The Chinese New Year is one of the most important traditional festivals for Hong Kong people. Next Tuesday, the 29th of the Lunar year, is New Year's Eve (there is no New Year's Eve this year!). Many families will prepare a sumptuous reunion dinner. However, the problem of food waste is particularly prominent at this time. Here are some green living tips to help you celebrate the Chinese New Year while reducing food waste.

Tips for preparing a family reunion dinner

1. Plan the menu: Prepare the reunion dinner menu in advance, arrange the ingredients reasonably according to the family size and appetite, and avoid over-purchasing.

2. Choose seasonal ingredients: Choosing seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables not only tastes better, but also helps reduce losses during transportation.

3. Make use of ingredients that don't look good: Even fruits or vegetables that don't look good can be put to good use by cooking or making desserts. For example, slightly overripe apples can be cooked into applesauce or added to rice cakes to add flavor.

Post-meal processing tips

1. Reuse leftover food: Creatively transform the leftover dishes from the family reunion dinner, such as making fried rice or soup with the leftover rice, to avoid throwing it away directly.

2. Sharing and Donating: If you have extra food, consider sharing it with your neighbors or friends, or donating it to people in need or community organizations.

Tips for Eco-Friendly Living

1. Use reusable cutlery: Use reusable cutlery and napkins in your gatherings to reduce the use of disposable products.

2. Food waste recycling: Recycle food waste to reduce garbage generation.

Get involved in the community

Support food wise activities: Join local community food wise activities such as volunteer programmes or community surplus food recycling programmes to promote environmental awareness.

Simple Food Wise Recipes

1. Simple fried sauce

Material:

． Leftover soup meat

． Garlic, onion, bean paste

． Soy sauce, sugar

Practice:

． Chop remaining soup meat and mince onion and garlic.

． Add oil to a pan and sauté onion and garlic.

． Add the minced meat from the soup and stir-fry evenly.

． Add fermented black bean paste, soy sauce and sugar and continue to stir-fry until the sauce thickens.

2. Crispy Diet Rice Crackers

Material:

． Leftover cold rice

． Corn Flour

． Salt

Practice:

． Put the remaining cold rice in a bowl, add appropriate amount of cornstarch and salt, and mix well.

． Press the mixture into thin sheets.

． Heat a little oil in a frying pan and fry the rice cakes until golden and crispy on both sides.

3. Vegetable Soup

Material:

． Leftover vegetables (such as carrots, potatoes, greens, tomatoes, onions, etc.)

． Salt

Practice:

． Chop all remaining vegetables finely.

． Add water to a pot, bring to a boil and add the chopped vegetables.

． Cook for about 15 minutes until vegetables are cooked through, season with salt to taste.

With the above tips, while enjoying a delicious reunion dinner, we can also make full use of ingredients, contribute to protecting the environment and reducing food waste, and practice the concept of cherishing food! We wish you all a happy New Year and all your wishes come true!