The world’s food systems emit a quarter of greenhouse gases. Every individual could contribute to reducing pollution, simply by arranging the refrigerator and kitchen shelves in a more orderly manner.  For the time being, Lithuanian residents alone throw away 140 kilograms of food each year. A representative survey by “Spinter Research” revealed that every second resident of the country throws away expired food.

According to the survey conducted by the Mantinga initiative, approximately every second (56%) Lithuanian resident tries to use up food products when the expiration date is due to expire. Meanwhile, one in three (33%) pay attention to the expiration date occasionally, and 11% of respondents only look at the expiration date when they want to check whether the product is still suitable for consumption.

“Food, its price and quality, are one of the most sensitive issues. However, a significant part of the Lithuanian population is rather casual about planning the use of food products. Although half the population will give priority to those products whose expiration date is coming to an end, the other half find it much easier to throw away the food with a clear conscience once they’ve determined from the label that it is no longer edible. By changing our approach, through better planning of food consumption, we would not only contribute to mitigating the climate crisis, but also reduce our expenditure on food products,” says Domantė Lubytė, Manager of Sustainability Projects of Mantinga.

“As a business whose main activity is food production, the topic of food waste is extremely important to us. We started the initiative in order to draw the public’s attention to this problem and at the same time encourage a responsible choice – to buy purposefully, only after carefully planning your needs. The data of the map is pleasing in that although the results differ between counties, no county in the country is characterized by extreme indifference to sustainable food choices and consumption,” she says.

According to “Spinter” research, only 6% of Lithuanian residents have to throw away expired food products every day or several times a week. More than half (52%) of the respondents said that they have to do this between once or several times a month, while 42% of the respondents practically never throw away such food products.

“Spinter research” conducted a representative survey of the Lithuanian population in September 2023, with responses from 1011 participants, aged 18-75.