’t just an environmental issue. It’s also an economic problem that impacts the global economy. According to FAO data from 2015, the cost of wasted food at that time was nearly 940 billion USD per year.
What Does This Mean for Us Consumers? Obviously, it leads to higher food prices.
Remember When Our Grandmothers Used to Kiss the Bread That Fell on the Floor?
We believe you don’t need a crisis to appreciate available food. Remember the bliss of getting a steaming bowl of potato soup at a mountain hut after a long hike? Or the joy of scraping the plate after a delicious raspberry mousse cake? Food is a great pleasure, but also a privilege – something we sometimes forget.
Food waste means environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and an economic burden that ultimately affects all of us. We encourage you to spend a few moments considering this issue. Try to use:
The idea of a sticker on your fridge shelf and pantry for products with short expiration dates ("to be used quickly," "we spoil in 3…2…1…", etc.).
A weekly experiment plan to better understand food waste in your facility (eco-calculator 2: food waste register).
Statistics and comparisons – for eco-communication with Guests:
In 2021, Poland wasted 4.8 million tons of food. If we were to visualize this in bread (wheat bread surface: approx. 345 km²), we could cover the entire area of Krakow (327 km²) with loaves and have some left over, almost half the surface of the Tatras (785 km²), or the usable area of 1536 Złote Tarasy (225,000 m²).
Assuming an average person eats about 680 kg of food per year, the amount of wasted food could feed 7,058,823 people for a year – equivalent to the population of the 13 largest cities in Poland!
The Slowhop team (30 people) could survive on the annual amount of food wasted in 2021 for 235,294 years (securing their food for many future lifetimes).
If we wanted to cover the world’s circumference with loaves, the route would be equivalent to almost 72 equators.
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