Food waste is a growing environmental problem. In Australia alone annually we throw out 7.6 million tonnes of food costing $36.6 billion, 70% of which could have been eaten. Every little initiative counts in the war against food waste, and I would like to share my 200g contribution to this 7.6 million tonne problem.

At around Christmas time last year, one of the participants of the monthly volunteer-run Repair Cafe Belmont session brought in a 1 metre long tray of chips and fish cocktails. He said it was leftover from a Christmas party that morning. We all tucked in, but there was still much left, I was persuaded to bring some home, and being a food waste activist, I complied.

At work the next Monday, the 2-day old refrigerated fish cocktails didn’t look like they had much life in them left. Heating them up in the microwave warmed them up, but they ended up soggy, as microwave-reheated crispy fried foods are wont to do. And here is where my hack came in: I placed them in the toaster.

Soggy microwaved fish cocktails go in the toaster

Having already shorted out the kitchen power with the toaster before (I was trying to light a student’s birthday candle, couldn’t find any matches), I was careful not to let any of the fish cocktails touch the sides (elements) of the toaster. I was also careful to have my finger at the ready on the ‘Cancel’ button just in case anything started catching fire.

Get ready to cancel just in case

The result: crispy fish cocktails, brought back from the dead.

Crispy fish cocktails back from the dead

They were clearly not quite in the delectable state they were in when they were first lifted out of the fryer, however they were as close to that as could be, given the implements available in the office kitchen of South Perth Learning Centre where I work.

So, with a bit of lateral thinking, 200g of potential food waste was saved. That’s 7,599,999,999.8 kgs to go, I hope you can help contribute!