With the end-of-the-world scenario now over, Australians would likely be able to concentrate on the Christmas and New Year celebrations, which would mean a lot of food preparations.

It also means a lot of wasted food. Throughout the year, Aussies waste $8 billion worth of food, said a study by Do Something!, released on Sunday. Based on an estimated volume of four million tonnes of food thrown away yearly, Do Something! founder John Dee reckoned the value of per capita wastage at $1,036.

He said the total amount of food thrown away is enough to provide the daily meal requirements of an average Australian household for one month, while in money terms, it could cover six months of electricity bills.

Mr Dee blamed the excess food wastage on Aussies overstocking their pantries and refrigerators in the run-up to the yearend holidays, which causes unneeded economic and environment impacts.

He added that the large quantities of thrown food, up by $200 million from 2011 levels, end up in landfills that releases methane 25 times more potent that the carbon monoxide emission of vehicle tailpipes.

Mr Dee lamented the loss of skills mastered by older generations in recycling leftover food and avoiding waste. To bring back these lost skills, the Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales held recently a Portion Control and Sustainable Food workshop, seen in this video.

"If you throw out a kilogramme of beef, you're also throwing away the thousands of litres of water that it took to produce that beef," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Mr Dee.