Organised by the DoSomething charity, National Leftovers Day – now in its sixth year – encourages Australians to use up all their Christmas leftovers.

“During December, IBISWorld estimates that Australians will spend $10.1 billion on food,” DoSomething managing director and Leftovers Day founder Jon Dee said.

“Throwing out food over Christmas wastes hundreds of millions of dollars and impacts the environment. But we don’t have to be a scrooge to save food and money.

“With a little forward planning we can still have a generous feast without the waste.”

When it comes to household garbage bins, up to 40 per cent of the content is food. That figure significantly increases at Christmas.

Turkey, ham, chicken and vegetables can be used in sandwiches, quiches, soups and other meals.

What you don’t eat in the Christmas period can be frozen and eaten in January.

Leftovers recipes and resources to help people save food are available from DoSomething’s foodwise.com.au website.