We’re now 3 months into our Live Lagom project and it’s time for a little update. Our big focus during the project was to reduce the amount of food we waste on a weekly basis, and to also look at upcycling old furniture that we have stored in our shed. Over the last 3 months the biggest push for us has been on managing food waste. We’ve been trying to keep a closer eye on what we are buying (not always as successfully as we would like), and more importantly, what we are making for our daily meals. We discuss our progress a little further below.
Reducing our food waste
We’ve been shopping a little smarter over the last 3 months although we still have a bit to go to reduce waste during the week. We try to plan out our meals by looking to make larger dinners which can be re-used for lunch and dinner the following day. As there are only two of us in the house this has helped us control our food waste a little better, and also impacts on our shopping list – we buy what we need for the next 2-3 days.
One of the items we got for the project as the VÄRDESÄTTA stainless steel pressure cooker (only £35) and it has been a welcome addition to our kitchen. We’re big slow cooker fans but the pressure cooker makes preparing stews, casseroles and curries a quick and easy task, allowing us to make additional servings for lunch for the next day, while also helping reduce our energy usage (compared to slow cooker).
We also store the additional portions in a selection of FÖRTROLIG glass food containers. This has made planning meals, especially midweek meals for when we are working, much easier. It’s also reducing our intake of convenience food, something which has helped us save £10-£15 every fortnight.
Upcycling and storage
As part of the project Helen is going to be upcycling some older pieces of furniture that we have stored in our shed. This is all in preparation for furniture for our new home, which we are currently in the planning stages for. We will share more about this in our final update as Helen will have some pieces completed by then. We’ve been using these great SORTERA waste sorting bins to store old fabrics rather than waste produce – something that has made our spare room a little more organised!
A little saving in our electricity
When we set out with the Live Lagom project, one thing we were keen to learn a bit more about was how to reduce the energy we use, especially with our new home build in mind. We don’t imagine we will make huge steps during this project as our current home isn’t overly energy efficient (something we will be changing with our new build).
We have though been trying to watch the electricity we use, and are delighted to report that we have noticed a small drop in our bills and energy consumption in Feb 2016 compared with Feb 2015, so things are looking up.
The next 3 months
We’ve found the project really worthwhile to date, especially learning from others who are trying to save in similar ways to us. Food and waste management will continue to be a focus for our final 3 months and we are looking forward to finding out how everyone else has got on with their resolutions. We’ll also have some new furniture pieces to share with you in our next update.
Until then, keep lagoming guys!
Any views and opinions expressed during content shared as part of this Live LAGOM project is entirely our own, and the results will reflect what has (or hasn’t) worked for us as we try to live mores sustainably.
For more information on the Live LAGOM movement visit ikea.com, hubbub.org.uk or search Live LAGOM in Google, Facebook or Twitter.
Welcome to Pikalily, an award-winning food, travel and lifestyle blog. We are Nial and Helen, a happily married couple from Northern Ireland, who share a passion for food and travel among many things. We became parents to our beautiful boy Lewis in 2017. Follow our adventures through the blog.
